Warrior Human Short Stories!
by Tigercry
Summary: Join me in inspired one-shots and short stories with the warriors as humans! Such as.. "Leon! Get off my jacket! You're drooling on it!"(Cynthia)"Paige! Get over here right now!"(Haliah)"Run Jay! Leon's going to catch you!"(Bree)"Uh... Cindy?... There's someone behind you..(Holly)"Yikes! Don't scare me like that Holly!"(Leon)"Shut up. your voice is like nails on a chalkboard."(Jay)
1. Welcome To Warriors Human Short Stories

Caylee rubbed her eyes with a closed fist and twisted her neck, popping the joint and giving a soft sigh as the discomfort in her neck vanished, replaced with a rather cool feeling. After writing for a few hours her neck always grew stiff and uncomfortable, but it usually didn't stop her. Today she had been writing a possible idea for a warriors fanfiction about the clans moving into new territories and receiving a prophecy about a tiny tiger, with loads of success.

"First chapter down, three more to go before I upload it," she sighed and gave a yawn. Then she paused, still stretching, music was beginning to filter through her radio's speakers at a soft tone, and it was a song she recognized. Animal by Neon Trees, the only song she really enjoyed from the band that her boyfriend had once helped in a concert that they were involved in.

The music brought a small smile to Caylee's lips and she leaned back comfortably in her chair, lightly bouncing one of her knees. _What would it be like it if I was really a warrior?_ She mused softly to herself, _probably really confusing, but it would be a priceless experience._ She jolted upright in her chair, brown eyes widening as another thought struck her, _What if they were humans?! What if the warriors were humans and in different types of worlds and fantasy?!_ A determined fire lit her chocolate brown eyes and the brunette pulled up a new word document on her computer before she set her hands down on her keyboard and began to type. "Warriors as humans, a phrase that's particularly well known out in the wide world of warriors fanfics. However," Caylee was beginning to feel the inspiration flowing like water through floodgates, bursting out with incredible strength and speed, her fingers flying over the keys of her keyboard as a paragraph began to appear word by word on her screen. "Here in this story lies an entire variety of different stories for a curious reader to read. So reader, welcome," the title of the collection easily rolled off her tongue, like it had been calling to her from the very beginning. "Warriors Human Short stories..."

* * *

 _ **I finally redid the intro after over two years! XD How do you guys like it?! :D**_

 _ **Anyway, welcome one and welcome all! Get ready to read 100+ chapters (some stories have multiple chapters) of action, thriller, romance, and general kinds of short stories involving the warriors as humans! :D Please bear with the beginning ones, I wrote those in October 2016, which was a long time ago! XD Maybe one day I'll delete them and rewrite them all with my new skills and stuff but it's a long process :P Oh, and at some point, I should really write a table of contents, but that'll take forever too :P**_

 ** _Warriors Human Short Stories_**

 _Welcome, All Warriors Fans! Please Read & Enjoy! :D_

* * *

 **Worlds That Are Currently Inside The Collection**

 _|Main World|_

(High school Age)

 _ **38 Chapters**_

 _|Fighting For Love And Hope Moments|_

 ** _8 Chapters_**

 _|Singing Talents|_

(YTbers and Singers, High school and beyond age)

 _ **14 Chapters**_

 _|Cat Snippets|_

(Pieces with them as their normal warrior characters)

 _ **3 Chapters**_ _  
_

 _|Childhood Adventures|_

(Toddler to Middle School age)

 ** _2 Chapters_**

 _|Guilt Ridden And Shattered|_

(Semi-High school age)

 _ **2 Chapters**_

 _ **(1 part and a sequel)**_

 _|Q & A World|_

(Ages vary)

 _ **2 Chapters**_

 _|Random AU and Drabbles|_

(Ages Vary)

 _ **12 Chapters**_

 _Fight Or Flight_

(Next Generation Of Characters)

 _ **3 Chapters**_

 _ **(1 prequel, 1 normal story, 1 Sequel, another planned)**_

 _Boring Office Work_

(Late twenties ages)

 _ **2 Chapter**_

 _ **(1 Background chapter, one main story (one of the longest ones)**_

 _Pretending_

(early twenties ages)

 _ **1 Chapter**_

 _ **(1 normal story, sequel being written)**_

 _Wilds_

(ages vary)

 _ **9 Chapters**_

 _Normal Next Gen_

(Next Generation of Characters)

 _ **9 Chapters**_

 _Movie Trailer Rewrites_

(Ages Vary)

 _ **2 Chapters**_

 _Meet the Kitties_

(Late teenager age)

 _ **1 One-Shot**_

 _Author and Friends_

(Late teenager age)

 _ **2 Chapters**_

 _Spiked Drinks_

(Early twenties age)

 _ **1 Chapter**_

 _ **(Sequel Planned)**_

 _Flashes Vs The Dark Blades_

(late twenties age)

 _ **3 Chapters**_

 _ **(3 Story Parts, sequel is being debated about)**_

 _Broken Justice_

(earlier twenties age)

 _ **1 Chapter**_

 _ **(1 Prologue, normal story being written)**_

 _Savages and a Human Bioweapon|_

(late teens)

 _ **1 Chapter**_

 _ **(1 normal story, continuation being planned)**_

 _|Singing Next Gen|_

(Next Generation of Characters)

 _ **3 Chapters**_

 _ **(1 Miles, 2 Cleo)**_

 _|Cinderleaf|_

(Ages Vary)

 ** _1 Chapter_**

 ** _(Wild crossover being written)_**

 _|Warriors Actually As Humans|_

 ** _1 Chapter_**

 _|Over Protective Siblings|_

(Ages Vary)

 _ **1 Chapter**_

 _|Surrogate|_

(Late twenties)

 _ **1 Chapter**_

 _ **(1 normal story, Sequel being written)**_

* * *

 _ **Warriors Names**_

 _ **Cinderheart ~**_ _Cynthia Ciliana Lawson_

(Goes by Cindy for her friends and Cyndy, Cyn, and Cia for her significant other)

 _ **Honeyfern ~**_ _Haliah Hermosa Lawson_

(Goes by Haliah to everyone and goes by Hala to her significant other)

 _ **Poppyfrost ~**_ _Paige Philippa Lawson_

(Goes by Paige for her friends and Pia to her significant other)

 _ **Jayfeather ~**_ _Jay Jason Bramble_

(No name variations)

 _ **Lionblaze ~**_ _Leonardo Landon Bramble -_ Referred to in the stories as "Leon"

(Goes by Leon by everyone and goes by Leo or Lee by his significant other)

 _ **Hollyleaf ~**_ _Holly Hailey Bramble_

(no name variations)

 _ **Briarlight ~**_ _Breanna Blissie Grayas_ \- Referred to in the stories as "Bree"

(Goes by Bree typically and Bri and Firefly by her significant other

 _ **Bumblestripe ~**_ _Benjamin Bruce Grayas_

(Goes by Ben)

 _ **Blossomfall ~**_ _Brittany Bailey Grayas_

 _ **Berrynose ~**_ _Brendan Bradley Michaels_

 _ **Mousewhisker ~**_ _Mike Matthew Michael_

 _ **Hazeltail ~**_ _Hazel Hannah Michaels_

 _ **Foxleap ~**_ _Fin Flynn Matthis_

 _ **Heathertail ~**_ _Hannah Hailey Henderson_

 _ **Fallen Leaves ~**_ _Finli Forrestor_

 _ **Icecloud (loosely based off off)**_ _Isabella Matthis - Referred to in the stories as "Isa" (Goes by Isa)_

 _ **Ivypool ~**_ _Ivory Fernandes_

 _ **Dovewing ~**_ _Diana Daphne Fernandes_

 _ **Tigerheart ~**_ _Tyler Travis Jacobs_

 _ **Dawnpelt ~**_ _Dawn Delia Jacobs_

 _ **Flamepelt ~**_ _Flake Fred Jacobs_

 _ **Halfmoon**_ _Hadara Mason (no name variations)_

 _ **Firestar ~**_ _Firen … Fletcher_

 _ **Leafpool ~**_ _Leah_

 _ **Squirrelflight ~**_ _Skylar Bramble_

 _ **Brambleclaw ~**_ _Brad Braxson Bramble_

 _ **Graystripe ~**_ _Gunner Gary Grayas_

 _ **Millie ~**_ _Miley Mila Grayas_

 _ **Longtail ~**_ _Liam Longs_

 _ **Thornclaw ~**_ _Theo Thorns_

 _ **Leafpool ~**_ _Leah Fletcher_

 _ **Spottedleaf ~**_ _Sophie Silver_

 _ **Hawkfrost ~**_ _Atol Hashem_

 _ **Brokenstar ~**_ _Brian_

 _ **Brightheart ~**_ _Bridget Connor_

 _ **Cloudtail ~**_ _Clark Connor_

 _ **Ashfur ~**_ _Ashton (Loosely based)_


	2. Briarlight's Accident

**So I wrote this chapter and it got deleted -_- But! I'll write it again!**

 **Dragonwriter girl said, "Awesome! Hmmm... You could write about how Briarlight had her accident...human style..."**

 **That's what this chapter is about!:) Cookies for you! (::)(::)(::)**

 **Guest- I'll keep their names in mind but I have a pattern and don't want to break it, besides the name I chose for Firestar means "Blazing flames" a fitting name if I say so myself! :)**

 _Firen Franchise- Firestar_

 _Gunner Grayas- Graystripe_

 _Miley Grayas- Millie_

 _Liam Longs- Longtail_

 _Theo Thorns- Thornclaw_

 _Leah Franchise- Leafpool_

 _Dr. Sophie Sliver- Spottedleaf_

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Bree's Accident (Briarlight's Story)

 _Bree and Ben are 13_

 _Brittany is 14_

"I can't wait!" Bree squealed jumping up and down while shaking her brother by the shoulders, "The school trips tomorrow!"

Ben laughed, gently peeling her fingers from his shoulders, "I can't wait for it either, but I don't think shaking my brains out will help anyone. Why don't we use that excess energy of yours in a game of soccer? We can even get dad and Brittany to play."

"Okay!" She grinned widely, running into the room she shared with Brittany and hauling her sister along with her down the stairs, her neon blue soccer ball tucked under one arm. Ben chuckled watching his sisters tromp outside into the backyard before going down to find his father Gunner, who was sitting in his favorite armchair sipping his coffee pretending to read the newspaper while actually watching cat and cucumber videos, mildly chuckling in between sips.

"Come on dad! We're playing soccer!" Ben said, impatiently waiting for his father. Gunner folded his newspaper and put both that and his coffee down on the coffee table before following his son outside just in time to see Bree tumble off the fence she'd been running on top of. She rolled to a stop at her father's feet before bouncing back up like a spring.

"Hi, daddy!" The hyperactive teen bounced on the balls of her feet, an infectious grin on her face. "Let's play!" She swiped her ball back from her sister who was using it like a hackeysack before tearing down their small yard towards one of the soccer goals, causing Ben to chase after her and Brittany to yell, "Boy's vs girls!" Before sprinting after her siblings, Gunner on her heels.

"How are you still not tired Bree!" Ben gasped, he was lying on the grass trying to catch his breath under the shade of their oak tree. Bree was stalking a small blue jay on her hands and knees, she didn't answer his question too engrossed with her stalking of the bird.

"She's too bouncy for her own good." Brittany snorted, taking out an earphone and joining in on the conversation, "We all know that by now." She was leaning against the tree's trunk listening to music from her iPhone.

Gunner laughed wheezily, still working on being able to breathe after the exhorting game against his three kids, "She's just happy you two, she's always happy." A startled squawk signaled Bree's success on sneaking up on the bird. Now she was sitting Indian style in the grass gently petting the startled animal, chattering cheerfully at the blue jay and stroking it's ruffled feathers soothing and calming it. Gunner smiled, "I'm proud of her." He looks at the other two kids, "I proud of all of you."

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"Ben! Get up!" Bree yelled cheerfully banging open her twin brother's door, "Get up! It's time to go to the trip! Brittany is already awake and ready!" She pulled her brother's blankets off his bed and bounced back out the door, going to feed her bluejay Jackson. That same bird she crept up on yesterday and named after a boy in her class. Ben groaned rolling out of his bed and hitting the floor with a loud thump, causing his sisters to burst into laughter in their room.

Ben groggily rubbed his eyes, he was sitting on the bus with his best friends Mike, Brendan, and Fin with his sister Bree and her "acquaintance" Jay Bramble in the seat in front of him. "Man!" Mike grinned, "I can't wait till we get there!" Ben's eyes drifted closed and he was out for the rest of the bus ride.

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Bree was in Liam's group, eagerly waiting for the older man (he isn't blind) to lead his group of kids into the gorge for the rock climbing part of the overnight camping trip. Bree was itching to explore but she stayed where she was with her group leader Thornclaw keeping a firm hold on her shoulder to remind her not to run off. Bouncing along next to Theo and Liam she entertained them both with different stories she knew by heart, eventually convincing the entire group to sing "Flashlight" with her, overall she kept the entire group cheerful tripping on rocks and slipping in puddles with a dramatic flare to make everyone laugh.

Brittany was the only one not reacting to her sister, instead looking at her younger sister through jealous filled narrowed eyes as Bree tripped and nearly knocked her section leader to the floor, giggling as she sprung back up and started walking backwards pulling funny faces and imitating voices making the quickly tiring students laugh and chat with one another. Brittany had always been jealous of the quality that she herself lacked, the ability to cheer anyone up and make them all happy. She resented it even more now that her mother paid more attention to Bree as she could cheer her up and chat for hours about the craziest things imaginable.

Finally, they arrived at the campsite and everyone started climbing up the rock face. With help of course. Liam and Theo had issues keeping Bree still long enough to help put the climbing harness on her before she jumped into the challenge. Bre startled the guy who was anchoring her by climbing by a monkey and was hauling herself up to the top within a few minutes, dangling her legs and laughing before helping haul the others to get all the way up so they could get the promised cold Gatorade and ice cream after when they had dinner back at the camp.

When Bree reached to help Brittany the mentioned person slapped her hands away and struggled to get up all the way before Bree stubbornly seized her sister by the wrists and helped her up. Once she was up Bree whooped dancing around on the cliff grinning widely and playfully singing "We are the champion" at the top of her lungs. Everyone was laughing as she finished the off-key singing and they all started climbing down, everyone mingling and joking around with each other. Bree bounced around while they waited, starting a game of tag to entertain herself and others. With everyone tired out (except the drunk on happiness Breeanna) Liam and Theo led the way back to camp, Liam far ahead humming under his breath, a spring in his usually dreary step as Bree walked alongside him rambling about her blue jay at home.

Bree jolted awake when she heard Diana scream, "Move! The tree's falling!" Scrambling to her feet and ushering the others away from the campsite, one of the girls, Mei was whining about her phone in her bag.

"I'll grab it," Liam said gruffly, going back to the tree.

Bree jerked out of Theo's grip and sprinted after him, "Liam no!" The tree crashed down with a crunch and it was silent

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(Bree's View)

Pain seared across my back, startling me from my half-conscious state. _'Liam!'_ I forced my eyes open, my vision tinged red from the pressure on my back. I looked over at Liam to find him less than inches from the collapsed tree, also unconscious, a branch was lying broken over his head. But he was breathing at least. I let my eyes slide close with the comfort that my effort wasn't for nothing. The tree on top of my body creaked and I heard a sickening crack before I suddenly lost all feeling in the part of my body pinned under the tree. The pain mostly disappeared but by then my senses were already overloaded and my usually bright and happy world faded into darkness and silence. _**(Yes Liam's alive, We probably won't see him that much anyway and I didn't want her sacrifice in her eyes to be worth nothing)**_

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Theo rushed towards the tree as he threw his phone to one of the shocked students, "Someone call Firen and Gunner, tell them to get a four wheeler down here right away, tell them to bring Leah with them, someone's badly hurt." One of the girls obeyed calling the asked people while Theo and the boys attempted to lift the tree up off Bree and Liam. Brittany sprinted over, grasping her sister's wrists and trying to pull her out. By the time the sound of a four-wheeler became loud as it got close, the tree was already starting to splinter. Gunner jumped from the four wheelers and sprinted over, straining to lift the tree off his daughter. Firen joined in along with another student they brought, standing at 6 feet with golden hair and amber eyes.

After a lot of struggling Bree are pulled out from under the tree, her shirt speckled with crimson from the bark rubbing against her skin Leah delivered news nobody wanted to hear, "Her spine's broken, I can't fix this on my own. Firen, can you get Sophie to have an operations room ready? We can't fix the break but we can stop the internal bleeding. "Let's go! Hurry! Jay, she's going on your lap and you need to constantly test for a pulse." The blind black and gray speckled haired boy grumbled but let Leah set Bree down so she was laying across all of their laps, head lolling to one side her body limp like a ragdoll. Firen started the four-wheeler and with the squealing of tires the eight (Jay, the golden blonde, Leah, Firen, Gunner, Bree, Brittany, and Liam) people in the cart disappeared in a cloud of dust.

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(Jay's 3rd person view)

Why Jay himself got stuck on babysitting duty he has no idea, but strangely he doesn't particularly mind. After all, Bree wasn't awake and the only sounds were gentle breathing and the beeping of medical machines. Of course, his silence was ruined when she woke with a groan. "Hello, Breanna." He said curtly, closing his braille book calmly and turning his head in her general direction.

"How many time do I have to tell you Furball that my name's Bree?" Bree smiled, making sure humor was present in her voice. "You got stuck as my babysitter?"

"Yup, do you feel anything past your waist?"

"Actually no, nothing past my stomach... Wait, Jay doesn't tell me!"

"Yes Bree, your worst fear came true I'm afraid." Jay sighed, looking her directly in the eyes, cloudy blue eyes staring directly at her face. "You're paralyzed from the stomach down Bree... I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about it."

Bree's face fell and tears brimmed at her eyes as her head drooped so her chin was resting on her chest. Jay stood up and clumsily patted her head in comfort. "You're family's outside Bree, would you like me to let them in?- Woah!" He was startled to feel Bree lunge at him and wrap her arms around his back sobbing into his t-shirt. Jay stood there a bit awkwardly before hesitantly patting her on the back, his stance stiff and uncomfortable. Reluctantly he let her cry, grumbling, "So now I'm a giant tissue." Bree laughed through her tears at his sarcastic reply. Just for good measure she rubbed her nose against his stomach before letting go and stretching up to flick him in the nose with a laugh as he violently sneezed.

"Let them in you grumpy bear." Bree smiled ushering him away. Jay grabbed his book and left with no complaints before letting her family in and fuss over her, assuring them she'll live and wouldn't stop breathing during the night. Bree smiled at her family, the uncomfortable feeling of being paralyzed wasn't welcome, but her friendship with Jay and seeing her family care was definitely welcomed.

 _ **(Hope everyone likes it :) there's a teeny tiny amount of Jay and Briar friendship there but I hope you all liked my version of Briarlight's accident as a human.)**_


	3. Ivypool and Dark Forest

_**Dragon writergirl- I know right?! I actually feel really bad for doing that to her :( I shall do all of your ideas! Eh, they may be dark but who cares! It's ideas! May I ask what pairing you like so I know what to put in and what you don't? Cookies for the chapter idea! (::)(::)(::)(::)**_

 _ **Unicorn brownies- Thanks! :) I love Jay and Bree a lot :)(Darn, now I'm thinking of them as humans now! XD) I was actually worried that people would think it was a stupid scene :D I like it, I think it portrays her happy go lucky character :) Ivypool's the main character here! Thank you for the idea! Have four cookies! (::)(::)(::)(::) Can you pease tell me what couples you like so I can do them?**_

 _ **Dragon writer girl suggested- "You could do Ivypool visits the dark forest, Hollyleaf in the tunnels, and Cinderpelts accident."**_

 _ **I'm actually working on figuring out what her accident will be because I have Cinderheart's accident already planned and she gets metal bones and fake ligaments for her leg! :) Cinderpelt's I think will involve trying to help someone and breaking her hip, because hip bones are hard to heal and it takes years, even with a surgery she'll still have a limp for quite some time. I'm thinking that she'll be one of the ones to help heal Cinderheart after her accident. As for Hollyleaf's tunnel life, that's the next chapter! I can't wait to write that her life in the tunnels! :) Of course, our friendly little ginger and white haired Finli (Fallenleaves) will be there to accompany her. Ivypool's actually in the spotlight in this one, I'm doing when she firsts enter the dark forest and meet Hawkfrost! :)**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies suggested- "Can you do Ivypool meeting Hawkfrost?"**_

 _ **Definitely! I'll even do it right now!:) (one in the afternoon :)) Hawkfrost will be staring with Ivypool in this one :)**_

 _Atol Hashem- Hawkfrost (he breaks the rule because Atol means Hatefilled)_

 _Brian- Brokenstar_

 _The new Ivy is born_

 _Ivory- 13_

 _Diana-13_

 _Atol- 18_

Ivory was walking around the city, black hood pulled up over her platinum blonde hair, green eyes narrowed and looking viciously around the dark alleys and streets. Her jaw was clenched in fury, of course, her parents believe Diana about the vase! It wasn't like they'd ever believe her over her precious little sister Diana. Ivory kicked a tin can as hard as she could, sending it flying into a nearby dumpster. Even being a black belt in karate and her previous school's class president didn't make them proud of her, Diana never did anything and she got all the attention. Ivory's shoulders slumped and she sighed, Diana was prettier than herself of course, with platinum blonde hair dyed pink at the ends with sky blue eyes and a cute spray of freckles across her nose, fair skin and a nice figure.

None of that was Ivory, she had wavy blonde hair like her sister with no dyed ends, dull green eyes that could be mistaken for turquoise, no freckles, and more tan skinned than her sister. She didn't even have that good of a figure, not that it mattered with the baggy clothes she wore and all black clothes. Yeah, she was considered the goth girl at her school. But none of that mattered, she just stood in her sister's constant shadow no matter where she was. Even now that she was in the city of Hollywood Ivory couldn't care less about the glamor and "sweet life."

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt as she heard movement. Coming to her senses she stood dead still, her green eyes scanning the entire area in front of her. _There!_ Spinning around she dodged a knife attempt from behind her and sent the guy careening into a nearby cement wall, hearing the cracking of his skull Ivory was alerted to the next guy as he yelped in fear.

Balancing all her weight on her left leg Ivory kicked the knife right out of his hand and jumped into the air catching the thin blade. Tucking it into her belt for temporary use she threw a punch and broke the lackey's nose, sending him doubling over on the floor. Ivory took her anger out on him, kicking him in the gut multiple times before freezing mid kick hearing calm clapping behind her.

Turning she saw a shaggy brown haired man with icy blue eyes and a gun holstered to his hip with a knife in his belt, "You're a feisty one, aren't you? My name's Atol. Welcome to the " غابة مظلم."

' _Dark forest?'_ Ivory wondered, "Why is this place called the Dark Forest?" She asked a bit warily.

"Clever, I'll answer you question if you defeat me in a knife duel." ' _Uh oh, I suck at wielding knives.'_ Ivory thought desperately.

"Can I use my fists?"

"You can use anything on your person."

' _Rats, he's got a gun.'_ "Alright." She took out the stolen knife and brandished it, watching him, ready for any tricks from this sketchy man. As he lunged forward she took a defensive stance, blocking his strike with her own before pushing off of him her feet slamming against his stomach, sending her into the air and knocking the air out of him. "I'm not going down that easy," Ivory growled as she came back down, landing on his shoulders and pulling on his shaggy hair, making him run into things as he tried to dislodge her.

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"You're good, I will give you that." Atol commented from where he was pinning Ivory to a wall with his knife to her throat, "But not good enough. Come with me." He turned and started walking into a pitch black abandoned subway tunnel. Ivory warily followed him, her grip on the knife was tight and ready for use. A few minutes of walking through the dark he spoke again, the tunnel lightening just slightly, "We're here."

"Where is here?"

"The Dark forest as you so cleverly figured out. We're here to see my father." He shoved a few people out of the way, "Get out of the way you cowards. Even this new recruit is braver than all of you put together!" He snarled before leading Ivory to a quiet area with a black tent pitched in the center. "Father," Atol said respectively, "I brought the girl you wanted to meet."

"Alright. Now scram Brian." A skinny tall man left the tent glaring at Atol and Ivory. Atol leads her into the tent and Ivory's courage vanished at the sight of this huge man. Probably six and a half feet tall with wide shoulders, bulky muscles, and darker skin. Scars littered his body, a scar went across his entire face, stretching from the left side of his forehead to the opposite chin, crossing over one eye and his nose, he had dangerous amber eyes and military style dark brown hair with a thin goatee and sunglasses ontop of his head. Dressed in a black work out tanktop and black cargo jeans and with his size and stature, he was the perfect example of a mob boss. "Ivory Fernades."

"Hello, sir," Ivory spoke in a confident tone, not letting him see her fear and providing the respect she guessed he deserved.

"I bet you wondering where you are are you not?" He said, leaning back in his chair bulky arms over his head.

"Yes, sir."

"You are in the Dark Forest, training place of the strong young learner."

"Why am I here sir?"

"I've been watching you and you are capable of reaching new heights if you stay and learn with us. You'll be able to leave your sister's shadow forever." _I can leave my sister's shadow?! I can be my own person?!'_ "I am proud to see you took down three of our recruits and nearly took down my son." _Someone's proud… of me and not Diana?'_ "We can train you to become strong, stronger than any of us, your parents can see how strong you are." ' _But this can't be true, Diana is better than me… Maybe… Maybe I can finally break free… Yes! I can live my own life at last!'_ "Will you join us?" ' _Maybe I can get something else out of this.'_

"Yes. But on one condition." The huge guy actually looked surprised at her spunk.

"And that is?" Atol urged, looking curiously at her, also surprised she dared to make a condition with his mighty father.

Ivory smirked, "Call me Ivy. Just Ivy. No last name not Ivory. Only Ivy." The huge man actually grinned,

"Of course Ivy. Welcome to the Dark Forest."

 _ ***Squee!* I love it! :) I hope everyone likes it and I didn't make anybody too OOC, that would be sad. Tigerstar is the huge man by the way :) And he isn't being evil right now because he's trying to be persuasive :) my favorite part is the, ""I'm not going down that easy!" Ivory growled as she came back down, landing on his shoulders and pulling on his shaggy hair, making him run into things as he tried to dislodge her." It's so funny! XD Anyway people, please let me know what pairing you like and don't like, here's my list and I'll try to put in a short story for each couple, probably more than one for Cinderblaze cause they're my OTP in warriors**_

 _ **Cinderblaze (Cinder x Lion)**_

 _ **Briarfeather (Briar x Jay)**_

 _ **Hazelleap (Hazel x Fox)**_

 _ **Poppynose (Poppy x Berry)**_

 _ **Honeynose (Honey x Berry)**_

 _ **Honeypoppynose (Honey x berry x poppy)**_

 _ **Leaffeather (Leaf x Crow)**_

 _ **Squirrelclaw (Squirrel x Bramble)**_


	4. Dance Please! Cinderblaze

_**A chapter to keep you guys content while I write Hollyleaf and the Tunnels short story :)**_

 _Hannah Henderson - Heathertail_

 _Finli - Fallen leaves_

 _Go to the Dance With me Please?!_

 _(Cinder x Lion)_

Holly found Leon in his cabin with his formal shoes in disassembled pieces all around him as he gently tapped a firm piece of wood into the underside of the top of his shoes, his black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. "Leon?" Holly asked avoiding a snort of amusement, "What're you doing taking apart your shoes?"

"Making preparations for the girl I want to ask." He replied sanding down more of the wood to make it really thin and smooth and blowing off the dust.

"May I ask who that girl is and why you'd need supports in your shoes?"

"I'm asking Cynthia again, hopefully, this time her sisters aren't dragging her into going with them and Brendon."

"The supports?"  
"She broke her leg. This way she can step on my feet and let me take control so she won't jar her injury."

"That's-that's pretty deep Leon, but aren't you taking Isa? That's what you told everyone."

"I explained to Fox and Isa that I'd love to go with her but my heart wouldn't be in it. It may have hurt her feelings but I don't want to fake having fun when I'm not." Leon replied looking up at his sister, amber eyes deadly serious.

"How are you going to tell everyone?"

"By asking Cynthia at Dinner tonight in front of everyone." Leon smiled, "I really want to go with her."

"I see."

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Leon cleared his throat and stood up on the table he was sitting at with the other thunder boys, golden hair shining in the light, amber eyes warm and slightly nervous. "Cindy! Will you go to the final dance with me?" He tossed the startled girl a medium sized jewelry box, the box landing in her hands as she instinctively raised her hands to catch it.

Cynthia smiled widely, an adorable pink blush spreading across her cheeks, blue eyes twinkling, "Of course Leon! I'd love to!"

Hannah was staring open mouthed at the whole scene, stunned he asked Cynthia and that he lied earlier about who he was asking. Leon grinned from his position on top of the table before jumping down and sitting back in his seat, the other guys clapping him on the back and joking around. Leon winked at Cynthia before joining in and laughing at Mike's joke. The other thunder girls were gushing over the cute and brave asking along with the beautiful jewelry in the small box, a sapphire blue and silver colored volleyball shaped hair clip along with a silver locket containing a picture of the two of them at the start of camp messing around at the lake. Some of the guys were starting to rethink how they were going to ask their dates to the dance after Leon's unusual and effective proposal.

"It's beautiful Cindy!" Haliah-one of Cynthia's sisters- gushed, picking up the locket and examining it like it was the best thing in the world. Cynthia's cheeks couldn't get any redder, the blush was traveling up her neck, across the bridge of her nose and up to her ears, but she didn't seem too embarrassed, engrossed in the writing inside the hair clip, her grin turning into a fond gentle smile.

"It's high-quality work!" Paige -Haliah's twin and Cynthia's other sister- exclaimed in amazement looking at the tiny diamonds in the silver locket.

"Course it is." Holly replied smugly, "It's Cindy you guys, he always gets the best for her-"

"He made it himself." Cynthia interrupted looking at a small piece of paper folded into the box, "See look here,"

Holly took it and read it aloud as Cynthia's gaze strayed to lock on Leon, her expression soft, blue eyes twinkling with an emotion that couldn't be deciphered. "I hope the locket's ok, I worked with my dad to mold and design myself, the silver is sterling silver just in case you're allergic to metal and the diamonds are real, carved using my dad's diamond cutter to fit the tiny grooves. I hope you don't mind the picture, I found out Mike had taken a picture of you pushing me into the lake and I put it in the locket. I hope you wear it (If not my pride will take a blow :'( and my ego will be destroyed ), unlike the most jewelry I know you have. ~Leon." Holly looked over at her brother who was trying to balance a spoon on his nose with his tongue sticking out of his mouth going cross-eyed. "My brother, the most immature guy wrote this?" The girls went back to gushing over the jewelry while Cynthia lets her hair down before putting it back up in a loose bun and clipping the hair clip into place, the color making her blue eyes more blue and the dark grey ends of her hair more pronounced.

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"So you're going with Cindy to the dance tonight," Isa commented, her tone dull and a bit rejected.

"Yes, but I can still dance with you, Cindy told me you can go with me and she'll meet us there."

"Wait what? What do you mean?" Isa said looking at him shocked and confused.

"I'm taking you to the dance and dancing with you for a bit before Cindy, Cindy's going to meet me there so I can be proper gentlemen to you." Leon smiled lopsidedly, "I said I'd take you to the dance didn't I?"

"Well yeah-"

"Then I'm going to be true to my word, I'll take you to the dance, dance with you for a few songs like I promised before introducing you to your real date, sound good?"

"Ok but I don't understand-"

"Cindy approved I swear she did, I told her what I was going to do and she agreed, she's going to be coming with your date to make sure he comes and knows what to do." Leon said, his voice serious, "Fox told me to treat you like a princess so I will." He grinned, "Cindy is my queen but you and Holly are my princesses and I will treat you three like royalty."

Isa finally smiled, "Thank you, Leon, I appreciate this."

Leon grinned amusedly and joked, "Don't want the Fox sent on me eh?"

"Definitely not."

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"Cindy thank you so much!" Isa smiled hugging the gray and black haired girl as soon as she entered the cabin. Cynthia was nearly knocked off her already unsteady feet and Paige and Haliah had to keep her from falling backward.

"No problem Isa, it's seriously not an issue." Cynthia got her balance back and hugged the girl back while the other girls went back to preparing.

"What isn't an issue?" Haliah asked, popping her head up from a pile of dresses she was looking at.

"Leon's taking me to the dance!" Isa smiled widely, icy blue eyes glittering happily.

"What?!" The other girls nearly yelled dropping what they were doing to stare at the two blue eyed girls.

"Calm down," Cynthia snorted, "You're not understanding-"

"Cynthia Cindy Lawson why are you not going to the dance with Leon?!" Paige Holly and Haliah all asked, narrowing their eyes at the girl. Cynthia winced at the sound of her dreaded first name but quickened to explain.

"Leon is taking her to the dance as in he is coming over, picking her up, and taking her to the pavilion. Leon made a promise to treat Isa like a princess so he's going to take her to the dance and dance with her until I arrive with Isa's date -no I'm not telling you who he is- then we switch so Leon's promise to Isa is fulfilled and she isn't alone during it while I still get to go to the dance with Leon. Or in Leon's words his promise to treat Isa like a princess is temporarily finished while he treats me like his," she made air quotes, "Queen." She rolls her eyes, "I'm still going with him to the dance, just not roughly the first fifteen minutes." Cynthia shivers, "And please don't call me Cynthia, I have no idea why my mother chose to give me a posh name but I don't like it. Cindy's much better." She went over to her small closet and started rummaging around. Isa did the same in her own closet.

"Yeah I have no idea what mom was thinking, I mean Haliah Paige and Cynthia? All really rich sounding names. Honey Poppy and Cindy is way better." Paige commented, looking at a green dress that matched her eyes.

"I know right? It's kinda funny how all three of us go by our middle names." Haliah laughed, holding a golden colored dress up to her body and looking in the mirror.

"Hey, at least you aren't named Isabella," Isa commented pausing her rummaging.

"I think Cynthia is worst, I mean come on!" Cynthia turned to look at all of them, "My name is a Pokemon champion! And I stink at Pokemon!" She went back to looking for the outfit she wanted to girls all started giggling at her remark eventually all rolling on the ground at Cynthia's imitation of freezing during a battle or failing to throw a Pokeball. "Go Pokeball!" She drops into a pout, "I missed!" She then looked like she was panicking, hopping around in circles "I don't know what to do!" Before smacking into her closet door. Cynthia then straightened speaking in a cool collected tone, expression like stone, jutting out one hip, "Hello, my name is Cynthia and I'm a horrible Pokemon trainer." Isa grinned,  
"Hey I'm from Phineas and Ferb," She mock sighed lovesick like, "Oh Phineas." She pretended to cry, "We were in Paris and he didn't notice me!" she pretends to strum a guitar and sang in a deep voice Phineas' part, "Isabella kissed but I got my mind erased…" She stopped the guitar and froze speaking in her "Isabella voice" "Wait what?" Within a few more minutes all the girls were laughing so hard Cynthia was on the floor howling with laughter and Holly was choking on her laughter trying to get the girls back on topic; Haliah and Paige were leaning on each other bent other giggling while Isa was trying to stifle her laughter. Then the door opened and concerned looking Leon came in,

"Are you guys ok? It sounds like you're dying of laughter in here." He said with a grin that was threatening to laugh.

Cynthia choked before gasping out, "We're g-good!"

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Miraculously all the girls were ready for the dance on time despite the hour of dying of laughter.

Leon arrived exactly on time, dressed in a black suit with a white tie that matched Isa's dress. Isa was dressed in a floor-length white icy blue dress that hugged her upper curves and floated down past the waist, thin barely noticeable ruffles started at her waist and went down to the end of the dress; a light blue belt was around her waist along with silver earrings, a silver necklace and her hair up in a high bun. Leon complemented her appearance and offered his arm to her before they walked up to the pavilion, going to the dance floor and dancing to the song's beat. Within ten minutes a black and gray-haired girl slipped over to them interrupting their dance and dropping Leon's jaw. Tugging them both to the snack table Cynthia pulled a dark blue tie that matched her ensemble and loosened Leon's tie, slipped it over his head and handed it to Isa's date and tied the dark blue tie around Leon's neck, smacking his hand as he instinctively reached to adjust it. Isa's date had light brown hair, amber eyes and was dressed smartly in a light gray suit and white tie that he tightened to fit comfortably around his neck. It was Mousewhisker, Isa's denied crush. Cynthia grinned widely, "Have fun you two, come on Leon." She tugged him towards the dance floor as the song ended.

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Leon whispered, his lips inches from Cynthia's ear, "You're gorgeous."

"Thanks, you're just as handsome." Cynthia smiled and whispered in reply. Cynthia's outfit consisted of a spaghetti strapped dark blue dress made from a silky material that went down to her ankles, with designs of thin vines and small leaves going up to her knees paired with the locket Leon gave her and silver diamond studded earrings, her hair up in a bun with a braid headband.

She took a deep breath noting the slow music and was content to get closer to Leon who whispered, "Step on my feet." the comment completely broke the moment.

"What? Why?" Cynthia responded looking up at him, her leg throbbing from the absence of her crutches and moving around without them.

"I reinforced my shoes Cyn, step on my feet and let me take the lead," Leon whispered in her ear, speaking in confident and calm tones. Cynthia does as he asks and tentatively steps up onto his shoes, Leon felt her weight but didn't feel any pain from her stepping on his feet. Winding his arms around her waist supporting her body, he started to gently sway both of them from side to side. She put her arms around his neck, listening to him hum the lyrics in her ear.

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Holly was with her date Finli at a corner of the gym, watching her brother and Cynthia slow dance as a normal couple would, swaying gently back and forth except Cynthia was standing directly on top of his feet. Leon showed no pain so Holly guessed his supports worked. As she watched Leon hum in Cynthia's ear, the girl's blue eyes contently drooped partially closed, her chin resting on Leon's wide shoulder

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(Hannah's pov)

I gritted my teeth watching Leon and his idiot of a date Cynthia Lawson. It wasn't fair, I should be there being held in his strong arms listening to him hum the lyrics to the slow song into my ear, swaying gently back and forth, and be that close to him, not that rich idiot of a girl. Besides it's not like she needs any more jewelry being the rich kid she was. I waited for the song to be over before approaching him as they shifted their position to be at a foot apart waiting for the next song. "Hey, Leon." I smiled, taking in his unusually sharp appearance.

"Hello, Hannah." He grunted in return not looking at me but keeping his gaze locked with Cynthia's.

"Hey Cynthia, could I have a dance with Leon?" I asked and I was pleased to see she tore her gaze away from Leon to look at me, blue eyes lighter than mine a bit hesitant.

"Sure, but please don't call me Cynthia." She responded letting go of Leon's hands and stepping back, "Have fun," she smiled before leaving to the snack table. ' _Ha, I knew she's too kind-hearted to say no.'_ I smiled at Leon and was even more pleased to hear that the song was a slow song. Smiling at him I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around his neck, grinning happily.

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(Leon's view)

Slow dancing with Hannah wasn't really comfortable, she kept trying to flatten her body against mine and I didn't like it. I didn't like how she flaunted herself and kept me close by wrapping her arms around my neck. I reluctantly put my hands on either side of her waist while letting her lead. Dancing with Cynthia was about a million times better, her thin arms around my back, her head resting on my shoulder as she listened to my humming, her body language relaxed and calm. Hannah wasn't like that, she was thin but was shorter than Cynthia making it hard to stand up straight, and I kept my head up looking towards the ceiling to avoid seeing anything I didn't want to see, all in all, I was miserable. Boy was I relieved when the song was over and Cynthia came back. I immediately tugged her back onto the dance floor with me ignoring Hannah's huff as I dodged the kiss she was trying to give me. The next song was faster paced but I had a lot of fun with Cynthia, laughing as we tried to dance without jarring her injury. We spent thirty minutes laughing and struggling to keep both our pride and our grace together. I led Cynthia back off the floor to get us some drinks, having her sit next to Holly and Fallen and rest her leg. I could feel the wide grin on my face. This was great.

 _ **YAY! Cinderblaze! :) Definitely my favorite shipping :)**_


	5. Hollyleaf's Sewer Trip

_**Three Chappies in roughly two hours :) hooray! Anyway, review time! :)**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I forgot Dovestripeheart on there oh no! I will do a short story for Dove x Tiger in a bit (After I finish this of course XD) along with Brighttail (Cloud x Bright) Don't you just love them :D I think I'll do one involving Brightheart's insecurities about her scars then Cloudtail will tell she's just as beautiful as when he met her and says "but if it bothers you that much…" He gives her a hat designed to hide the scars that he made himself… with his Aunt's help of course :)**_

 _ **I think that's it for this chapter :) Let me check and make sure though! Nope! No more :) I'll say a random fact instead :)**_

 _ **Random fact- I listen to Go My Own Way Cinderblaze the entire time I'm writing warriors stories XD OTP hooray! :)**_

 _Why did I do this?!_

(Holly's pov)

Holly- 14

Cynthia, Leon, Jay- 13 1/2

Paige, Haliah- 14

I couldn't think as I fell down into the sewer system. ' _Of all things I could've revealed I had to reveal Cindy's accident with her brother! Cindy, Jay, Leon, please forgive me!'_ I managed to think before I hit the hard cement of my destination, missing the mucky water and crashing into the concrete. Pain seared through my lower left leg and I cried out struggling to sort through the fog filling my brain. Before I passed out I saw a boy my age running towards me then my world went black.

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(Up in the normal world)

Cynthia's lower lip trembled as her friends and family left, only Leon, Jay, Haliah, and Poppy staying with her. Sarah her mother glared at her daughter, "You promised it wouldn't get out Cynthia. You promised your father you wouldn't tell anyone about what happened!"

"I didn't! I didn't tell Holly! I swear mom I didn't tell Holly I accidently killed him!" Cynthia sobbed desperately, "I didn't! I swear I didn't! She saw it happen I didn't tell anyone!" She sobbed harder, "Please don't send me away, I didn't do anything!"

 _ **(ok pause here for a second. So Sarah and Bracken were arguing two years ago and Miles Cynthia's younger brother told his parents that he wouldn't leave the street till they made up. Cynthia was there and sprinted into the street blocking him from getting hit by a car. Holly's father's car. Cynthia twisted to avoid the vehicle and it clipped her shoulder causing her to jerk her arms violently. Because of the hold she had Miles in the sharp movement and muscular abilities in her arms it snapped his neck. It was a complete accident so please please don't start hating Cynthia, she didn't know she was capable of that and I don't want people to start flaming on Cynthia alright? This is how Molepaw died. That simple. Anyway, Holly doesn't know about her parents, Leon and Jay do but they didn't tell her because they thought she'd reveal it to everyone. Anyway… Continue!)**_

"You must've because she just told it to the entire neighborhood!" Sarah growled, spinning around and leaving her daughter in tears.

"No! No! Please come back!" Cynthia ran after her mother who pushed her back causing her to fall backward. Cynthia just watching her parents leave before slamming her fists into the dirt, creating deep gouges and craters from her anger. "I hate you, Holly!" She yelled, "You ruined the rest of my life!"

Leon knelt down next to his friend, "We aren't leaving you, Cindy."

"Why not?" She spat angrily, shrugging off his arm, her blue eyes wet with tired and defeated tears, "I drove you sister insane because of my secret! I killed my own brother Leon!"

"You didn't intentionally do any of those things… Come on Jay, tell her." He hissed to his brother who was watching with a calm expression.

"Cynthia you were too young to know what you're capable of. Don't fret about it, none of us are leaving you all alone."

"Come'on Cyndi, let's get you back to my house." Leon said, "Holly might be back one day and until then you can keep her room in order ok?" He stood up, offering his hand for her to help her up. Cynthia took hold of his hand and let him help her up and brush the dirt off her hands.

Paige and Haliah weakly smiled at her sister, "It's ok Cindy, we'll see you at Leon's house tomorrow ok?"

Cynthia mumbled an okay and let Leon and Jay lead her back to their house, the only thought in her mind was, ' _I don't belong here, I can't take Holly's spot. Not after what I did.'_

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(In the sewer)

Holly opened her eyes, feeling like her leg was on fire and her body heat was getting soaked into the rock beneath her. Her green eyes met a pair of green eyes about half a foot away. "AHH!" Holly yelled, scrambling back from him, putting more distance in between them.

"Sorry about startling you." The boy said. He was wearing tattered clothes and had bright green eyes like Holly's with ginger and white colored messy hair. "Here," he pushed a cooked fish over towards her, "eat, you'll need to eat to take the pain meds." Holly looked at the fish for a few moments, an expression of credulousness on her face before eating the fish in a few bites. The boy put a small medication tablet into her hand and made sure she took it.

"What's wrong with my leg?" Holly asked sitting up farther to see the injury.

"Clean break. It'll heal within a few weeks. Until then you're stuck here."

"Oh… what's your name? Mine's Holly." She said with a smile, sticking her hand out for him to shake.

"My name is Finli." He carefully shook her hand, "Is there anything you'd like?"

"No thanks." Holly replied instead looking around. "Where are we… Huh? Where'd he go?"

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That's what it was like most of the time, sometimes they played card games with a deck Finli had found. The cards smelled like the worst thing in the world but Holly was just glad they found them. She got to know Finli and he got to know her. But soon after Holly's leg was healed she'd go to the different sewer entrances and watch her family and friends, keeping an eye on their depressed attitudes. Every week or so Holly received a text from Leon saying he didn't know if she was alive but he was sure she'd want some info on what's going on, and gave her lots of information about what was going on, the only things Leon didn't say anything about was home and Cynthia. Holly wished that she had enough bravery to tell her brother she was alive and well, and ask him about how Cynthia and their home was. With that pattern of crushed hopes Holly settled into living in the sewer, she soon became fond of the dark place, at least until some bad enough happened that she broke free and returned.

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(Holly's now 15, calculate ages :) )

At least a few years had gone by, and Holly was getting fidgety, staying out longer and coming in less. One peaceful day they were playing cards when Holly's phone (That nobody knew she had) buzzed excusing herself from the game she flipped the top open squinting to read the words that were on the bright screen, impatient to read her brother's latest text. His last one had told her that they were having issues at school with a "Cynthia wasn't doing well" read in between the lines.

*Holly I don't know if you're alive or not but Cindy's leg is shattered and everyone's worried. If you're alive can you please answer my text! ~Leon* Holly's jaw hung open, Cindy's leg was shattered? She clicked the message that just came through and nearly burst into tears, the picture was of the school gym, Leon was kneeling on the ground next to an unconscious Cynthia, her jeans and around her soaked with at least 2 pints of blood, the right leg of the jeans were cut away, her leg seemed sunk in slightly, white fragments poking out in a bazillion places, Jay working to stop the bleeding. It might've made her nauseous if she wasn't busy absorbing her brothers' faces.

"You're going back aren't you." Holly jumped hearing Finli right behind her.

"Yes… my best friend is in trouble and I'm the one who caused it. I have to fix it."

"Then go." he started walking back to his "nook."

"Thank you so much Finli!" Holly called to him, "I'll visit you sometime!" Before jumping up and grabbing onto the sewer entrance before climbing out of the musky place once and for all.

*Leon, I'm alive and on my way.* Is what she sent to her brother before heading towards her house. Climbing through the window to her room she found it was the exact same except for the pile of Cynthia's stuff near the door and the messy bedcovers that Holly wouldn't be caught leaving. ' _Why would that much of Cynthia's stuff be here?'_ Holly briefly wonder before she put it to the back of her mind and got to work making herself presentable.

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Holly finally got to see her friend after four hours of waiting at the hospital. Cynthia was with Leon at the moment, he was making sure she stayed awake for the 24 hour period from a concussion. Cynthia's blue eyes went blank as she looked at Holly, but she did smile, "Hey Holly." Her eyes were blank and not revealing anything about how she was feeling. Leon grinned, "Holly… You're back forever right?"

"Yeah… How're you feeling Cynthia?"

"To be blunt in a lot of pain."

"I thought you weren't in any pain!" Leon exclaimed.

Cynthia ignored him, keeping her blue gaze locked on Holly's just a tad wary of her.

"I-I'm sorry for revealing your secret Cynthia."

"I hope you are!" Cynthia unexpectedly snapped, blue eyes smoldering, "With that revelation Holly I lost my family and friends! Only your brothers and Bree were ever there for me! And all you did was run when you had nothing to run from." She crossed her arms over her chest sitting straight up. Leon pushed her back down, "Calm down Cindy, we don't want you to hurt yourself even more. I think I'm going to leave, good night Cindy, see you at home holly." He got up and started to leave before Cynthia lunged catching his wrist.

"No. You might want to stay so I don't murder you sister like I did my brother." She spoke in a hurt and spiteful tone, blue eyes begging him to stay and not leave because Holly arrived. Holly winced at the remark, knowing she fully deserved it. Leon reevaluated his options and went back to his chair,

"Ok, but not because you're going to murder my sister," He purposely messed up Cynthia's hair making it get into her face, "I'm staying cause you're my friend and I promised Bree I'd stay here while she dragged Jay somewhere."

Cynthia blew her hair out her face with an amused look on her face, speaking in a dramatic and pretend hurt voice, forgetting Holly was there. "Suuuree, You're doing it for poor crippled Bree." She sang, a smirk playing on her features. Leon grinned and prodded her in the nose causing her to go cross-eyed.

"Yup. Now I'm going to take a nap while Holly is here, you two hash it out and leave me out of it." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, his breathing steadying out. Cynthia's attitude changed from playful to serious and guarded.

"What did you want Holly, for me to give your room back? Cause I really don't care about it."

"I came to see my best friend Cindy, Leon texted my you were injured and I came to visit you."

"Injured is a bland statement Holly. I was attacked. By people who wanted to kill me because of the secret you told." Cynthia pulled up the blanket from over her leg, revealing the surgery marks tracing all the way from her ankle to her hip, "This wasn't an accident where I slipped on something and broke my hand, I was attacked with a metal baseball bat with six people wielding them. I have almost no muscle and no bone in that leg at all." She looked at the green eyed girl with hurt and anger written all over her expression. "Go ahead and touch it. Everyone else has, there's nothing there to keep my leg still and straight." Holly shakily stretched out her hand and carefully prodded the scarred limb. Cynthia's leg twisted slightly from the touch, nothing resisting the gentle push.

"I- I'm so sorry, I didn't think this would happen."

"Holly," Cynthia sighed, the anger draining from her body, "I'm pretty sure you weren't thinking at all when you revealed it to the neighborhood."

"No, I wasn't. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I'll get over and get my reputation back." The silver and black haired girl replied with a calm sigh, then her attitude perked up and she smirked mischievously. "So I heard about you disappearing into the sewers, did you meet the boy who lives down there? I think his name's Finli?"

"Yeah, I met him alright," Holly said a bit awkwardly.

Cynthia leaned farther forward, looking eager for details, "Then spill!" She lowered her voice to a whisper and blocked one side of her mouth, "This place has absolutely nothing interesting!"

"Hey!" Leon rebuked, "I'm interesting!"

"Sorry Gufus. I meant there's almost nothing of interest here, you're the exception." Cynthia smiled sweetly, widening her blue eyes in innocence. Leon settled back into his chair, grumbling under his breath. Cynthia turned back to Holly, "Now spill! I want to hear everything!"

Holly sighed looking at her stubborn friend, "You aren't going to let me leave until I spill are you?"

"Nope! You're not going anywhere till you tell me what happened down there in the sewer!" Cynthia said proudly, tilting her chin up and grinning like an idiot.

Holly sighed but started recapping her tale, keeping both Cynthia and Leon interested as she told it. Slowly a smile spread on her face as Cynthia returned to her normal self. Putting Leon in a headlock and giving him a rough noogie and joking with them both, blue eyes gleaming with warmth. Three sets of eyes locked on each other, blue, green, and amber all shining with a relieved happiness.

 ** _Finally! :) I've been working on this chapter all day! (Since two in the afternoon!) But I think it turned out alright, there's a reason why I didn't have her reveal her parents, I like to think that as humans Squirrelflight(Skylar) and Brambleclaw(Brad) would be their actual parents and no Leafpool(Leah) guiltily giving them away._**


	6. A hat (Brighttail)

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I know right! He is adorable :) I love the locket too! :) My favorite part though is his thoughts on dancing with Hannah, he ain't too thrilled :) :) :) :D**_

 _ **No crushing my dreams! :) Yes, they do have the whole different neighborhoods and no straying into other's neighborhoods and all that stuff… But! I still like to think that Skylar and Brad are their real parents so hooray! :) Have cookies for reviewing! (::) Do you like Cinderblaze too?**_

 _ **(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(:)(::)**_

 _ **Dragonwritergirl112- I love your ideas and I should be thanking you and not the other way around :) Lot's of cookies! (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- Another Cinderblaze fan! *squee*lakjdsfjakl Whoops, hit my keyboard :) Anyway I don't mind the late review :) I'm not on a super tight schedule and everyone's reviews are always welcome! Even at midnight of in the early hours of the morning! I'm glad you like her trip :) I know what is she doing? You shall never know! Mwahahahaha! Nah I'll tell you :) Bree was forcing Jay to go somewhere and get actual food not hospital food, that and she was trying to get him to lighten up and play around. She is successful :) Maybe I'll write a short-story about that moment :D I am backed up in ideas but I am accepting everything still :) Right now I've got six to work on, Cinderpelts accident, Brighttail, Doveheart, Sandheart, Cinderheart's leg injury, and a preview for a different story I'll be working on not int that order. :) But don't you fear I will write yours, and may I say that I love the idea, "When Jay saves Briar from the flood water in bramble star's storm." It's totally amazing and great one for that matter :) Bramblestar's storm is actually the last book of the series I read, I refuse to read the next arc. Cookies! (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::) (::) (:} I ate part of a cookie :)**_

 _Bridget Brendon - Brightheart_

 _Clark Connor - Cloudtail_

 _Scars don't Effect your beauty._

 _Briget- 18_

 _Clark- 18_

Briget tentatively looked back up at mirror she was standing in front of. Right away she flinched and dropped her gaze back to the floor… or what she could see of it. Years ago back when she was a preteen Briget had been at a summer camp and was with her brother when they were attacked by a pack of wolves. Her brother Shad was torn to pieces and his screams still haunt Briget even today nearly six years later, but that wasn't the only damage done to the siblings.

Briget looked back up at the mirror and managed not to flinch as she took in the sight of the scars marring her face. Briget had been attacked as well and the result was deep gouges in her face and the loss of sight in that eye. Now the left side of her face was covered in pinkish white scarring and one of her blue eyes were cloudy and sightless. The scarring always made Briget more insecure about her looks thinking it drew people's attention away from the rest of her to the scarred part of her she didn't want to think about. Pushing herself away from the sink and the dreaded mirror she trudged back to her dorm room where her dorm mate was snoring away in her bed. Briget was startled to see that her boyfriend Clark was standing next to her bunk, awkwardly listening to the snoring and not sure what to do about it. Clark was the guy who didn't care about her scars, instead, his often told her he loved her just as much as when he first met her.

"Hey!" He grinned walking over and hugging her happily. Even for an eighteen-year-old, he was hyperactive and quite immature. He looked at her expression and his turned serious and calm, "You've been dwelling again haven't you?" Briget stayed silent, not wanting to confirm or deny it. "Bridge, you're always beautiful no matter what, I don't care about the scars and everyone else shouldn't either, I see a kind hearted girl with some flaws that make her even more lovable, not the other way around."

"I know that's what you see Clark, but what about everyone else? I'm sure they don't see it like that." She replied in a soft tone, blue eyes slightly sad.

"It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks, it only matters about those who love you think." He smiled then took something out of his coat pocket, "But if it bothers you that much here." He handed her a lump of fabric. "It's a hat. My Aunt helped me make it, it's designed so it can cover your scars if you'd like." Briget was speechless, she took the hat and curiously put it on before darting over to her mirror and seeing what it looked like. The had was white with tiny purple polka dots and it completely covered her marred skin and sightless eye. Briget grinned and hugged Clark who smiled, "Even with the hate off your beautiful." Briget laughed at the remark, thankful she could now look in the mirror and not be afraid of who she saw.


	7. Meetings (Dove x Tiger)

_**Wahh! No reviews yet, oh well :) Story!**_

 _Breaking the rules._

When Diana first met Tyler at school she had no idea she would be meeting him in secret at night for at least a week, of course, it made sense when she actually thought about it. Tyler was your normal bad boy with an aura that drew girls in, he also had dark brown messy hair and amber eyes. Both features Diana herself was a sucker for, so she was pulled in.

Right now she sir as carefully running through the streets of her neighborhood trying to be sneaky running through the streets of her neighborhood trying to be sneaky and not get caught while running across the thunder neighborhood border and into the shadow neighborhood where she was meeting Tyler. Stepping into the abandoned building Diana waited for Tyler to arrive, playing with a lock of her platinum blonde hair, blue eyes spacing out. "Tyler!" She squealed spinning around to face him and shoving away the remnants of her daydream.

"How do you always know when I get here?!" Tyler laughed picking up the shorter girl and spinning them both around a bunch of times.

"It's a talent of mine," Diana replied giggling, feeling dizzy from the spinning. She then tripped and would've hit the ground were not for Tyler grabbing her by the waist

"Coordination must not be one of them," he chuckled helping her regain her balance.

"For your information," She spoke hotly, "I have coordination-"

"But not when your dizzy, I hear you." Tyler cut her off before smirking almost evilly, "And you're very ticklish!" He lunged as Diana turned and ran, laughing while trying to escape the tickling. Tyler caught up to her and a tickle fight ensued.

… _**I hope this short story is OK, I actually prefer Dovestripe but I tried to capture their moments… I hope it isn't too bad, this is really short… until next chapter!**_


	8. Cinderheart's Accident

_Why do I have to suffer?_

 _(Cynthia's view) (Slight CxL With loopy Cynthia)_

I felt my lower lip trembling as I fought the tears pricking at my eyes. Holly just pulled my life out from underneath me. Revealing the accident involving me killing my brother years ago she destroyed my future and now everyone was leaving me. I noticed my mother leaving and couldn't hold back the tears much longer. A faint pleading noise emerged from my throat and it caught my mom's attention. "You promised it's wouldn't get out Cynthia. You promised your father you wouldn't tell anyone about what happened!"

My throat closed up, my chest squeezing at the hateful glare she was sending at me, "I didn't! I didn't tell Holly! I swear mom I didn't tell Holly I accidently killed him!" I cried, trying to make her understand, "I didn't I swear I didn't! She saw it happen I didn't tell anyone!" I felt the tears starting to trickle down my face and It felt like the pain in my heart was crushing me at the look in her eyes, "Please don't send me away, I didn't do anything!" I saw the rejection in her eyes and my heart broke into little tiny pieces as she spoke,

"You must've because she just told it to the entire neighborhood!" She growled spinning around and closing the door to my life.

"No! No! Please come back!" I ran after her but stumbled back and fell to the ground when she pushed me, my hope disappeared as I stayed in that position in shock, my vision blurring with my tears. Suddenly rage filled my body and I leaned forward slamming my fists into the dirt, "I hate you, Holly!" I yelled through my sobbing, "You ruined my life!" I heard the dirt crunch and white and yellow running shoes came into my vision before someone crouched next to me, putting their arm around my shoulders,

"We aren't leaving you Cindy." My other best friend Leon said quietly.

Anger burned through my blood, anger at him telling me he wouldn't leave me when he already had for that seductress of a wind girl. The anger drained quickly as I realized I drove away his sister and broke his trust. "Why not?" I spat bitterly my tone angry from my residual anger, " I drove you sister insane because of my secret! I killed my own brother Leon!" That was the first time I admitted it out loud and I missed most of Leon's statement with my blood running cold from the realization. ' _I'm a murderer.'_

"...Come on Jay, tell her." Is what of his statement I actually caught, my eyes spacing out and focusing on the image of my dead brother in my arms from when I killed him. Jay's curt voice jolted me from my memories.

"Cynthia you were too young to know what you're capable of. Don't fret about it, none of us are leaving you alone."

' _Murderer'_

"Come on Cind, let's get you back to my house." Even Leon's baritone voice didn't jolt me from my shock, my blood was still like ice from my revelation.

' _Murderer.'_

"Holly might be back one day and until then you can keep her room in order ok?" Leon stood up, offering his hand. I took hold of it, trying to be gentle and not reveal my turmoil, not wanting to cause any more pain.

' _Murderer.'_ I barely noticed Leon brushing the dirt off my hands and I didn't register the reluctant looked on my sister's faces. I heard them say something and I managed to mutter an ok, my blood like ice, and my heart in pieces. I let Leon and Jay stand on either side of me, letting them guide me to their house and my second home, ' _I don't belong here, I can't take Holly's spot. Not after what I did.'_

' _Murderer.'_

 _Murderer.'_

' _Murderer.'_

' _Murderer.'_

' _I know.'_

' _Murderer.'_

 _ **This is a two-part Short story… Because I wanted to do a cliffhanger! :) Don't worry, though, the second part will be up soon after this one :) But please let me know what you think of the second part.**_


	9. Cinderheart's Accident Part 2 out of 3

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Ahhh What? The cliffhanger? Or the story so far?**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- Yeah I prefer Dovestripe too :) But I can try and do all couples so yeah.**_

 _ **Mwuahahaha! Cliffies! :) If you don't like cliffhangers you might have an issue with this one :) There's another part coming in about... tenish minutes? Roughly?**_

 _Why do I suffer? Part 2_

 _Murderer._ That's the thought that echoed through Cynthia's Mind all evening while she stayed with Leon and Jay. Skylar and Brad let her stay and eat with them during dinner, even letting her stay the night in Holly's room. Right now Cynthia was sitting on Holly's bed, her head in her hands, cradling her aching skull.

 _Murderer._

' _Shut up.'_

 _Murderer._

' _I said shut up'_

 _Murderer._

"Shut up!"

 _Murderer._

"I said shut up!" She yelled toppling off the bed and hitting the floor with a jarring thump. Jolting to her senses Cynthia scrambled back to her feet before Skylar came into the doorway,

"Are you alright?" She asked gently, "You were yelling."

"I-I'm fine. Thanks for your concern S-Skylar." She stammered, blue eyes haunted. Skylar read her expression and nodded, leaving quietly. Mentally promising that if she started yelling again to get Leon and Jay to talk to her. The moment Skylar left the voice returned.

' _Murderer.'_

"Stop torturing me," Cynthia whispered, bracing herself against the dresser, blue eyes distant. She didn't notice Leon standing in the doorway with Jay right next to him.

' _Murderer.'_

"Leave me alone!" She howled, banging her head and fists against a wall, her body shaking violently, "Please stop torturing me, I know I'm a murderer alright? Please stop." She slid down to be kneeling on the floor, "Please… I know I'm a killer, please stop torturing me." She was crying now, blue eyes distant and unseeing. Leon and Jay darted over. Jay spoke up,

"Talk to her. Doesn't have to be about anything, she needs to hear someone else talking. "Why me?"

"She likes you better than me. Deal with it."

Leon grumbled but pulled Cynthia away from the wall and sat down in front of her, "Hey Cindy, you're safe and nobody's calling you anything, you didn't do it on purpose." He lifted her chin trying to look into her eyes. After talking about random things for at least five minutes Cynthia's eyes focused on Leon, the blue narrowing, pupils dilating to adjust her vision. Then she slumped forward and passed out on Leon's lap. Skylar gasped,

"What happened to her?"

Jay sighed, "She guilt tripped herself into thinking that she was a murderer, it overwhelmed her too much, she'll wake up in a little while."

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Cynthia groaned as she blinked awake, then froze, Leon and Jay were still there, and Skylar was asleep in a chair out cold, Leon and Jay were squished next to her on Holly's bed, Leon snoring while Jay had his hands over his ears, distant blue eyes open and wandering around the room. Cynthia didn't move, she didn't even twitch. She was stuck in between the brothers with Leon's heavy arm pinning her down with Jay's back to her. Cynthia breathed uncomfortably, not sure what to do.

 _Murderer_ The voice was back. Cynthia didn't know what to do, the voice was loud and constantly sent shivers down her spine while she couldn't move without waking up Leon.

 _Murderer._

 _Murderer_

 _Murderer_

Her breath hitched as the voice changed its words.

 _Killer Murderer_

 _Killer Murderer_

 _Killer Murderer_

Throwing Caution to the wind she moved Leon's arm and went over to the open window, carefully climbing through and into the tree that she and Holly used to race each other up. Climbing farther up and settling on a wide branch with her knees drawn up to her chest she waited. Just waiting, as if waiting forever would finally shut up the voice even for just a little while. She watched the sun start to rise, blue eyes barely blinking, looking at the reddening sky and lost in her thoughts.

"Hey," a deeper voice greeted. Cynthia started and nearly fell off the branch if it were not for Leon grabbing her shoulder and frowning in worry, "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you… What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, Leon." She replied looking back out at the sky, "I couldn't sleep, that's all."

 _Liar, Killer, Murderer._

"You were sleeping just fine earlier." He responded, "What's wrong? You've been extremely distant all day. Mom tells me to give you time to be alone, but every time I do that you get farther away."

"It's… nothing Leon, go back to sleep. I shouldn't be here anyway."

"Says who? Cindy what's wrong."

 _Liar, Killer, Murder_

"It's-"

"If you say nothing one more time I'm going to tickle the heck out of you."

"Alright alright!" She laughed before her face went serious, and her blue eyes haunted. "There's a voice in my mind… It's telling me I'm a Liar, Killer, and Murderer. And I believe it."

"Cyn, you aren't any of those things. Come 'ere." He pulled her by the shoulders and hugged her, used to the hugs from Hollyleaf dragging both of them into. "Don't believe that. Now. Why don't we sit there and watch that stupid sun rise again, and not let crazy insane thoughts interrupt?" Cynthia chuckles but does as he says, the voice gone and silent while Leon gave her a noogie and leaned back against the tree, both teens calm, Cynthia's restless and guilty mind temporarily calm and quiet.


	10. Cinderheart's Accident Part 3 Final part

_**Ivyleap of Emberclan- Alright, I'll make more involving Ivypool :) Let me know what events you's like to see, like killing Antpelt, and finding out Blossomfall Birchfall and Mousewhisker are all involved with the dark forest. Maybe even Ivypool vs Mapleshade :) let me know what you'd like to see :) Who do you pair Ivypool with? I actually like IvyBreeze, I'm strange XD**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- I thought I replied to your review already but maybe not *sweat drops*, Either way, I'm going to reply again :) No problem, I don't mind and reviews are really your choice :) I appreciate your reviews very much, though! :) I did it! The flood has been written! :) So the next chapter is the one you asked me for :) I prefer Dovestripe too, but I hope I didn't screw up Doveheart, I really did try and get into it. Why the cliffhanger? Because I felt like it :D that and they're supposed to be short stories, not 5100 words XD the third and last part will be up right before the flood chapter. ^-^ Thank you :) I like it too :) I'm thinking about doing a random one on a bunch of the characters in art class :) Lots of splatters from Cynthia, demented looking basketballs from Leon, realistic art from Holly, and swirls and random lines from Jay and Bree XD It would be hilarious :)**_

 _ **Cynthia appreciates your comment, "Cindy it's not your fault!"**_

 _ **Cynthia: It may not seem to be my fault from your point of view but It really is my fault, I started this whole thing. But thanks for the comment.**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I know right?I like the #Mixed Emotions :) thing :) In fact,**_

 _ **Anyone who feels bad for Cynthia in parts one and 2 (three is a happier chapter towards the end) review #MixedEmotions with your review! XD**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan (Continued)- I feel terrible that I wrote that actually, I'm so sad! *cries* It was the alternate option for Holly's revelation and I chose it… Poor Cynthia… *cheers up* Although she's hilarious on the pain killers she's given :) No spoilers but I'll say she's beyond shocked on how she snaps out of the induced confusion and what she's doing XD**_

 _ **Dragonwritergirl 112- Thank you :) It is sweet isn't it?**_

 _ **I can see why you'd say that and I can agree :) Doveheart is quite cute:)**_

 _ **#MixedEmotions am I right? I'm a terrible person for coming up with that kind of backstory XD**_

 _Anyone who feels bad for Cynthia in parts one and 2 (three is a happier chapter towards the end) review #MixedEmotions with your review! XD_

 _Why do I suffer? Part 3_

Cynthia felt two hands cover her mouth and nose as she entered the gym to fetch her stuff for basketball. "Let me go!" She struggled against the person, biting his hand angrily. Three years had passed since the whole Murderer thing but Cynthia couldn't get over it, she seemed normal and content on the outside of on the inside she was still riddled with guilt and remorse, she excelled in school and her sports following Leon's advice and throwing herself into her life and clearing up any secrets and untold issues she had. Cynthia had had a feeling that undealt karma was going to bite her in the butt someday and it seemed that today was the day.

"Now Now Cynthia, we can't have a murderer go without punishment." A calm male voice commented from behind her and Cynthia's blood ran cold, that voice was the voice of Drake, A really terrifying guy that went to the school. "This is your choice beautiful," Drake whispered in her ear, Cynthia was still struggling to get the other guy off her. "Join us and become a true killer, or die."

Cynthia glared at him, blue eyes smoldering like cinders, and didn't reply. Drake chuckled, "Alright, then you choose the second option." He lifted a spiked metal bat up to his shoulder and the guy captivating her let her go, shoving her to the floor. The moment she hit the floor Cynthia curled up so her leg was the only part of her body that open to attacks. Pain exploded from that leg and she faintly heard bones crunching and her jeans tearing. Another guy kicked her in the head and Cynthia's vision blurred as the pain grew to be too much and the hit was affecting her. As her world slipped into the darkness she heard Drake say, "After this, her friends are next" 'No! Wake up!' She begged herself, trying valiantly to wake up but her body shut down anyway and Cynthia's world was back to being black.

:O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O

Cynthia awoke to a world of pain, her leg seared, the pain never seemed to end. She whimpered only half conscious, her hearing non-existent and her vision beyond blurry and near blind.

:O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O

"Can't wait for the game- What the heck!" Mike yelped. They'd just entered the gym to find it wasn't empty, whimpering was heard echoing from the walls.

"Cindy!" Leon dropped his basketball after locating the source of the sound. His best friend Cynthia lying on her side in the middle of the gym, a crimson red liquid making a puddle around her lower body. "Someone get Leah and Jay! And call an ambulance, she's really hurt!" He knelt in the puddle testing Cynthia for a pulse. Her heart rate was insanely fast, blue eyes squeezed shut. Leon looked to the source of the blood pool and gasped. Her right leg was soaked with blood, looking sunk in. Jay arrived moments later and Leon told him his expertly cut away the denim covering the injury and have the students gasped and covered their mouths. Cynthia's leg was sunken in, with white fragments puncturing her skin in many places. Cynthia was barely conscious, her head on Leon's lap while Jay was working on the bleeding. Leon handed his phone to Mike and asked him to take a picture of the scene. Once he got his phone back he quickly texted Holly, even if he wasn't sure if she was alive. *Holly, I don't know if you're alive or not but Cindy's leg is shattered and everyone's worried. If you're alive can you please answer my text!" He sent the picture along with it before running with Jay as a stretcher took Cynthia to an ambulance, riding with her and Jay, holding Cynthia's hand to keep her awake. The girl was currently sedated with a light sedative making her quiet and sleepy but they couldn't let her sleep because she had a concussion. His phone buzzed during the ride and he checked it and almost dropped it. "Holly replied!"

"Wha?" Cynthia groaned, rolling her head to look at him through droopy eyes.

"Holly's alive! She replied to my text!"

"What?! Holly's alive!" Jay asked in shock.

"Yep, she replied and said-"

'I don't want to hear it." Cynthia growled angrily. Then her expression softened at Leon's startled and hurt look, "Holly's the one who got me into this mess Leon, please don't make me hear that she's coming back." She nearly begged.

"Alright." He relented, excited about his sister but agreeing to his injured friend's plead.

:O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O

Leon got put on guard duty for making sure Cynthia stayed awake after she woke up from the anesthesia she'd been given for the surgery and right now he was half asleep waiting for her to wake up. A gasp and he sat up, noting Cynthia's blue eyes wide open, her chest heaving from a nightmare he couldn't experience. "Cyndy? Hey, Cyndy, it's ok you're in the hospital, calm down." He leaned forward and pushed her back down as she struggled to sit up, her eyes haunted and violent.

"No no no no, I have to go, they're going to get Leon and Jay!" Se croaked in response pushing at his arm struggling to make him get off her and let her go.

"Hey, Cindy I'm right here, Leon's right in front of you, I'm not hurt and neither is Jay." Leon struggled to keep her down and not let her get up and fall to the floor. "Cynthia snap out of it!" He told her, struggling to keep her down and not hurting herself. Taking her face in his hands he let her blue eyes lock on his, "It's Leon Cindy, Your safe, Jay and I are safe, nobody's trying to hurt us." Cynthia's eyes lost the haunted and violent look and gained a distant confused glittering. "It's ok, everything's ok." Cynthia nodded slightly, blue eyes flickering down to his nose and a mischievous glint entered her eyes. "What're you doing-?" She flashed a smirk at him before moving forward and kissing his nose, blue eyes twinkling. Leon blinked in surprise a few times before gently pushing her back down so she was laying on her back, "They've got you on some strong painkillers eh Cindy?" He sat back down in the visiting chair and Cynthia turned over onto her side so she was watching him, curious. "What?" Leon said, "do I have something on my face? What're you looking at?"

"You." She responded cheekily, smile widening further at his confusion.

"Me?" Leon said. He had to admit, Cynthia on a higher dose of painkillers was hilarious but he didn't think she wanted to be laughed at and he certainly didn't want to tell her about her leg just yet.

"Ya you," Cynthia responded, her grin becoming a full blown out grin.

"You are so out of it." He snorted rolling his eyes.

"Yup." She replied, popping the 'p'.

"What am I going to do with you?" He sighed, he couldn't tell her to go to sleep or take a nap and she was so out of it, she wouldn't remember anything… 'Wouldn't remember anything huh? Let's have some fun with this.' He leaned forward closer to Cynthia, a grin playing at his features. "Do you like me, Cindy?"

"As a friend? course I do." She replied with a smile, seeming to know what he was trying to do.

"Come on, you know what I'm asking." He whined amused to see her cheeks and ears go pink at his pouting.

"Maybe I do maybe I don't. Why're you asking me?" She asked innocently, blue eyes widening innocently, "Maybe I want an answer first."

Leon snorted at her innocent expression knowing he'd give in any way but having a good laugh about it. "Well, I want my answer first." He pouted, she turned over ignoring him as if she really really didn't want to give in. "Come on Cindy, I want an answer," He whined getting up and going over to the side she was facing. "Please!" He pouted some more and saw the amusement twinkling in her blue pools under the confusion and distance. That was before she acted, leaning forward and pressing her lips to his before breaking away and backing up so her back was against the headboard, her cheeks bright red. Leon blinked in shock a few times again before scrutinizing her face. Cynthia's face was bright red, borderline flaming. Leon could almost feel the heat radiating from her face. The distance and confusion were gone from her eyes and Leon could tell it must've been a huge shock to snap out of the drug induced confusion to find herself kissing him. "Are you ok?" He asked carefully as she leaned back against the thin headboard and wall.

Cynthia cleared her throat not meeting his eyes, "Yup." Her attention shifted to her leg which made her wince and eye what she could see of the bandage wrapped from her ankle to her hip.

"I'll go get Jay, Poppy, Honey and Bree, they're all waiting outside," Leon said, going to the door and letting the others in. Cynthia's blush had cooled by the time everyone entered and she happily talked to the three girls before teasing Jay she wasn't going to end up a cripple… She hoped.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Leon and Cynthia were alone again after everyone else had to go and Leon was still making sure she didn't fall asleep. Cynthia was working on a crossword puzzle, tapping the end of the pencil Bree had given her along with the puzzle book against her nose, blue eyes narrowed and focused on the puzzle she was currently working on. Leon was relaxing back in his uncomfortable visitor's chair, watching some kind of sports game.

"You can come sit up here if you'd like," Cynthia commented not looking up from her puzzle but catching his wince as he shifted again out of the corner of her eye. "I can't say it's much more comfortable but-"

"Thanks." Leon smiled, standing up and moving to sit next to Cynthia on the hospital bed. Cynthia scooted over and let him, filling in another vertical word. There was silence again, the silence awkward and tense. Cynthia was cursing the painkillers vehemently for making her kiss, Leon. "Hey, Cindy?" He asked, taking out his headphones and looking over at her.

Cynthia inwardly winced but looked over at him, "Yes Leon?" She put down her puzzle book and gave him her full attention.

"What happened to make this so awkward?"

"I kissed you." She replied bluntly, expression dead serious, she looked back at her puzzle book and filled in a few more words, her hand shaking slightly.

"Could we-"

"Leon," Cynthia sighed, "If you want to forget about it, I don't mind. I'm sorry for messing up the chemistry."

"I was going to ask if we could we do it again Cindy," Leon said turning to be completely facing her.

She blinked then her blue eyes widened before narrowing. "You're joking with me aren't you."

"No," he replied leaning closer to her. "Could we do it again?"

"Sure?" Cynthia breathed, Leon's face inches from hers. Leon grinned and leaned even closer, Cynthia's breathing hitched but she waited patiently. Then they both heard the door knob turn. Leon quickly leaned back and went back to his chair. Cynthia went back to her puzzle, absently gnawing on her bottom lip while filling out more answers. Holly slipped around the doorframe. Anger flashed through Cynthia's mind, anger at Holly for revealing her secret and interrupting.

:) :) :) :) :) :)  
(Cynthia's view)

I was furious in simple terms. My lips were still tingling from anticipation and more wood was added to the fire of my frustration by Holly's reappearance. My. life. Sucks. I forced a smile through the fury, "Hey Holly."

"Holly… You're back forever right?" Leon said to his sister, eagerly waiting for an answer. I seriously wanted to strangle Holly for interrupting, now I would have to go back to fighting that stupid idiot of a wind clan girl named Hannah and friend of mine in thunder named Isabella for Leon's attention rather than getting everything out in the open.

"Yeah… How're you feeling Cynthia?"

"To be blunt, in a lot of pain." I really was, my leg was aching horribly while my nerves in that leg kept firing pain up my body… Not to mention the pain from my fingernails digging into my palms.

"...Weren't in any pain!" I heard the second half of Leon's statement but ignored him for the time being, right now was the time to clear up my anger with Holly, not bemoan about missed chances.

"I-I'm sorry for revealing your secret Cynthia."

Anger burned through my blood at the sound of my first name again for the second time. 'Has she forgotten my name or is she trying to bait me?!' "I hope you are!" I snapped, startling everyone including myself. "With that revelation Holly, I lost my family and friends! Only your brothers and Bree were ever there for me! And all you did was run when you had nothing to run from." I crossed my arms irritably across my chest sitting straight up. Leon leaned over and pushed me back into the relaxed position I had been in earlier.

"Calm down Cindy,"

'At least someone knows my name!'

"We don't want you to hurt yourself even more. I think I'm going to leave, good night, Cindy, see you at home Holly." He got up and started to leave before I lunged catching his wrist.

 _'Oh no you don't, you're not leaving me alone with her.'_ "No. You might want to stay so I don't murder your sister like I did my brother." I spoke spitefully, I tried begging him nonverbally to stay and not leave just because Holly arrived. I noticed Holly's flinch but didn't pay any attention as Leon went back to his chair. Hope sputtered in my heart, maybe I had a chance.

"Okay, but not because you're going to murder my sister," He messed up my hair so my vision was obscured by my own dark black hair for a moment. I blew my hair out of my face and spoke dramatically in a pretend hurt voice, completely forgetting Holly was there. "Sure," I sang, a smirk playing on my face, "You're doing it for poor crippled Bree." Leon grinned and poked me in the nose causing me to instinctively look at this finger.

"Yup. Now I'm going to take a nap while Holly is here…" My thoughts came to a screeching halt and I returned my expression to neutral as Leon fell asleep in his chair.

What do you want Holly, for me to give your room back? Cause I really don't care about it."

"I came to see my best friend Cindy, Leon texted me you were injured and I came to visit you."

"Injured is a bland statement, Holly. I was attacked. By people who wanted to kill me because of the secret you told." I pulled up the blanket revealing my injured leg, "This wasn't an accident where I slipped on something and broke my hand, I was attacked with metal baseball bats with six people wielding them. I have almost no muscle and no bone on that leg at all."

:) :) :) :) :) :)

It took a little while but slowly I opened myself back up to Holly, even giving Leon in a noogie for a not so appropriate comment. She was there when I was told that I wouldn't be able to leave this hospital room until the metal bones and artificial ligaments which could be weeks to months. When I saw the X-rays I was shocked into silence. I figured it didn't have any bone left in that leg but seeing on an x-ray before the surgery that my bones had been turned into sharp splinters and seeing one after the surgery, where they put a temporary rod through my entire leg, showed blank space where bone and muscle should be. 'I'm not going to be able to play sports for a long time. No more basketball, soccer or wrestling with Leon. I can't do any of those anymore.'

I got over the shock pretty quickly, accepting my fate and thanking star clan that I wasn't going to end up like my Aunt Celia who broke her hip and has a permanent limp. It'll heal, it might take a long time but it'll heal. Sitting quietly on my hospital bed with Leon sitting next to me I was content in the silence, this time it was more comfortable than earlier. We didn't talk about the kiss at all, instead of pushing the idea far away and showing neither of us minded the incident by Leon sitting next to me, I was currently leaning against his side, tapping my nose again with the pencil.

"That one's integrable," Leon commented reaching over my shoulder and pointing to a long horizontal word that was blank. "And that one's thievery." He pointed to another one.

"Well don't you know everything," I chuckled, filling in the words he pointed out.

"No, I think you're brain's not working." He replied modestly, "You're the one who usually tells me what words they are."

"Ah, now that makes sense." I smiled, "You can't have suddenly turned intellectually smart."

"Nah, that's Holly's job."

"It is isn't it?"

"Yep." He put his headphones back in and continued watching Kung Fu Panda 3 on Netflix using his phone. Even though there was a t.v on one wall. I relaxed further, temporarily basking in the quiet comfortable silence and ignoring my leg. While it wouldn't last long I would take as much as I can. It wasn't every day Leon Bramble was kind, sensitive and a mature… And I had him all to myself for at least a few more hours. Settling into a more comfortable spot I focused on getting my brain to work. 'What's a warm feeling people feel around certain people? My brain must be dead if it isn't registering what the word would be.'

"What's a warm feeling people feel around certain people?" I asked, just wanting to know his answer, already started to write down the answer in my loopy handwriting.

"Love I'm sure." He replied not looking up from his movie, lips twitching into a smile at something on the screen.

"Probably."


	11. Flooding, I can't die like this!

_Flooding, I won't make it_

"The river's flooding! Everyone get out of here!" Bree looked up from where she had parked her chair next Fin, Isa, and Ivory. ' _Flooding?... Flooding! Crap crap crap!'_ "It'll be here in a few minutes!" Bree's heart sunk to her stomach, ' _I'm not going to be able to get out of this one. But I'm not going down without a fight!'_

"Let's get out of here!" She urged her friends, ears picking up on the rushing water. "Move it!" The students scrambled for the high ground while Bree gritted her teeth and struggled to get her wheelchair up to some kind of higher ground The water was starting to come up to her knees. Glancing up she was relieved to see most of the other teens had already left and wouldn't see her struggle. As the water reached above her head Bree shoved her body out of the wheelchair its weight dragging her down under the water. The wheelchair tipped and fell farther down, dragging Bree with it as she struggled to release her jean cuff from being caught on the brakes of her wheelchair. ' _Come on! I can't die like this!'_

:) :) :) :) :) :)  
"Is everyone out of the water?" Skylar asked the group of trembling kids. Jay was standing near the edge of the high ground, listening to the rushing water.

"Where's Bree?" He heard Ben say, "Where's my sister?!"

"What? She isn't up here?!"Jay rushed over, tripping slightly on the rough terrain, "Where is she?"

"She must be back in the water, she can't swim Jay!" Ben said frantically, "Bree can't swim!"

Jay judged the edge of the cliff listening to the rushing water and falling stones. Kicking a pebble he listened for it falling into the water. Before starting to run towards the edge.

"Jay what're you doing?!" Skylar gasped.

"Helping my friend." He replied curtly as he jumped into the rushing water. Getting his bearings he surfaced, listening for any traces of sound. "Bree?!" He yelled, listening for a reply.

"Jay? Over here! My foot's caught!..." The sentence was cut off by gurgling as she went back under the water. Jay swam over to the sound, he hated the water but he wasn't having a repeat of what happened to his cousin Flake.

"Bree! If you can hear me grab my hand!" He felt something wet seize his hand, he could hear bubbles as she tried to surface. ' _Starclan let me see! Just this once!_ He dove under, tracing his way down where the water was shifting a lot more than anywhere else, something was kicking against the water, he floundered trying unsuccessfully trying to free her foot, but he couldn't see what he was doing.

Then Jay's vision blurred and lightened to a murky gray, amber brown eyes were staring back at him, Bree's eyes pleading for him to either help her or get to safety himself. ' _Thank you Starclan, I'm lot letting her die.'_ Bree's foot was jammed under her wheelchair's wheel, stuck in the spokes she couldn't free herself with her useless legs, instead of pulling desperately with her arms. The cuff of her jeans was caught around the brakes. Jay swam closer and quickly worked on getting her free, unsuccessfully pulling with her he then unlaced her shoe and managed to get her foot free, now for her jeans.

Bree started struggling to surface, her lips blue accidently inhaling water in her struggle to breathe. Jay swallowed some water himself as he grew frustrated with the fabric. Taking out a pocket knife he defiantly cut away the caught fabric and looped one arm around the half drawing girl's waist before kicking upwards and surfacing, coughing violently Bree hacked weakly, seeming to be irritated that she could help him. Jay pushed himself over to a rock and heaved Bree up onto the rock before helping her up too, he took a moment to look around at the rocky cliffs, finally seeing them like they actually were. His gazed rested on the coughing girl in front of him, brown hair wet and sticking to her forehead and clothing, amber eyes mostly closed, the cuff of her jeans cut roughly, missing one of her sneakers, she was lying on her back coughing, and she lips were blue.

Then his vision blackened once more. Checking Bree's pulse and finding it slowing he pushed against her chest forcing the water up from her lungs, causing her to vomit mouthfuls of the murky water. After getting the water out he carefully put her one his back and picked his way back up to the others, clothing dripping, and the wind wasn't helping, chilling him to the bone. Bree occasionally warned him about holes and unusual dips but mostly stayed silent, her breathing rattling moist and wheezy against his ear, her body limp and tired. Jay was getting tired, unused to the extra weight on his back and the rough terrain. He finally started hearing voices and stumbled his way over to them. He carefully put Bree down before dropping down on the ground next to her, distant blue eyes roaming around, chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath. He was a skinny little twig without a lot of muscle, carrying a girl his size and weight was a struggle.

"Jay are you alright?" He heard his teacher Leah ask as she knelt next to both of them, checking their pulses and breathing.

"I'm fine." He replied curtly after coughing a few times. "How's Breanna?"

"She'll need some medical attention but she's alive and breathing." Leah responded crisply, "You're going with her. Both of you need to be checked for hypothermia, that water is just above freezing."

"Didn't feel like it." Jay muttered turning his head so he was staring in Leah's general direction, "How're we being picked up and taken there?"

"Firen's coming with the four wheeler and a few blankets and towels, he's supposed to be here in a few minutes until then try not to suffocate." She teased before getting up and checking everyone else for injuries.

"Jay?" Bree rattled, he could hear her teeth chattering violently, shivering just as bad.

"Yes, Bree?" He responded curtly.

His attitude didn't seem to affect him, "Thank you."

"Just doing my duty." He felt a weak punch against his upper arm and glared at her, "What was that for?"

"If it was for duty you would've let someone else do it, remember you're blind?"

"Yes, I do quite remember I'm blind Breanna-"

"If you'd let me finish you Grumpy bear you wouldn't get mad," Bree said, her voice slightly annoyed.

"Hmph." He huffed indignantly.

"Anyway I was saying that you would've let Leah fetch me if it was out of duty, so why didn't you?" Cheek now colored her tone as she leaned forward on her arms, "I think you appreciate me."

Jay sent her the coldest glare he could muster but wilted when it didn't affect the girl who he could tell was grinning cheekily, knowing there was nothing he could do about it. "No, I don't."

"You totally do!" Her voice was bright and teasing, "You only treat your siblings with that kind of helpfulness, nobody else Jay. So you have to appreciate me somehow."

"How the heck did you get that tricky?" He muttered silently surprised at her reasoning.

"I learned from a pro." She replied coolly, he could just imagine the smug grin on her face.

Jay sighed, knowing Bree wasn't going to back down till he told her the right answer. "Alright, so I do appreciate you, how can you tell?"

"Because you smile more." She replied cheerfulness coloring her tone, "And you don't snap at me as much, ooh! I can also tell you like that blonde transfer what's her name? Oh yeah," She leaned farther forward a grin coloring her face at the light blush covering Jay's cheeks, "Hadara Mason." She whispered in his ear before leaning back a wide grin spreading across her features at the darker blush, quite visible against his pale skin. "By the way, she has very light blond hair lighter than Diana's, green eyes like Holly's, she's taller than you by about four inches, and she has a lighter tan than Cindy. Ooh! She's over there! Hey, Hadara!" Jay slapped a hand over her mouth as the girl greeted his crush. Hadara smiled weakly at them a bit confused why Jay was acting like that and turned back to her friends.

"What are you doing?!" Jay hissed, blind blue eyes wide open.

"Having some fun!" Bree replied giggling behind his hand before nipping his hand and causing him to sharply draw it away and wipe it on his soggy jeans.

"That was gross Bree." He stated bluntly.

"I know!" She grinned, amber eyes twinkling, "Aren't this fun?"

"No, it's not!" He hissed back, "You're going to embarrass me!"

"No, I'm not, I'm giving Hadara a jolt in the right direction." The brunette smiled, amber eyes twinkling mischievously.

"What? No Bree you are no getting involved."

"And why not? She keeps glancing over here and I want to give her something to be jealous about since she suspects I'm with you."

"Bree no, I'm not letting you."

"And why not?" She asked with a grin, her breath on his face. Jay pushed her back, "Because I don't want any girl problems!"

"I promise I'll explain when she comes and asks alright?" Bree compromised, out of the corner of her eye she saw Hadara gain a light angry blush as she stared and her and Jay. ' _Hopefully I can knock some sense into her and Jay.'_

"No Bree, just no."

"Too bad." Bree grinned, overpowering his futile efforts and getting closer, keeping an eye on Hadara's expression, the angry flush spreading up to her ears. Bree flashed a cheery grin at Hadara before gripping Jay's collar and kissing him, just for a moment before drawing back, settling back against her arms while Jay floundered and Hadara came over. Bree grinned widely at Hadara, "Hello!"

"Um hi… Hey, Jay."

"Hi, Hadara."

"I was wondering… I have a soccer ball tournament after camp, would you like to go? I can pay for your entry fee and other things."

Jay didn't answer and Bree elbowed him, grinning innocently up at Hadara who's green eyes were narrowed at the amber-eyed brunette. "Oh, of course, I'd love to."

Hadara smiled, "Alright, I'll see you there then?"

"Yes." Jay replied then waited for Hadara to leave before rounding on Bree, "What the heck, why did you kiss me?"

"Me? Because Hadara wasn't going to do anything anyway. I just helped you that's all. And don't you dare pull the first kiss thing, Mister. Willow-kissed-me-and-I-ran-away." She replied cheerfully, she wasn't blushing or even embarrassed, she just helped him get the girl he wanted, not shame in that.

"I wasn't going to pull that card because I know you were there and you were the one who saved me from her anyway. How do you know she wasn't going to do anything?"

"Call it girl's tuition. In simple I just know, I don't know how but I do." She responded seriously before shivering, "I hate the water." She scowled as her shivering got worse.

"Ugh. Come here." He scowled, pulling her over to him so she was against his side, sharing his body heat. Bree was indeed freezing cold. "I think you have hypothermia Missy."

"Probably. You do know this is just annoying Hadara just as much as the kiss right?"

"Seriously? Girls. Can't help a friend of the opposite gender without them getting mad at you. All except you of course."

"Yup." Bree grinned, still shivering, her teeth chattering. She'd given up a while ago getting jealous of Hadara, she was just a friend with a broken spine, nothing special.

"You alright?" He asked looking down at her, blind blue eyes distant but yet focused on her.

"Course, I'll be alright when I can be warm and stop sneezing." She replied studying his features a little before looking back at everyone else ' _He's Hadara's now. Take care of him Hadara.'_

"I'm not anybody's Bree."

"Of course, I forgot you can magically read my thoughts." She snorted, "I was just thinking that you're going to be spending more time with Hadara and unable to save me all the time."

"Eh, I can still do that. After all, what's worse, a person without a sense at all or a guide to fill in that gap where that sense goes?"

"Alright then, I'll be your eyes and you can be my legs."

"I'm not carrying you everywhere."

"I know."

"..."

"That would be asking too much from the Grumpy Jay."

"There's the teasing I was waiting for. How's your blue jay doing?"

"He's amazing! He know's all kinds of tricks now…"

Jay inwardly grinned as she started eagerly chattering about her bird with his namesake. He may like Hadara more than this little ball of energy but he'd always have a place in his small heart for her chattering and crazy ideas. He had responsibilities to many people but he was sure that Bree being the stubborn mule she was wouldn't let him distance himself from her, she'd been that way since he met her many years ago, a bright ball of energy with a heart of gold.

Bree smiled as she chattered about her bird, sometimes it was nice she kept eye contact when she was talking, and that meant he was used to her staring at him as she talked so she could usually study his features and discover new things like the faint spray of freckles along his nose and above his upper lip or the quirking of his lips as she talked about how her blue jay crashed into the sofa the other day and was stuck till she got home from his house to help him out. He may have a higher priority than her but Breanna would always be sure to wriggle her way into his life, he wasn't her best friend for nothing. And she was content staying in the friend zone for no matter how long it took, she'd silently love and support him for as long as she could.

 _ **Ok, I personally love the ending :) The part with the whole Hadara thing was hilarious XD I was laughing super hard as I wrote it. There is something for both Briarfeather and Halffeather fans :) Sorry if you're a Willowfeather shipper, there's a whole reason behind the running away and hiding behind Bree when she kissed him but I probably won't write it as a short story. To those who are waiting for the CInderpelt's Accident I am still working on the plot and her actual injury, her injury is going to be hard to do, she has to break her hip getting hit by a car to push Bailey (Bluestar) out of the way of a car along with her leg. It requires a special set of circumstances and it has to be worse than Cinderheart getting most of her leg replaced with artificial ligaments and bones… So yeah**_


	12. Briarlight's Doubts

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I know right? :) The mixed emotions trend :D**_

 _ **Hadara's is girlfriend in this one, there's some Briarfeather friendship, purely platonic friendship :)**_

 _Bree's Nightmare and Guilt._

Grunting with exertion Bree forced her wheelchair up the small staircase of Jay's house by grabbing onto the stair rails and pulling herself up. She took a few deep breaths before reaching up and knocking on the door, waiting patiently for her friend to open the door. She finally managed to escape her mother's clutches for the night and was looking forward to spending time with Cynthia, Jay, and his siblings, something she hadn't done for years, usually Cynthia came over with Holly and the three girls had a sleepover at Bree's house but they never brought the two boys who were the fun of any sleepover; That and Cynthia wasn't as into it as she would be if Leon was there. Lost in her thoughts she was jolted back to reality when she was nearly knocked backward off the steps by an extremely excited looking Diana, "Bree! It's so good to see you-"

"Diana, if you don't shut up I'm going to kill you with my pocket knife," Cynthia grunted pushing Bree's chair back up the last stair and wheeling her inside.

"What's got Cindy in such a bad mood?" Bree giggled as the grumpy teen rolled her to the stairway to the second floor.

"I just got back from paintball with Poppy, Honey and her boyfriend Brendon." Bree winced

"Ouch."

"Yeah ouch. Brendon was showing off and kept aiming for my head so I have a pounding headache." Cynthia scowled before she yelled up the stairs, "Leon! Come help me with Bree!" Right away a golden blonde head popped his head down the stairs.

"Coming Cyn, Hey Bree!" He rushed down and together he and Cynthia hauled her up the stairs.

"Hey, Jay!" Leon yelled to his brother, "Bree's here!"

"What?" The blind gray and black haired boy strode grumpily out of his room, "Why are you carrying her? Didn't you guys set up the ramps?"

"Well we were going too but Cindy arrived just as Holly and I were hauling them out of the garage, she's got a migraine the size of a football field and we needed to get something for it first before she could help me get the ramps up," Leon responded easily. After a bit of a bumpy ride and Cynthia yelling in pain as Leon dropped Bree on top of her foot, they made it upstairs to Jay and Leon's room. Which was neat and clean on Jay's side while Leon's side was quite a mess. "Let's go get the ramps, Cindy." He dragged her back down the stairs while Jay continued to work on his brother's part of the room and Holly helped the paralyzed girl to get comfortable on Jay's bed, where they'd all watch a movie while waiting for Diana and Ivory to leave.

Bree had a good time, playing video games -Cynthia and Leon argued about who won even though it said they were tied- "I swear I beat you, Leon!"

"No, I beat you!"

Watching a few movies,- Holly was furious about the ending of a few of them- "What kind of ending was that? All the characters are killed?!"

And overall messing around and catching up. Skylar made one of the everyone's favorite dishes, Lasagna for dinner which was delicious. Then they had a video game tournament in super smash bros that Jay surprisingly won -surprisingly because he couldn't see the screen at all- before Skylar forced them all to bed. Bree stayed in Holly and Cynthia's room while the boys slept in their room.

Bree stared at the ceiling, not wanting to close her amber eyes and have a nightmare again. To pass the time she listened to Cynthia's and Holly's breathing, Cynthia's more of a soft snore almost a cat like a purr and Holly's was deep and quiet. She stifled some giggles at Cynthia's asleep breathing, even her body was vibrating. Having slept over to her before she knew Cynthia didn't know she did it, Cynthia figured she tended to snore from everyone telling her she made some kind of noise when asleep but always passed it off as snoring, even sometimes faking a loud snore just to mess with people. The giggled fit past and she looked over at her friends, amused at their positions. Holly was curled up in a small ball tucking in as far as she could, she wasn't moving and she could be mistaken dead if it were not for her steady breathing. Bree could see why as she looked over at Cynthia, who was sprawled on her stomach with her left arm pinned under her stomach, the other thrown over her head hiding her eyes from any sort of light, her toes were twitching slightly, probably from something in her dream. Bree herself was lying on her back in between both of them, her paralyzed legs stretched out in front of her, her arms under her head as she looked up at the white ceiling that contained many patterns. ' _There' a bunny, a bird, a cookie, a cell phone? Hmm… oh, that's just a rectangle.'_ Slowly Bree's eyes drooped closed as she drifted to sleep.

" _Get up Bree!" A voice snapped, 'You're going to be late for school!"Bree opened her eyes and was startled to see her sister bending over in front of her, "Get up before I drag you out of here." Brittany said gruffly, green eyes glinting with irritation._

" _Oh, sorry Brittany, thanks for waking me up, though!" Bree chirped cheerfully and hauled herself into a sitting position before yelping as Brittany's fist connected with her nose, causing Bree's head to snap up and back into the wall. Bree covered her nose with one hand as stars blurred her vision. "What was that for? I didn't do anything!" She said with a confused tone, keeping a firm lid on her temper to be kind to her sister. 'She's just angry, I can handle this.'_

" _That's for letting the tree fall on top of you," Brittany replied coldly before spinning around and leaving the room. Bree looked at the mirror in her room to see red trickling from her nose at a steady rate._

" _I don't think it's broken… bruised? Probably." She gingerly pressed against her nose and quickly pulled her hand back._

' _No, let me out of here! I know what happens here!'_

 _The dream blurred to after school when Bree was carefully getting out of the van, making sure her chair wasn't going to catch on anything and make her face plant to the ground. Brittany stuck her foot out and Bree fell arms flailing she tipped forwards and crashed to the ground, getting knocked out of the chair and hitting her nose again for the second time that day. 'That's weird, I swear I checked…' She thought as she took a few deep breaths, her eyes watering at the sharp pain._

" _Brittany! Why did you trip Bree?" Ben asked with wide eyes._

' _Oh… that's why I fell. What did I do to make her so mad?'_

" _Because I wanted to. Aren't you going to Mike's house?"_

" _Oh yeah! I totally forgot!" He ran off leaving his two sisters._

" _Aren't you so special Breanna?" Brittany sneered stepping closer to her sister on the ground._

" _What? I'm not special-"_

" _Mom loves you way more than Ben and I, why?" She pushed her sister farther to the ground, pinning her down with a foot. "Because you had to be a hero and get pinned under a tree."_

" _I wasn't being a hero, I just wanted to help-"_

" _That's what a hero is Breanna." Brittany sneers, "Idiots who risk their lives to help other people."_

" _Then everyone can be a hero, we're all heroes in our own way, Britt," Bree replied cheerfully, ignoring the crushing feeling in her ribs. "We're all a hero, even you."_

" _You aren't a hero. You're a broken girl Bree. And you stole mom's love from me." She punched her in the face again. Bree grunted but didn't retaliate, not wanting to use violence._

" _I don't like it- Ow!" She covered her face with her hands as Brittany hit her again and again, "I ow! Don't like, ow! The extra attention ow! Either! I'm trying to talk to you! Stop hitting me!"_

 _Brittany didn't heed to advice and Pinned her sister's hands behind her back. Bree let her punch her in the gut and didn't retaliate, partially 'cause she couldn't and partially because she didn't want to. 'Someone walk by and save me from her.' Fortunately, luck seemed to be on her side as she heard a few voices._

" _What the heck?" I heard Holly gasp._

" _I got Brittany." I then heard Cynthia's voice say, "Jay you get Bree. Leon, you help me." Brittany was lifted off me and restrained by the people I couldn't have asked for anyone better. I felt thin arms lift me up under the arms and carefully place me back into my now right sided chair. Jay knelt in front of me, an angry scowl on his face like always._

" _You'll be ok. Probably bruised for a while, though."_

 _Bree laughed almost nervously, "I can handle bruises." One of her eyes were swelling shut and her nose was still bleeding, "I'm fine you guys, I can take care of myself."_

" _Nah, we're your friends, it's our job for helping you," Cynthia said with fake cheerfulness, her blue eyes glinting with seriousness, and anger directed at Brittany._

' _I don't want to be here anymore… Wake up! Wake up me!'_

 _Bree stared at the mirror in her room, shock evident in the wide amber eye and raised eyebrows. Brittany had done more than she thought she had. Her left eye was turning dark purple, her lip was split, blood was dried to her chin and above her top lip. And that was only the face injuries. Bree quickly spun in her chair hearing the door open. Brittany was revealed, looking partially sorry and partially satisfied at the damage, "I'm sorry."_

" _Ok, apology accepted! I'll stay out of your way ok?" Bree chirped easily, outwardly cheerful while she could hear her blood pumping in her ears and felt the injuries she had sustained._

" _Sounds good. But I don't like mom's favoritism…" She growled getting closer._

" _I don't like it either Brittany-"_

" _I don't care what you think."_

' _This is enough! Wake up!"_

"Bree wake up! Wake up!" Bree snapped her eyes open with a gasp and found Jay Leon and Holly all looking at her with worry. Cynthia's breathing was next to her, the sleeping girl providing comfort from her weird way of breathing.

"Are you ok?" Holly asked worriedly, she had been the one shaking her.

"Y-Yeah." Bree stuttered, she hadn't been aware she was covered in cold sweat until now. "I'm fine. G-go back to sleep, I'm just going to get a drink." Holly helped her into her chair and Bree quietly rolled down the hall, still shaking slightly from the memory nightmare. So lost in her thoughts and goal of getting a drink of water she didn't notice soft footsteps following her until she turned after getting the glass and nearly dropped it. "Jeez Jay! You scared the life from me!" She set the glass down on the counter and smiled at him, the smile itself was a struggle and he could see it. His blind blue eyes stared into her soul.

"What did you see Bree." He asked, his voice less gruff and more raspy and tired.

"Nothing, just a memory." She sipped her water, relieved at the feel of the liquid sliding down her throat.

"It must've been something from the way you were yelling and struggling."

"Just a memory-"

"About Brittany's unfounded jealousy?" Jay asked knowingly.

"Why and how do you always know that? And… yes, it was about Brittany." She took a larger gulp of the water, making sure not the choke on it.

"Don't listen to her."

"Well sorry, but it's hard not to when she's always there to tell me that," Bree replied with a bit of annoyance in her tone as she set down the now empty glass. ' _I'm exactly what Brittany says I am-'_

"Bree, stop. You told me when Holly left that it wasn't my fault she disappeared, just like now it isn't your fault your sister is being bitter-"

"Yes, it is! I ran after Liam and got stuck under a tree!" Bree snapped, water glistening in her eyes, "If I hadn't gotten pinned under that tree I wouldn't be injured, Brittany wouldn't be angry, and my mom would be there for my siblings!" Crystal like tears rolled down her cheeks dripping down into her lap, Her hands clenched into fists.

"So you regret saving Liam's life? Isn't it better he's blind now then completely dead?" Jay replied curtly, uncomfortable with the girl's self-anger.

That stopped Bree in her tracks, she froze staring at him with wide, shocked amber eyes, "Of course not," She breathed, "Of course I don't regret saving Liam's life."

"Then what do you regret? Getting pinned under that tree saved Liam's life. He's grateful and I'm sure his entire family is as well." Jay said grumpily, he was leaning against one of the counters, blind blue eyes looking in her direction.

"How do you always know what to say?" Bree asked with a small laugh.

"I don't. But like I always say, if you want comfort run to your mother if you want healing stop whining."

"You're just a softie aren't you Jay?" Bree grinned, her amusement entering her tone.

"If you say so." Jay snorted standing up straight. Bree was startled to find he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, something she hadn't been able to see while he was in the shadows.

"Where're you going-"

"Hadara asked me to come meet her friend Finli, he's apparently Holly's boyfriend." He rolled his eyes, "She wants me to meet him first before Leon does."

"It's for the best," Bree laughed, "Leon would probably murder him for," She made air quotes that Jay couldn't see but could hear in her tone, "Taking his sister away."

"Probably. Why don't you go talk to Cynthia? I'm sure she could help settle your guilt, after all." He turned his eyes on her, looking directly at her face, "She's more guilt-ridden than any of us."

"I will. Have fun with your girlfriend Jay, thanks for talking to me." Bree smiled, rubbing one of her hands over her face before rolling over to the ramp covered staircase and going back up as Jay disappeared outside to go to his girlfriend Hadara Mason's house. Bree found the other three had fallen asleep waiting for her. Cynthia was curled in a ball in between Holly and Leon, the boy had an arm flung over both his friend and his sister, snoring slightly. Bree reached over and pulled on Leon's arm, she could feel his body vibrating from Cynthia's sleeping breathing. "Leon, wake up!"

"What?" Leon grumbled, turning over and sitting up, "Bree?"

"Yeah it's me, can you help me?"

"Sure." Leon got up and helped Bree up onto the bed before he returned back to his previous position, the four of them squishing onto Holly's smallish bed. Bree listened to the mix of deep breathing, content, for now, she'd ask Cynthia for advice tomorrow, but for now, she was ok squished with her friends, listening to the mixture of snoring from Leon, that weird purring noise from Cynthia, and the deep quiet breathing from Holly.

 ** _I hope you all like this, I'm working on a few more and Cinderpelt's Accident, but school is getting in the way and I just got a digital drawing pad that I'm trying out :) I'll put up a link for my deviantart account for those who want to look at it._**


	13. Art Disaster

_**Guest- Happy endings are nice aren't they :)**_

 _ **Unicorn brownies- I know right? Halfxjayxbriar is hilarious as humans :) I'm glad you like it! :) I enjoy writing it too :)**_

 _ **I warn you I'm better than writing than I am drawing XD**_

 _ **Dragonwriter112- They are aren't they? :)**_

 _ **I can do that one today, it isn't as complicated at Cinderpelt's Accident and I'd love to write it! :)**_

 _Art Disaster_

"Today we're free drawing, draw whatever you'd like, but keep it on the paper, not the floor." The art teacher sighed sitting back in her chair and watching the high school students get to work.

Cynthia's mind was completely blank, she didn't know what to draw, art wasn't particularly her best subject, she preferred sports and strangely enough English. Art just wasn't her specialty, She looked at the many colored paints scattered all around her desk, thinking about what to draw. Carefully she drew a round circle and drew in a few black lines for the mouth and eyes. Flicking the paint off her fingers she froze looking at the paint splatters all over the canvas. With a mischevious grin, she scooped up a handful of her paint and threw it at the canvas, splattering bright sky blue paint all over it… and Hannah who was sitting in front of her. Hannah let out a yelp and jumped out of her seat to glare at the black haired girl. She couldn't say anything though because of Skylar -her best friend's mom- who was the art teacher and would believe Cynthia easier than Hannah herself. Cynthia waggled her fingers at her, blue paint coating them, revealing she was definitely the culprit.

Hannah glowered at her and hissed, "What was that for?!"

Cynthia leaned forward slightly, blue eyes still mischevious, "That was for betraying my friend, It's just taken me this long to do it without him noticing." She leaned sideways dodging the attempt to cover her with paint. Leon yelped and fell out of his chair as he got a faceful of neon green paint. Cynthia quickly helped him up, the paint on her fingers smearing on his wrist.

"Why am I covered in paint?" Leon asked a little annoyedly looking at the two possible culprits.

"She started it," Hannah explained quickly while Cynthia didn't say anything about it, instead, she tilted her head and smeared the paint on his face into his blonde hair.

"I think green's an ok look on you, Leo." She smirked before pushing him back with a complaint as he dipped his fingers into silver paint and smeared markings with his thumb under each of her eyes.

"There," he commented smugly, "We're even." Cynthia turned to Holly and worriedly poked her shoulder,

"What did he do to my face?" She asked her, blue eyes narrowed.

Holly briefly looked up before she chortled with amusement and went back to her painting, "Looks good on you Cindy." Cynthia went cross-eyed trying to see to the marks,

"What did you do? I can't see it!"

"Just a set of-"

"You three, please stop disrupting the class… Oh, my." Skylar paused midsentence as she took in the sight of the three paint covered teens. Leon's entire face was bright bright green, the front of his hair was also green and standing on end in ridges from where Cynthia had smudged it with her fingers. Hannah's back and sides were covered in sky blue paint, and her hair was dripping with it. Cynthia has blue paint on her fingers, with silver markings the shape of football markings just underneath her eyes. "Alright, sit back down and get back to work. Leonardo you'll need to visit a sink after class. Mrs. Henderson, I'll write you a late pass to your next class for cleaning the paint off. Mrs. Larson, you'll be aiding Hannah and giving her anything she needs."

"I didn't mean to hit her with the paint Mrs. Bramble, I was covering my canvas with splatters and it got on Hannah," Cynthia replied innocently, blue calm and innocent.

"Then where did you get the silver paint on your face from?"

"Hannah tried throwing the green paint at me but she missed and it hit Leon. I smeared the paint on his face as an attempt to clean it but smeared it into his hair…"

"So I put the marks on her face," Leon finished, "I wanted to get even and put silver on her face."

Skylar sighed, "Alright you three, get back to work. Cynthia, I expect you to help get the paint off Leonardo alright?"

"Okay." Cynthia waited till Skylar went back to her art before sticking her tongue out at Hannah, acting immature but perfectly fine with it. She went back to splattering paint on her canvas and Leon returned to continue his attempts to draw a decent basketball. Hannah muttered under her breath but did as Skylar asked and returned to her work.

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Skylar sighed watching the whole thing unfold, she didn't know why she didn't transfer Leon and Cynthia out of her class but she never did. Even though they stressed her out to no end. Giggling caught her attention, looking up at her art, she noticed her son Jay and his friend Bree were painting on an easel, Bree was keeping him from drawing off the canvas while drawing thin swirls and squiggly lines with her fingers, Jay was using a paintbrush. More laughter and Skylar settled back in her chair. This is why she didn't transfer her kids out, they were the heart of the class and her form of entertainment for the day.

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Holly finished her painting a few minutes before the bell rang and looked over at her friends, noticing the bright colored splatters all over Cynthia's canvas that was actually dripping from the amount of pain on it, "Jeez Cynthia, overboard much?"

Cynthia looked up from where she was trying to help Leon; neither of them was having much luck. She turned and faced her best friend, "Nope, splatters are the best."

"So deep." Holly laughed, faking wiping a tear from her eyes.

Cynthia grinned widely, "As deep as a kiddy pool."

"What's as deep as a kiddy pool?" Bree asked from her table in front of Holly, turning her chair to be looking at them all.

"My amazing piece of art," Cynthia grinned, "My splatters." She turned the easel with a flourish.

Bree burst into laughter and the comment and the canvas, she stifled her laughter and spoke, "Jay, the canvas is covered with dripping paint splattered all over it…" She giggled some more, "It's definitely no deeper than a kiddy pool."

"The swirls? Now that's deeper than a swimming pool." Cynthia smiled, looking at the sunset style swirls and squiggles. Bree grins at her while making sure jay wasn't screwing up the drawing, which was really good for two people one of them blind.

"Mine wins the contest, though," Holly smiled revealing her picture. It was a realistic picture of her, her siblings, Bree and Cynthia, all lounging around in the living room of her house, Cynthia and Leon were arm wrestling with Cynthia winning, paper were spread out on the ground around them; Bree was chatting to Jay with their homework spread out around on the coffee table, and Holly herself was studiously working on her homework.

"Definitely." Bree smiled, Cynthia agreed with her.

"I finished!" Leon shouted grinning from ear to ear, he revealed the drawing of a basketball and soccer ball, looking as good at Cynthia's paint splatters.

"Kiddy pool style, welcome to the club Leo." Cynthia grinned high-fiving him as the bell rang for next class.

 _ **Kiddy pool style :D :D :D :D I read something a while ago where Cinderheart's drawing was as deep as a kiddy pool and I decided to expand on it XD Thank you whoever wrote that! :)**_

 _ **My computer's dying!**_


	14. Ashfur's Fate

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Yay! :) I'm glad you were immersed in the story :)**_

 _ **Dragonwritergirl112- I said I'd get this chapter up and I did :)**_

 _Ashfur's Fate._

" _Ashton let me, through!" Skylar struggled to pass the bigger man, her kids were all trapped in the now burning library and she had to get to them._

" _No! You will watch them be destroyed like you did to my heart!" Ashton snarls, shoving her back. The teens were screaming, the door jerking as they struggled to get out._

" _No! Get out of the way! Leon! Jay! Holly!"_

 _:) :) :) :) :) :) :)_

 _Leon was ramming the door covering his nose with his shirt collar. Holly and Jay were trying to find a way out, Holly struggling to get the latch of the window open. Cynthia was struggling in her bonds, Ashton had tied her to a bookcase, making sure she wasn't going anywhere. Any noise she made was muffled. Holly started screaming as fire licked at her ankles. She rushed back towards Leon, standing next to him in fear._

" _I need help!" Leon growled, I can't get this open!"_

" _Leon!" Cynthia yelled through the cloth covering her mouth, "Help me!" Jay's sensitive hearing picked up on her muffled yelling._

" _Someone's over there." Holly gasped and got to work on Cynthia's bonds, "Who's there Holly?"_

" _It's Cindy! Leon Cindy can help you!" She broke off coughing, the smoke was getting extremely thick._

" _Thanks, Holly," Cynthia coughed, "Put this cloth over your nose." She rushed to the door and both teens starting ramming their shoulders into it, the door slowly starting to splinter._

 _:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)_

 _Skylar shoved Ashton away and tugged on the door, feeling it starting to splinter as it shook. "Come on, open!"_

" _I know your secret Skylar." Ashfur snarled taking a controller out of his pocket with slow movements, "I know they aren't your kids."_

 _Skylar froze for a moment, 'Where did that come from?'_

" _But I know you love them more than me and Brad. So for that, I'm going to kill them." He pressed the button on the controller before Skylar could tackle him._

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" _Skylar's not our mom?" Jay echoed in anger._

 _Holly shrieked, "Ashton's lost it! He's going to kill us!"_

" _Get down! Come here!" Leon pulled his siblings closer as the ceiling shook he and Cynthia crouched over Holly and Jay covering them with their heads tucked down and arms over the other two kids. Leon covered part of Cynthia too, the stronger teens protecting the weaker ones as the ceiling caved in on top of them._

 _:O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O_

" _No!" Skylar shrieked as the ceiling dropped on top of the library, the fire spreading._

" _Move!" Firefighters came running over._

 _Skylar pounded on the door sobbing, "no! No!"_

" _Sky lets back away." Brad rushed over and gently tugged her back to one wall as the firefighters worked on opening the door. Ashton had vanished the moment the ceiling collapsed._

 _:O :O :O :O :O :O_

 _Holly was the first to recover, opening her eyes she noticed they weren't crushed. She blinked a few times and noticed Cynthia and Leon were crouching over her and Jay, debris resting on their shoulders. Leon had his eyes open looking worriedly down at his siblings, Cynthia's blue eyes were narrowed and half way rolled back, both her and him struggling to keep their knees from buckling. Cynthia's face was shining with a thin layer of sweat, Holly stared at the bloodied shoulder of her best friend, Cynthia's shoulder was wet with blood, her arm held at a funny angle. Leon's pupils were different sizes, obviously, he'd been hit in the head with something._

" _Are you ok Holly?" Leon asked amber eyes worried._

" _Yeah, what about you?"_

" _I think I got hit in the head with something, but I'm ok. Cindy's shoulder is dislocated I think, and Jay's perfectly fine."_

" _Dislocated shoulder? Try torn shoulder." Cynthia groaned it was raging hot from the fire getting closer to them and it was licking at her and Leon's ankles, both were struggling to keep from dropping things on all four of them. They waited in tense silence, Holly huddled next to Jay, thankful for her brother protecting them._

 _Minutes passed before she spoke again, feeling something trickle through the debris. "Is that… water?" She felt the liquid hit her face like it was raining. The fire hissed and sizzled as it started to go out. "It is!" Holly let out a shriek as suddenly Cynthia dropped to her knees, the debris shifting at her movement. "Cindy?" A groan was the injured girl's reply, "Are you ok?"_

" _I'm good," She said gritting her teeth blue eyes squeezed shut._

" _We'll be out of here soon Cindy." Leon said to his friend, "We'll get out of here."_

" _Is there anyone in here?!" A man called, "Anyone caught in the fire and the blast?!"_

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 _Skylar ventured into the destroyed library, listening for a response, "Kids?" She called, "Leon? Jay? Holly? Where are you?" She froze hearing muffled yelling,_

" _MOM! WE'RE DOWN HERE!" She ran over to the pile where the voice was coming from and started digging,_

" _They're right here! Brad there under the rubble!" She dug harder as Brad ran over and started heaving things away from where Skylar was. Finally, Skylar dug a hole through it and found an opening, Holly was looking up at her, her face scratched but mostly unharmed, Jay was next to her. "Where's your, brother?"_

" _I'm right here mom." Leon replied careening his neck to look up at her, "Cynthia and I are holding the rubble up off us."_

" _Can you get us out of her?!" Cynthia said through heavily gritted teeth, "My arm is falling off down here!"_

" _Cynthia's here? Of course!" She and brad helped the firefighters dig them out, revealing Jay and Holly mostly unharmed with Leon and Cynthia quite beat up._

Holly snapped her eyes open with a start and shoved her sleeping friend away from her. Cynthia let out a yell as she fell off the bed and hit the floor with a loud thump.

"Ow Holly!" She stood up her face red from hitting the floor, "I swear I didn't do anything now!" Holly looked her friend over, the injuries from the fire were still there, from the incident that haunted Holly, the fire may have been a month ago now but Leon and Cynthia still suffered from torn ligaments in her shoulder and a broken collarbone affecting his ability to play sports. After the fire, Cynthia came over a lot more and she stayed around Jay, Leon, and Holly, seemingly almost paranoid from the incident. Leon wasn't much better, he wouldn't let his siblings leave his or Cynthia's sight, worried they'd be injured and hurt while he couldn't help them. Holly was more paranoid than either of them. Worried that Ashton was on the loose she was working on locating him and taking him out. She didn't want too but she couldn't let him try again, and every time she thought about what he said about how Skylar wasn't her mother she vision turned red. Ashton had lied Skylar told them, they were her children, but he also knew about Cynthia's secret that only her family and Holly knew. Years ago before Cynthia had started training her strength her brother had been on the road when Brad's car was going along and nearly hit her brother Miles near her house. Cynthia had barreled across the road but accidently snapped her brother's neck, and now Ashton knew, and he was planning to reveal it at the neighborhood gathering this weekend. That was the time limit for Holly to take him out. She asked Cynthia for lessons in head locks and chokeholds and she could finally hold one even if her brother struggled against her.

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(Holly's view)

I followed Ashton as he made his way towards the gathering trees, I stayed in the shadows and out of his sight, being careful not to step on any twigs or leaves. I couldn't let him notice me. ' _I'm sorry Ashton, but this is necessary.'_ Sneaking up behind him I jumped onto his back and locked my arms around his neck in a strangle hold, listening to him gasp and heave for breath, struggling to throw me off. I tightened the hold and was nearly jerked off as he fell to the ground. I checked his pulse and found none, I swallowed the huge guilty lump in my throat that made me feel like I was choking before pulling his dead body into the stream after using Leon's stolen switchblade to make a thin cut in his throat to seem like he was murdered. I watched the body float down the stream with horror prickling in my fingers before I dug a small ditch and buried the knife, I then washed my hands and walked back towards the gathering place, my heart was pounding in my chest.

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I could hear my blood rushing in my ears, it was loud and condescending. The stress was killing me, ' _Did anyone know I killed him? Did Leon notice my disappearance? Can Jay read my memories?! Is Cindy's secret safe?'_ My mind was exploding, I didn't notice I had stood up and walked up to where my grandfather was standing before I heard words tumbling from my mouth, startling both everyone and myself. I numbly told everyone what happened that summer day, the last day anyone saw Miles, and the day I promised I wouldn't tell what happened. I watched trapped in my own secret revealing mind as people's eyes widened to the size of golf balls and Cynthia cowered against my brother who hugged her protectively, his amber eyes were glinting with anger at me and shock and confusion directed at my best friend.

"... She's responsible for Mile's death." I finished, my body numb. I looked at everyone and slowly horror started tingling my senses, causing my body to flee, I felt branches whipping at my face as I ran, I heard my brother Jay trying to follow me,

"Holly come back! Come back!"

I didn't heed his calls, tears were blurring my vision and I ran to a place I wouldn't be found. The sewer.

:) :) :) :)

(normal pov)

Leon and Cynthia ran after Jay, pulling him back at not letting him run off, "She's gone, Jay." Leon murmured, "She left.

"I'm sorry." Cynthia murmured, blue eyes wide, her face was expressing her fear of rejection and her horror.

"It's alright Cindy." Leon smiled weakly at her, "It's ok."

Cynthia's bottom lip trembled as she faced the gathering area again.

 _ **Then it goes to Hollyleaf's Sewer Trip and Cinderheart's Accident part 1 :) I hope everyone is still enjoying this collection and I hope to get a few more ideas while I'm working on Cinderpelt's accident :)**_


	15. Sandheart Getting along

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Ok! :) I'll do Rusty entering a new school and neighborhood :)**_

 _Why do I like him?_

 _(Sandheart)_

Shailey Sandrom - Sandstorm

Cyllia Larson- Cinderpelt

Shailey, Gunner, Firen- 17

Cyllia- 16

Shailey Buried her nose in her book with an annoyed sigh. She'd taken Bailey's advice time and time again and all it did was get Firen to yell at her over and over again. She guessed she deserved it, treating him like an idiot and a jerk for the first two years when he moved next door. She didn't know why she didn't give up by now, all she was doing was hurting herself. Firen was sitting next to her reviewing for the test with his best friend Gunner, struggling to find the answers in their textbooks.

"Gunner, What's The chemical equation for photosynthesis?"

"I don't know, I can't find it anywhere in this stupid waste of paper."

"It's on page 78," Shailey said quietly, putting her book down and staring at it like it would help her with everything. ' _I guess it worth one more shot.'_ "Hey Firen," She slid a set of four movie tickets over to him, "I'm not using these and thought you'd like them, there's four if you wondering, and you can take whoever you want, it doesn't even have to include me." She flipped the pages of his book to the right page, "Here's the chemical equation by the way." She returned to her reviewing, not catching the surprised look on Firen's face

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"These are front row seats Firen! These things cost a fortune!" Gunner told his friend excitedly, "We could bring Silvia and Rick and it would be amazing!"

"Rick transferred remember? We helped him?"

"Well, we could bring that girlfriend of yours named Cyllia if you'd like."

"I'm not dating her, I don't know why you keep saying that but I'm not dating Cyllia, I'm just teaching her archery."

"The sport of love!" Gunner grinned immaturely at his bestfriend. A shorter lighter black haired girl with dark blue eyes wedged her way inbetween them,

"Are you calling me his girlfriend again Gunner?" Cyllia sighed exasperately, "I'm not his girlfriend at all, besides," She smiled cheekily, "Everyone knows he likes Shailey."

"Have you been talking to the popular girls again Cyllia?" Firen sighed fixing his bright green gaze on her.

"Of course not… Ok well maybe… but just Bailey, but that's because she's my tutor in my debate class!"

"Of course she is."

"I have a plan Firen, take me, Gunner and Shailey, you'll see she's actually a nice person and Gunner will get to experiance comfy theater chairs.

"You just want to see the movie don't you?"

"Totally! But I want you to see how nice Shailey actually is."

"If she isn't what you expect what will you do?" Firen asked making a wager just for the fun of it

"Hmm… How about I'll drink a shotglass of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, your choice." Cyllia made the stakes, confident she was going to win.

"Alright, but no tampering, I'll give her the ticket and neither of us can ask her to be mean or be nice. If I lose I have to…"

"Give you compound bow to me!" Cyllia grinned, the hyperactive junior was excited about the prospect of getting Firen's professional blue colored compound.

Firen hesitated before agreeing, "Alright fine, I have another one anyway."

"I'll be neutral!" Gunner said before either of them could ask him to help them.

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"Hey Shailey, thanks for the tickets, would you like to come with me and a few of my friends?" Firen asked the next day during english class, putting one of the tickets in her textbook.

"Sure?" Shailey said a bit hestantly, unsure if he was messing with her or not.

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The movie was quite entertaining and Shailey was pretty kind to all of them, seeming to be excited about the movie and a chance with Firen, even if they were with a few other friends. Cyllia was welcoming towards Shailey and just as hyper as always, maybe even more from the prospect of being able to talk to another girl and leave the boys confused and befuddled. Gunner didn't really try to be too kind towards Shailey because of the hard past he had between her and Dustin.

Firen enjoyed it the most, though, having fun with his friends, seeing a movie, and not constantly yelling at Shailey. The movie was "The Secret Life of Cats" and it was quite humorous, involving house cats with a secret life of running into the woods and acting as a group with a hierchy, quite amusing over all.

:D :D :) :D :D :D :D :D

"I can't believe you beat me!" Firen complained as he handed his blue two-hundred dollar bow to the junior, who had her arms out expectantly.

"I think it was a tie, so Cyllia, drink this shot glass full of apple cider vinegar," Gunner said, handing her a shot glass. Cyllia tossed it back and returned to be waiting for the bow, blue eyes watering slightly but other than that she was perfectly fine.

"You're an indestructable tank aren't you Cyllia." Firen sighed as Gunner gaped at her. He put the bow into her hands, "Gunner stop staring."

"Most of your senses must be dead!"

"I know!" Cyllia chirped testing out the new bow with a smug grin on her face.

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Shailey was often seen hanging out with Firen, and by extension Gunner and Cyllia, even the occasional appearance of Gunner's girl friend Silvia.

 _ **Not too romancy, not to boring I think :) Anyway this is on when Firen sees she isn't so agrivating and I had to throw in his best friends :) Yes Cyllia is younger than them but she skipped a grade so she's also a junior :) I figured she was smart enough to slip a grade and be well off :)**_


	16. Classroom Drabbles and Descrips part 1

_**There's an actual chapter at the bottom so dont skip the entire chapter! Some of these are actually pretty funny :) *hint, hint* Bree's :)**_

 _ **Character Descriptions (I should've put it up here a while ago XD)**_

Cynthia Cindy Lawson- Cinderheart

Cynthia has relatively straight black hair with the ends dyed a dark silver usually up in a high pony with sapphire blue eyes, she has a thin cute spread of freckles across her nose and her cheekbones, she's also quite strong, tall and slim. Knows about fashion but tends not to go through the fuss, instead content in her own half lazy half fashion decent clothing style. Her style is "Relax and have fun," her typical outfit is a t-shirt or half sleeve of some color usually blue under one of her hoodie vests with the thunder basketball and or wrestling team logos on the back paired with light colored skinny jeans, usually a light grey with a pair of dark blue rimmed glasses perched on the top of her head, the glasses design are cool enough to not look geeky. After Leon asked her to a dance she has the silver locket either tucked in a pocket or around her neck in plain view of everyone, it's her good luck charm she says. She loves sports as much as her friends and does wrestling, basketball, and swimming (her secret favorite sport)

Fun fact: Cynthia's vision is wonky and everything is tinted blue for her, the reflection part of her eyes is more sensitive to blue than any other color. She's supposed to wear contacts and glasses to correct it but she often "Forgets" to actually put them on over her eyes.

Haliah Honey Lawson- Honeyfern

Haliah has curly honey blonde hair usually down and framing her face, with emerald green eyes, she's slim, thin, and very pretty. She's a fashionista and loves playing around with the new trends that were going on. Her outfit changes everyday need I say more? Hates sports loves drama and chatting with her friends. Her twin sister is Paige.

Fun fact: Haliah's been poisoned by a snake before and narrowly lived to tell the tale

PaigePoppy Lawson- Poppyfrost

Paige has wavy lighter brown hair usually in a braid or in other hair styles and hazel colored eyes, she's built like her twin and is just as noticeable. Like her sister she likes fashion and has a tendency to go off on a tirade on different clothing styles and frustrates her younger sister to no end, her outfits changes every day also. She likes to play soccer and does drama, she's usually around her twin chatting with friends. Haliah is her twin sister.

Fun fact: She has a crush on the guy her twin likes, causing a love triangle.

Jay Jackson Bramble- Jayfeather

Jay has messy black hair with premature gray streaks all throughout, making him seem a little older than he actually is, he also had blind sky blue eyes. His style is smart but cool, his typical outfit is gray or black t-shirts, dark washed denim pants, white sneakers, black sunglasses to hide his eyes, and a dark gray hoodie with darker stripes on the back tied around his waist. Jay might be blind but he loves to read, draw, be grumpy, and mess with his siblings. His twin sister is Holly.

Fun fact: Jay can read thoughts and sense the people he knows well moods.

Leonardo Landon Bramble- Lionblaze

Leon has golden blonde hair that he keeps up in spikes to stop his hair from sticking up in every direction and amber eyes. His style is half slacker half everyday jock. His typical outfit consists of different colored basketball shorts or loose dark washed jeans, white or gray basketball shoes, different colored t-shirts, white sunglasses with orange tint perched on the top of his head, and usually a light blue hoodie with the thunder team emblem emblazoned on the back, tied around his waist. Leon is tall, strong, lean and moderately muscular, which draws a lot of girls attention. He's agile, quick on his feet, and a good wrestler. His best friends are Cynthia Lawson and Fin Mathis.

Fun Fact: He's extremely awkward and shy around pretty girls he hasn't known for a while.

Holly Hailey Bramble- Hollyleaf

Holly has straight black hair usually up in a ponytail or messy bun with bright emerald green eyes, she's a bit on the short side, shorter than Cynthia but taller than Bree, and is moderately strong and slim. Her style is cool and crisp, her outfits usually consists of no denim pants, instead wearing a skirt or pants of another material and wearing a button up mostly buttoned up short or long sleeve over a cami that matches the shirt's color, she usually has a jacket of some kind either on around tied neatly around her waist, her shoes depend on the rest of her outfit. After the whole sewer thing, she wears a silver pendant the shape of a water droplet with a jade gemstone that she hides so nobody knows about it except Cynthia. Holly is intellectually smart and quick thinking, she also has a quick wit and sharp tongue so everyone is advised to stay in her good books. She shares a room with Cynthia because her friend got disowned.

Fun fact: Holly secretly roots for her brother and best friend to get together and completely panics when exams roll around.

Brendon Brad Michaels- Berrynose

Brendon is the school's most popular guy; with blonde hair and darker roots usually swept to the side of his face with jade green eyes most girls have a crush on him. Brendon is stronger than he looks being muscular, thin, tall and lean. He competes with Leon in the unofficial who's the hottest category that most of the girl population have running. His style is more kick back and relax then follow the rules, with dark washed jeans, a t-shirt of some color, a dark brown leather jacket, white sneakers, and a pair of black sunglass with blue lenses perched on his head or covering his eyes making him "cooler". He's very arrogant and tends to treat other like they're under him, except the lawson sisters, of course, then he's all sweet talk and flirt than arrogant and egotistical.

Fun Fact: Brendon stays away from Cynthia after she punched him in the gut for using a few pathetic pick lines on her.

Mike Mathew Michaels- Mousewhisker

Mike is a seemingly average teddy bear guy with messy light brown hair, kind chocolate puppy eyes and a lot of freckles across his nose and cheeks, but he isn't average at all. His style is sports and family work, his outfit usually consists of loose blue jeans that usually has a few cuts or rips, with a plain t-shirt under a basketball jersey with blue sneakers usually streaked with a small bit of mud. He's shorter than his sister, very agile and loves playing sports. He plays a few and puts his good foot forward for each one. His twin sister is Hazel.

Fun fact: Mike works with his sister and dad on their farm, having no issues with hard work, unlike his brother.

Hazel Hannah Michaels- Hazeltail

Hazel has a mixture of her sibling's hair colors, light brown with light blonde streaks al throughout with hazel brown eyes. Her style is: Appearance? Don't care. She wears blue jeans usually streaked with paint, marker, or sometimes dirt from early morning chores, a colored t-shirt that usually says something like, "Smile cause I'm not part of the world," with a dark colored hoodie over it and mud stained light green sneakers. Hazel is a natural artist like Holly except she's better at aiding Fin in prank plans than drawing in art class. She's Fin's other best friend and helps him with every prank he pulls. Hazel is average height, thin, slim and strong. She helps her dad out on the farm any time she's free, happy to help and prove herself.

Fun Fact: Hazel is extremely mischievous and has a photographic memory, meaning she remembers the exact placement of things, meaning awesome pranks.

Fin Fox Mathis- Foxleap

Fin is a messy-haired ginger with freckles spread out all over his face, average height, and mischievous green eyes. His style is casual and blending in, dark washed denim pants, a light colored t-shirt, a hoodie that matches Hazel's and white sneakers with neon green stripes along the sides. He's way stronger than he looks and is always beyond hyper with enough energy to power a skyscraper. Pranking is his life, that's what he does, pranks of everything imaginable. His best friend is Hazel and his twin sister is Isabella.

Fun Fact: His favorite person to prank is his English teacher and father Dustin

Isabella Mathis- Icecloud

Isabella has platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes with a wide smile and a few faint freckles across her nose. Her style is _**(I'm dying from writing this so many times! XD)**_ cute and casual, her goal is to get Leon to notice her. Isabella's outfit is usually white skinny jeans, a light blue t-shirt, light gray hoodie, and light gray running shoes, she also plays on the thunder basketball team. She's as tall as Cynthia and slim and lean, preferring to run then try and break free, she's built more for speed than power, almost the opposite of Cynthia. She's one of Cynthia's rivals for Leon's attention.

Fun Fact: She plays on the team because she wants to beat Cynthia at something and because Leon urged her to play.

 _ **(I'm dying! So many descriptions! XD)**_

Ivory(Ivy) Fernandes- Ivypool

Ivory has shoulder length wavy platinum blonde hair after joining the dark forest she dyes the ends teal, with leafy green eyes that contain many shades of green she commonly says are turquoise. Despite Ivory's insecurities, she's actually quite pretty, with tanned skin, a faint spray of freckles across her face, she's also tall, lean, and strong. Her style is, "I don't care what you think" her typical outfit is black skinny jeans, lightweight custom made black combat boots, a dark grey or black t-shirt with a black hoodie with a skull that says, "Go away if you're going to waste my time," either on or tied around her waist. Ivory is a black belt in karate and a skilled fighter thanks to the dark forest, there she feels appreciated and not under her twin sister's shadow. With that confidence, she changes her look to what she wears here, dyes the ends of her hair teal, and keeps her grades up. She plays soccer with her sister Diana and she nickname at school is She-Devil (Copyright Dark frost :))

Fun Fact: Like Cynthia and Leon Ivory carries a switchblade on her person just in case, but she carries around two and prefers to keep them in a specialized slot in her combat boots.

Diana Daphne Fernandes- Dovewing

Diana has long wavy platinum blonde hair dyed baby pink at the ends with fair skin and sky blue eyes that glimmer with excitement, She's petite, slim, and slender. Her style depends on the situation, around school her style is, "Popularity is cool!" She wears a lot of the latest trends but not often wearing skirts or dresses. When out with Tyler or Ben her style is, "I hope I don't embarrass myself" and she wears more laid back clothes, still from a designer brand and very pretty but more laid back than what she wears at school. She hates every sport except soccer and loves drama and theater that being her favorite after school activity besides walking home with Tyler and Ben. Diana tends to be quite naive to the world and often argues with her sister because of that.

Breanna Grayas- Briarlight

Bree is paralyzed from the waist down and is usually found in an average wheelchair with a snap on table. However, she is capable of using crutches and has developed plenty of muscle in her arms. She has dark brown wavy slightly past shoulder length hair and bright amber eyes with barely visible flecks of green inside. She is a little above average height despite sitting in a wheelchair all day and is quite lean and fit. Her style is, "I'm just sitting here, might as well be comfortable," so most of the time her outfit consists of loose blue jeans that hide the braces she has to keep her legs from moving, a bright colored t-shirt usually saying something along the lines of, "Cheer up! The world isn't ending yet!" She switches off between a yellow and orange polka dot hoodie with the sun on the front earning her the nickname, "Sunshine" A sky blue hoodie with a bright clouds covering it, the words said, "Clouds aren't always gloomy" and a light green and dark green striped hoodie with flowers that says, "Flowers always grow and so do you!" Paired usually white a pair of white sneakers that have stripes of bright sky blue (her favorite color) along the sides along with the same color of shoelaces. She's extremely positive and loves helping people, even after her accident she's super hyperactive and very lite hearted, the people who know her and know what she goes through says she has a heart with the value of gold. She's tried to play soccer with her wheelchair before and failed miserably but she keeps on trying. One of her fear is letting her temper flare.

Fun Fact: On the back of Bree's wheelchair isn't just her backpack, there's also what she calls, "The Happiness dispenser." It's basically a tiny cooler with a barrage of candy and chocolate bars that she lets people choose from if they seem upset after she cheers them up with her silliness.

 _ **(Ok I loved writing this one, Bree cracks me up! :) I wish I had a "Happiness dispenser :D)**_

Benjamin Bruce Grayas- Bumblestripe

Ben isn't as out there is his sister is but he's still important. Ben has dark brown hair like his sister except he has streaks of bright blonde running through his messy hair, he also has baby blue eyes. His style is, "I'm not anything I'm not supposed to be," so he's confident in himself and his outfit usually consists of lighter t-shirts, blue jeans, and a light gray hoodie with black stripes like a bumblebee on the back. He's relatively calm but loves to crack jokes, play soccer, and mess about with his friends and siblings. Ben admires his sister Bree and does everything he can not to pity her and help her do things she can't do. He also loved his sister Brittany but is upset by her angry actions towards Bree.

 _ **Unicorn brownies- I do still take requests :) Actually, I need them :) :) :) I like to believe I'm a decent writer :)**_

 _Classroom drabbles part One_

"Cindy! Psst! Cindy! Wake up!" Holly hissed, leaning over slightly to prod her sleeping friend before Mr. Michaels came over and asked her a question, "Cindy he's coming to ask you the answer! Cindy!" Her black haired friend didn't stir for a few moments before she lifted her head sleepily as Mr. Michaels asked her a question,

"Mrs. Sleepy head, what is a semicolon used for?"  
Cynthia awkwardly sat up in her seat, blue eyes blurry but she answered it perfectly, "It's used to replace a comma and joins two closely related sentences... I think." Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, "Yeah, that's the answer."

"Very good," Dustpelt grunted not surprised she knew the answer.

Cynthia rolled her shoulders before settling back so her head was on the desk with her arms wrapped snugly around her head dozing off again. Holly sighed and went back to taking notes absently doodling in the margins.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Leon was dozing in his seat, his head propped up on his right arm, drooling slightly. Cynthia was sitting next to him, already asleep with her face pressed into her book, her arms hiding her face. Holly was vigilantly taking notes, glancing up at the board every few seconds. Jay seemed to be awake, blind blue eyes roaming around the classroom, Bree was gnawing on the end of a candy bar, amber eyes wide awake and open. The rest of the class varied in positions of sleeping, dozing, listening, or taking notes. A bang signaled Leon's head falling off his arm. Holly quickly looked around at her brother before stifling a giggle, his head had landed on Cynthia's shoulder blade, the girl's fluffy hoodie acting as a great pillow, his arm stretched out across his desk. Cynthia didn't even twitch. Bree poked Jay who let out an annoyed grunt and swatted at her hand, completely missing. Bree grinned at Holly and the two shook their heads or giggled depending who was more likely to do it.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"I hope we aren't playing dodgeball. " Holly muttered under her breath to Cynthia's sister Paige, "Last time we played Cindy and Leon won and hit me a thousand times."

"I know right? It's seriously unfair having them both on the same team… are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Poppy asked, a grin spreading on her face.

"If you're thinking ask the Coach to have them on opposite teams then totally." Holly grinned as well.

:O

"Well, this went well." Paige sighed from her spot next to Holly on the out bench, everyone was watching Cynthia and Leon try to beat each other, the two teens were throwing the red rubber balls at each other and constantly missing no matter how good their aims were. The other players were just cycling through being in and out, nobody stayed in longer than it took to step into the court. It had been chaos the moment the game started… thirty minutes ago.

"Yeah, not one of our best ideas." Holly sighed then a spark burst in her mind, getting to her feet she yelled, "Hey Leon! Hannah told me she wanted to kiss you!" The distraction did just as she hoped, Leon slipped and his aim was off, Cynthia rolled sideways and threw another ball at him, both made contact on the opposite player at the same time. As the coach yelled a tie Cynthia and Leon walked over to everyone else.

"That was cheap Holly!" Leon scowled,

"Definitely unfair!" Cynthia responded, crossing her arms over her chest, glowering at her best friend.

"Sorry, but watching you two try and hit each other it like watching paint dry." Holly deadpanned, "It gets really boring really fast."

"Agreed." Paige commented before teasing her sister, "Are you sure you weren't staring at him? I mean come on your eyes never left him!"

Cynthia glare turned deadly on her sister, "Course not, I didn't really want to get hit in the face with a ball now did I?" She suddenly grinned smugly, "But I hear something involving you and Brendon in Mr. Michael's classroom… Should I tell Honey that you were getting close to him?" She bargained, raising one eyebrow in question, "I could tell her exactly what I saw, Missy. Close-enough-you-could-breathe-on-him." Paige's face went bright red as her sister imitated the action by softly breathing in Leon's ear causing him to jump back and rub that ear startled.

"W-what?"

"I was there and saw the entire thing, Poppy, even when you kissed him." She imitated it by puckering before blowing a raspberry and sticking her tongue out at her sister.

"Th-that didn't happen." Paige insisted, she face a dead give away.

"Sure and I haven't ever kissed Leon. Come on Poppy, I saw the entire thing, no use in denying it." Her sister was so flustered she didn't catch her slip. But Holly did,

"Wait you've kissed my brother?"

"Why not?" Cynthia shrugged innocently, examining her fingernails, "I was curious and it's not like he's a bad guy or anything. I assure you it was only one my rule driven friend."

"Did you call me rule driven?" Holly asked with a shocked expression.

"Yup." Cynthia grinned toothily before turning and walking off to the girl's lockerroom. Leon had scurried away after she had breathed in his ear.

"So you kissed Brendon?" Holly asked still a bit confused, "And my best friend's already kissed, my brother?"

"Yes… Wait what?!"

"Ugh, I'm getting a headache." Holly groaned walking to the locker room rubbing her temples and half closing her eyes.

"Tell me what happened! Cindy said she kissed Leon?!" Paige scurried after her eager for a retelling of what she missed.

 _ **HAHAHAHAHA! This part is so funny! The kiss Cynthia is referring too is from the hospital room when she was under the painkiller by the way :) Anyway, hehe hehe! The Haliah x Brendon x Paige love triangle has emerged! With their teasing younger sister Cynthia, and Holly has a headache :D :D :D :D Poor Holly :(**_

 _ **There will be more drabbles because I still have 22 more characters to describe Bleh! -_- 15 are done but that isn't even half!**_

 _ **So I wrote this at like 9:30 pm and my internet cut out, so this'll probably be up around noon tomorrow(Saturday)? My brain's tired from all the describing -_-**_


	17. I'm sorryI can't do this(Cinderblaze)

_**Unicorn Brownies- I have an idea for Breezepelt vs the three :) More like four but I do have an idea for that and yes it involves actual fighting, with Hannah, Braxton(Breezepelt) and his friends (Still figuring that out, probably Dawn[Dawnpelt] and Seth[Sol]) vs Cynthia, Holly, Leon, and Jay. The whole thing is because he blames them for his father Cole's (Crowfeather) disappearance and reappearance with their aunt Leah in the thunder community, he believes it's completely their fault and he wants to prove his point. Ivory appears in that chapter and breaks the fight apart threatening Braxton that she'd do to him what she did to Alex(Antpelt) so Braxton is introduced :) While the other characters just have grudges against each other :) Ivory will be appearing more due to many people asking about her :) So here's my question to you, what do you want to see with Ivory? Dark forest? Fights with her sister? Interactions with Braxton? Being a badass? Oh and I would like to know who you pair her with :)**_

 _ **Dragonwritergirl112- I'm glad you like it! :) I love writing them and I try to look at the character's point of views :)**_

 _ **So this one is a human version of Cinderheart rejecting Lionblaze, except her reason is a little more… understandable? I guess? I don't know, I felt like I should do this one so I am :)**_

 _I'm sorry… I can't do this._

Cynthia, Leon - 15 ½

 _(Takes place before Cynthia's injury)_

"I won't die, Cindy, I can't be injured badly." Leon soothed, brushing his friend's hair out of her face, revealing her watery wide blue eyes, "You don't have to worry about me, you can't and won't hurt me." He sat next to her on the courtyard grass.

"How do you know that?" Cynthia breathed, looking down at the blood streaked across her knuckles from getting into a fist fight earlier, "I can't control it… you already know that." Her hands quivered slightly and she clenched them into fists to stop the shaking.

"I know but I won't get hurt, I have too much training for that to happen." He leaned a little closer, "You can't hurt me." ' _Maybe she'll understand."_

Cynthia blue eyes begged him to help her understand but she didn't look up from her fists for a second, "I don't believe that I've hurt everyone, I even killed someone Leon, that isn't controlled, that's out of control. And I can't stop it."

"I promise you can't hurt me like that, I'm still stronger than you, I won't let you berate yourself again. What happened today wasn't called for no, but," He smiled slightly, "Brendon had it coming for him, you only broke his nose and bruised his ego. You're the protector of your sisters, hearing Brendon broke both their hearts made you angry and you reacted, no shame in that." He brushed his thumb over the thin callouses on her knuckles, "I did the same thing actually, I punched Finli in the face when he made Holly upset, it's natural to want to protect your family."

"Maybe, but I broke mine, I killed Miles, Leon, I can't take that back and how am I supposed to know that I won't hurt you either." She responded watching his hands clasp over hers on his knee.

"Because I know you won't." He replied watching her with kind eyes, "You won't let your friend be injured."

"Maybe." She murmured softly.

Leon's pulse quickened, hoping she understands. "Then maybe we could be in a relationship?" He asked a bit tentatively.

"Probably." Cynthia was looking over his shoulder, blue eyes spaced out and unfocused.

"Please," He leaned farther forward, "Yes or no."

"Y-yes." Cynthia stuttered looking at him clearly.

Leon smiled before Cynthia started backward and scrambled to her feet, he quickly got to his feet also, grasping her wrist before she could flee, his expression worried and fearful,"Cindy what's wrong?"

"I can't," She breathed, blue eyes sparkling with restrained tears, "I can't hurt you, I can't risk it, Leon, I just can't!" She cried, pulling her wrist from his grip and fled towards the woods, leaving Leon watching her disappear from sight, his heart heavy but understanding.

"I hoped you would understand Cyn." He murmured as her black hair disappeared from sight, "I hoped you'd be over your guilt. I'm sorry." He sighed, blinked rapidly a few times before putting his hands in his pockets, put on his backpack and slowly started walking towards the front of the school where his brother, Jay, would be waiting.

:'( :'( :'(

Cynthia's vision was blinded by tears and she slipped on leaves and wet grass as she ran. Finally tripping on a rock and landing on her hands and knees she cried, ignoring the stinging pain of her scratched up knees and palms she let the tears fall, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Leon." She sobbed, her tears wettening the forest floor, "I can't forgive myself and I'd rather die than hurt you." Her black hair acted as a curtain hiding her face from the world and she felt like she was drowning in guilt. "But I already did." She breathed staring at the small golden colored leaves between her clenched hands, blood still streaking her knuckles.

 _ **Wahh! This is so sad! I have to say, in the books, this is like, 'What the heck, Cinderheart, really?! Not special my book, come on! Who cares if you're a reincarnated she-cat or a normal warrior!' But here I think it's easier to understand where Cynthia is coming from, barely two and a half years ago she admitted to herself that her killed her brother and that day she broke Brendon's nose after hearing he hurt her sisters; she's worriedly about hurting Leon physically, but she just hurt him emotionally… Okay, now I need to write something with action or is happy! I think Unicorn Brownies' idea is perfectly good idea right about now :)!**_


	18. Fight! Fight! Ivory Interrupts

_**I hope everyone still likes this series :) I'm having a blast writing it :) Here's the one I promised to do after that seriously sad one!**_

 _ **I'm writing the Cinderpelt accident tonight!**_

Braxton (I'll figure out his last name later :)) - Breezepelt

 _You Took my Father!_

Cynthia, Leon, Braxton, Hannah- 16

Holly, Jay, Seth- 16 ½

Ivory, Dawn- 15 ¾

(? Pov)

' _They took my family from me! Because of their aunt my father hates me!'_ My fists shook with rage, I had held it back for so long, now I itched for blood. Training in the dark forest has made me stronger than I could ever imagine and I had held back long enough. Catching sight of a spiky golden blonde boy with amber eyes I straightened all the way up and raised my voice to speak across the hallway, my voice dripping with scorn, "Has little wittle Leon-baby lost his way?" I taunted feeling victorious as he slammed his locker and turned to look at me. I felt Hannah's eyes on me as I taunted Golden Boy, "So he has? Do you want some direction baby? I'd give you a map but you can't read Leonsnardo." His face was turning red, I noticed a black haired girl with blue eyes pulling on his arm to keep him from running over. At once I sneered, it was the murderer girl Cynthia Lawson, nicknamed "Miss Killer" I had a bone to pick with her because she stole my intimidation spot below Ivory but I didn't need to take care of her, Hannah could do that with the giant grudge she had with her.

"Leon it isn't worth it," I heard Miss Killer murmur in his ear, her blue eyes flashing with anger.

"What do you have anything to do with this Cynthia?" Hannah sneered from beside me, everyone knew she and Miss Killer hated each other with a passion, Hannah treated her like dirt while the other just gave her the cold shoulder.

"Nobody asked you, Hannah." She muttered in return.

"Well, I guess little Leon will have to wander around all day with his killer of a friend." I sneered, smirking at the lunge he made towards me before Mrs. Killer stopped him, hauling him back a few feet, her eyes smoldering like fiery cinders. ( _ **See what I did there? XD)**_

"Braxton," I heard someone sigh from next to Golden Boy, "If you'd done taunting Leon we need to be going to class." I looked over at the other girl standing next to him, it was his older sister Holly, or as I call her "Stick In The Mud"

"Well isn't it miss-goodie-two-shoes," I heard my other friend Seth snarl, "Still worried about classes aren't we?" I saw Stick-In-The-Mud puff out her cheeks but she didn't reply.

"Of course you're all just a batch of misfit liars aren't you?" I sneered at them all, including Blind Mole.

"Can it Braxton." Blind Mole droned.

"Well you all are, we have the drowner Jay, the killer Cynthia, the rule breaker Leon, and the idiot who follows rule blindly named Holly." I sneered before smirking as they all tensed. The hallway was silent, just like I wanted it to be. I itched to throw my fist into Leon's pretty boy face.

:O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O

(Normal pov)

Nobody spoke, everyone holding their breath and praying for a fight not to happen. Fights between these two groups were messy, extremely messy, especially with Cynthia and Leon involved, two wrestlers.

Cynthia, Leon, Holly and Jay all stood on one side of the hallway in front of their closed lockers, each one of them looked angry and itching for a fight, even Holly, who followed rules like they were her life. Braxton, Hannah, Seth, and Dawn all stood on the opposite side looking cocky, arrogant and triumphant. Braxton looked like he was out for blood. Everyone's hopes were diminished the moment Leon thundered towards Braxton, an angry yell emerging from his throat and he hit Braxton in the gut while Braxton smashed his fist into his jaw, Cynthia lunged at Hannah and flattened her to the floor, the two girls viciously fighting, Jay was tackled by Dawn and threw his fist against her eye, Holly moved to the side and Seth crashed into a locker before blocking his hits and hitting him herself, getting on his back and pulling on the tall boy's ears and shaggy hair.

Braxton and Leon were duking it out, not holding back and exchanging punches and kicks.

Hannah punched Cynthia in the mouth before waving her hand to clear the pain, a grimace on her face, while Cynthia grinned slightly revealing a split lip before shoving her against a locker and returning the punch.

Jay was doing fairly well on his own with Dawn, tiring her out and landing a few strong attacks. Holly was dodging almost all of Seth's attacks, landing a few of her own before ending her personal battle with a knee to Seth's groin. He dropped like a rock and curled in a ball whimpering from the pain. Holly then worked with her brother, together the set of twins drove Dawn into a locket before Holly shoved her into it and slammed it shut with Dawn inside. Cynthia didn't need any help, driving Hanah back towards a large trash bin before tripping her and shoving her into it so she was stuck. For good measure, she knocked her out with a well-placed tap-punch to the temple.

Braxton and Leon were still going at it. Not pausing for even a moment. Then footsteps were heard walking down the hall. Ivory was walking towards them, her platinum and teal colored ponytail swinging behind her as she strode towards the fighting boys, her combat boots made an intimidating noise on the tile flooring, her black hoodie was around her waist. Today she was wearing a black tank top and skinny jeans, her black-rimmed and tinted sunglasses perched on top of her head with skulls decorating the sides. Stepping over to the boys she pushed them apart and caught Braxton's fist, flipping him over her shoulder and sticking her foot out to trip him he landed in a heap on the floor. Nudging him with the toe of her boot she looked at the hallway, "Am I supposed to be the one to stop this? He isn't that scary. Get up Braxton." She nudged his head with her boot, "Now. What happened here?" She glanced between Holly, Jay, Leon and Cynthia. Cynthia stepped closer to her, her lip split and looking a bit ruffled but mostly ok, "Braxton and his gang started riling us up."

"So… you fought him?"

"Yup."

"Very good. Braxton, I said get up." She lightly kicked him in the side and Braxton got to his feet rubbing his head from where he landed and hit the ground. "If I hear you're fighting them again I will gut you like I did Alex, understood?" Her leaf green eyes glinted dangerously. "Fighting isn't tolerated at school, despite how much fun it can be I will do to you what I did to Alex if I catch word of you and your group ganging up and bullying younger kids and starting fights. Especially if you bother my cousins again."

"Alright, Ivory." Braxton sneered, attempting to save his pride.

Ivory pinned him to a locker with a bang before grabbing the front of his shirt and lifting him off the ground, "Are you understanding me? Or am I going to have to clear out your ears?" People snickered and didn't cower under Braxton's glare. Ivory was smirking, "Now you say Leon is better than you and I'll let you go."

"But-"

"No buts about it, say it and I'll kindly help your friend out of my locker and help you take your other friends to Leah. Don't and I'll show you why I'm called the she-devil… Although I'm sure you already know, don't you?"

"Yes." He muttered. Ivory tightened her grip on his shirt and shifted as if to throw him to the floor, "Alright! Alright!" He said raising his hands in surrender, "Leon is better than me, now can you let me down?"

"Please."

"Can you let me down please." Braxton corrected himself. Ivory dropped him and moved over to the locker Dawn was in, spinning the combination she opened it and let Dawn stumble out before guiding her and a limping Seth to Leah, with Braxton dragging Hannah behind her.

"Was knocking her out necessary?" Holly asked Cynthia incredulously.

"Of course!" She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture before putting it away, "Blackmail," The usually kind hearted girl shrugged. Holly and Jay rolled their eyes while Leon and Cynthia high-fived.

 _ **Ok, Ivory is awesome! She seems a bit mean here but that's because she deals with Braxton and his gang all the time, and hears from her sister that he bullies younger students all the time, even elementary school kids. But she totally kicks butt and is amazing! Blackmail, bad Cynthia and Leon XD I hope this satisfied people's desire to see Ivory in more of these for a bit :) I think I'm going to include her in the next classroom drabbles, because she's funny in classes :)**_


	19. Cinderpelt's Accident

_**Unicorn brownies- Foxleap? That's definitely interesting :) Personally, I pair her with Hawkfrost or Breezepelt because they understand her :) I think foxleap and Ivypool are related actually… let's see… whitewing is cloudtail and Brightheart's daughter while Brichfall is Ferncloud is his mother, isn't Foxleap her kit? Or am I mixing things up? XD Don't mean to crush your dreams through so ignore me :)**_

 _ **Thank you! :) I'm happy you love my writing! It might be the Erin's idea, but only as cats :))**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Yes they do get together eventually :) their story is a bit funky, Cynthia doesn't like titles, without titles she's perfectly fine, so there's a lot of stolen and secret moments between them. But both are wary of screwing up yet again like Cynthia did. Maybe I'll write a short story with a bunch of those moments someday :) the first guy is Braxton a.k.a Breezepelt. He is a bit mean there, isn't he? Is he really frustrated and angry right there, though :) poor me eh? Nah, It is a bit boring writing them but they're needed to help people know who they are and what they're like :)**_

Cinderpelt's Accident

Dr. Yaxye- Yellowfang

Dr. Sophie- Spottedleaf

Dr. Leonard- Littlecloud

Cylia- 16 ½

Firen- 17

 _I'm never going to recover?_

Cylia bounced around her friends, "Have you heard about that new movie! I'm so excited!" She grabbed onto Firen's shoulders and jiggled her friend around, "I can't wait!"

"Did someone give you sugar Cylia?" Firen laughed, prying her fingers off his shoulders from behind.

"Of course not!... Well unless you count a small pack of skittles! But I'm so excited!" She squealed, "I want to see it so bad!"

"I know, you've told me at least six times Cyl." Firen chuckles as he friends skipped along, her bookbag swinging on her shoulders, she greeted everyone cheerfully, almost bouncing off the walls.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"Are we almost there?" She asked Shailey and Firen, bouncing in her seat and fidgeting.

"We're almost to the place Bailey's going to pick you up yes." Shailey snorted at the younger girl's amusement.

Cylia watched out of the window, watching as the scenery turned more countryside, Bailey lived on a ranch, content on her huge area of land. Despite being one of the popular girls she was very kind and helped everyone out, she was even Cylia's tutor for her debate class. Due to Cylia's excitement, she didn't notice the blackish blue car tailing them.

:) :) :)

"Hi, Cylia!" Bailey laughed as the bundle of energy crashed into her with a big hug.

"Hi! Where're we going to see the movie? Can I help out with the animals? Do you have any cats?!" Cylia asked in rapid succession, "I love cats! And horses! And even dogs! Chickens are cool too!"

"Well I've got a few things to do around the ranch, but if you'd like you can help me." Bailey smiled stepping back from the younger girl. She was wearing normal jeans and a t-shirt.

"Ok!"

"And yes, yes I do have cats."

"Cool!"

Bailey showed Cylia around the farm, letting her pet her cats, play with her dog, Russell, feed the chickens and even ride a horse. Cylia was really gentle towards the animals and seemed to love the fresh air, breathing deeply and smiling from ear to ear. After Bailey finished her chores they started walking towards the theater that was a bit far away, Cylia had insisted she go with Bailey once she heard she was going to meet Shailey, Otis, and Firen at the theater. It took weeks for Cylia to convince her she would help out and not bounce off the walls. As she looked at the whole area from the top of a ridge Cylia knew it was worth taking the extra time and doing a bunch of extra chores to get here.

"Do you like it here?" Bailey asked as they walked,

"It's amazing! I love the air here!"

"It isn't tainted by cars and other machines so it's clear."

"Look! That cloud looks like your cat Sprinkles!"

Bailey looked up and laughed, sure enough, the cloud looked like her kitten sprinkles.

:) :) :)

They were nearing a theater when Cylia picked up on the sound of a car rumbling on a dirt road, going faster than it should be. "Bailey move!" She twisted and shoved the older girl out of the way as the car collided with her body.

:O :O :O :O :O

(Cylia's view)

Crash! Snap! I was thrown to the gravel and hit the ground with a painful thunk. The car rolled over my body ' _Luckily I fit under it!'_ Before driving past. The pain from the thump was nothing compared to the pain in my lower side. It throbbed enough my vision was black around the edges. I faintly heard Bailey yell my name and saw her kneel next to me before pulling out her phone and calling someone, I couldn't decipher the words my brain wasn't working. As hard as I tried I couldn't hear a thing, I could only read her lips, and even that was extremely hard. ' _F-i-r-e-n. Is she calling Firen? I don't want to interrupt him and Shailey!'_ I tried to speak and tell her not to bother him but only a gurgle and a squeak came out of my mouth, no words. My vision was darkening fast and the last thing I saw was my best friend kneeling next to me and yelling something before it felt like my brain had snapped.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

"Cylia!" Firen yelled, kneeling on the gravel next to his friend. Cylia's head rolled to face him blue eyes unfocused and glazed over before her eyes slid shut and she went limp. "Come on, wake up! Wake up!" Shailey was standing next to Bailey, her green eyes wide with shock and slight repulsion. Cylia's right side was a bloody mess, blood everywhere, her leg entire leg twisted at an awkward angle, the gravel was quickly getting soaked with the red liquid. "We need to get her to a hospital," He carefully lifted the injured girl who groaned at the movement, feeling like her body was on fire. Starting to run he raced down the path towards the city, both girls on his heels.

"Hey! Sophie! I need your help!" Firen shouted as he bolted into the clinic, his clothes now drenched red. Sophie looked up from where she was performing a standard checkup before she dropped everything and rushed over to the young man.

"What happened? Yaxye, Leonard, anyone not doing anything gets to the surgery room 3, Firen you take her there while I sort a few things out." She said calmly, putting her hand on his shoulder for a moment before rushing off. Firen numbly does as she asks and puts his friend down on an examination table, Cylia didn't react to the cold metal, still unconscious. Dr. Yaxye ushered him out, "You can't stay here."

"But!-"

"No."

"I have to!"

"Firen, calm down." Sophie says gently, coming over to help Yaxye, the young doctor pushed him towards Shailey, "We'll do everything we can to help her alright? Stay out here, when we're finished I'll let you see her alright?"

"But-"

"She says we'll see her soon Firen, come on, we can wait out here." Shailey urged, guiding him away towards the plastic chairs where Bailey was already waiting, shaken up but ok.

Sophie closed the door behind her and took a deep breath, ' _I will try to save her, but that was a lot of blood... Hopefully, she'd pull through. If not… poor Firen.'_ "Let's get to work."

:O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O

(Bailey's view)

Waiting for news about Cylia was torture and I felt extremely guilty, adrenaline was still running through my body, in my mind, I kept seeing when Cylia twisted and shoved me out of the way before the car hit her a moment later. I knew the driver, and I was sure he was trying to hit me and probably kill me, that's why I was so guilt ridden, the hit was meant for me, not the innocent bubbly junior who I tutor for our debate class.

:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

(normal)

Firen was pacing around the room, worriedly running his fingers through his ginger hair. Shailey was bouncing her knee, watching Firen with an empathetic expression, she knew what it was like to what for news, her father had been where Cylia was now and didn't survive, she hoped the bundle of energy would. Bailey was staring at the opposite wall, ocean blue eyes unfocused and spaced out.

Finally, Sophie emerged from the room where she'd been working on Cylia. "She's alive," She said a bit hesitantly.

"What's the catch?" Shailey asked nervously.

"She broke her hip, it's never going to be the same, Cylia's going to have a permanent limp and issues with her balance," Sophie revealed hesitantly. Yaxye came out a grumpy expression on her face,

"You're lucky she pulled through, nearly lost her a few times."

Firen paled further, his face white as a sheet, then his green eyes sparked with worry, "Can we see her?"

"Yes, but she probably won't wake up for a little bit. You three can sit with her but be quiet, we want her to wake up on her own."

Firen rushed to the room Cylia was in and froze, a worried noise emerging from his throat. Cylia was out cold,an IV needle in one wrist, a breathing tube through her nose, her face pale. He sat down in a chair next to the bed, watching.

:( :( :( :( :( :(

It took nearly a week before Cylia woke up, she'd been showing signs since the first day, eyelids fluttering, twitching of her fingers, but she never completely woke up. The first thing Cylia said and did was first, apologize about ruining their plans then second, ask if bailey was okay.

"Sorry Firen." She mumbled before her head jerked up as she looked for Bailey, "Is Bailey okay? She wasn't hit was she?" she asked worriedly, looking concerned for her friend's health.

"She's fine, she's with Shailey getting something for all of us to eat," Firen replied a relieved glint in his green eyes at seeing his friend awake. After studying his face and with shaky arms Cylia pulled Firen so his head was in her lap

"Go to sleep, you look like you've had a bag of bricks dropped on your head." She teased her voice just a tad nasally from the breathing tube in her nose.

"You aren't letting me up unless I do aren't you?"

"Yep, now take a nap, I'm not going anywhere and I'm sure Shailey will be back soon." She ruffled his hair, blue eyes twinkling cheerfully

By the time Shailey got back both teens were asleep… or dozing in Cylia's case. "Hi!" Cylia said in a whisper sitting up slightly, "Firen needed a nap."

"I've been telling him that for days, how'd you do it?" Shailey asked incredulously, putting the pizza box on the small visitor's table.

"He's like my older brother, I know all his little tricks and secrets, including how to put him asleep." Cylia smiled widely then caught sight of the food, "Can I have a piece?"

"Dunno, I'll ask Yaxye,"

"She'll say no!" Cylia whines

"Alright… but only one, I don't to be responsible for getting you sick. " Shailey sighed before pointing at her, "If anyone asks Firen's responsible."

"Okay, Firen's responsible. Now let me have one!"

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Cylia smiled at the infant in her arms, her brother had yet another daughter, but personally, she liked this particular little girl better than her sisters, with black hair and a strong possibility of blue eyes she looked just like her, even the face shape and everything. What was even better was she was named Cynthia, Cylia's name in the name itself and she was flattered her brother chose to incorporate her name into this baby girl's.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"Cylia? I need your help, can you go to the hospital?!" Cylia ears Leah say though her phone,

"Well I thought I was off today but of course, is something wrong?"

"Cynthia's injured, severely Injured." The moment she heard the name of her favorite niece she got to her feet and hurriedly limped towards her front door,

"I'll be there as fast as I can."

:O

She caught sight if her nice and nearly fainted. The blood wasn't an issue, it was the injury itself, it looked remarkably like the injury she had had herself, except her leg was shattered, rather than her hip. ' _Lucky Cynthia, I can fix this, you're not ending up like me.'_ With the newer technology cylia could make fake bones and replace the young woman's shattered bones, she wouldn't limp again. "Leah, Jackson, Flake you're in charge of the surgery, I need to work a few things or."

"I'm not going to limp forever am I?" Cynthia asked groggily, her blue eyes locking on Cylia's, the color mirroring.

"Of course not, I can treat you, Cynthia, you've got your entire life ahead of you, and sports is going to he part of it."

"Thank you." She said before her eyes slipped closed. Cylia limped towards Yaxye, the head doctor at the hospital. ' _Time to cash in that favor'_ "Hey Yaxye? I need you to help me with something."

:) :) :) :) :) :)

(Cylia's view)

Watching Cynthia go through physical therapy was one of the best experiences in my life, I was extremely proud, with the new metal bones and rubber ligaments I fixed her like I couldn't fix myself all the years ago. While there were side effects such as a constant chill from that leg and a scar on the back she wasn't broken, she had to relearn how to walk, kick, right, and jump once again, but I think that's worth it. This is why I'm a doctor, I refuse to give up and let people suffer when I can fix it so they don't lose all of their dreams and hopes like I did after my injury.


	20. Reconciling With Violence of All Things?

_**Unicorn brownies- Ivypelt hooray! XD So you're a fluff shipper eh? Me too :D Although I prefer to write my own fluff :) I glad you liked it! :) I"m running out of ideas! XD**_

 _ **Dragonwritergirl112- I'm glad you love it! :) I can do Honeyfern and the snake, it will be a little altered because she survives by a hair :) The great journey would be in small chunks, being so long! XD But I will do it! The great battle would be a really good one! It'll probably be more Ivory (Ivypool) based because that's when she really proves her loyalty to everyone :) Thank you for the ideas! These are the only ones I have left that have been suggested! :)**_

 _ **Sincrux- You might be reading my other stories but thanks for adding me to your Author alerts! It makes me happy :D**_

 _ **Saturn Lover- I'm glad you're following Connected forever and I'm working on the next chapter of that one as well :)**_

 _ **Clare Gundersen- I'm happy you added me to your favorite Author list!**_

 _ **ATTENTION!: I am adding this story to a community so hooray! :)**_

 _ **Enjoy the story everyone!**_

 _Reconciling… With violence?_

Bree, Jay, Holly Brittany- 16 ish

Hadara- 17

"Jay can you let me in?!" Bree asked ringing her friend's doorbell, her dark brown soggy wet hair obscuring part of her vision. Her body was shivering from cold and extra adrenaline from before.

" _I don't want to be your sister! Shut up!"_

She violently shook her head clear of the things that had happened moments earlier and knocked again, her lip was throbbing and she could taste the blood from the split down the middle.

Jay finally opened the door looking disgruntled, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me-"

"Bree? You can't be here right now!" He stepped forward and shut the door behind him.

"What? Why? I always come over-"

"Hadara and her family is over right now, it was hard enough to explain why Cynthia was here but you? That'll be impossible."

"Jay I don't understand-"

"I can't let you in Bree."

"I didn't come here to argue! I need your help-"

"I can't help you right now," Jay replied curtly.

Bree recoiled like he had hit her, "W-what?"

"I can't help you right now, Hadara's parents already don't like me with Cynthia over, they'll hate me if I bring in another girl… wait why do I smell blood on you?"

"Doesn't matter." She mutters hurt, "I'll get out your hair."

"You aren't going anywhere." He moved over to her and started pushing her into the house, wincing at the angry murmuring at his arrival. "Mom, Bree's hurt I'm going to help her." He says gruffly. His siblings almost followed before,

"Leon you and Cynthia stay here." Cynthia flashed a furious look at Holly and Jay before trudging back to the table where Leon was still sitting unsure what to do.

"What's that all about?" Bree asked as Jay shut the bathroom door behind him and Holly.  
"Hadara's family is under the impression Cynthia's his girlfriend and apparently it's rude to leave the table during company." Holly giggles, "I think Cindy nearly had a heart attack when Jay introduced her to the family." She knelt next to Bree and examined her lip, "What did you do now?"

"Argued with Brittany," Bree muttered, shaking her head to disperse any memories.

"Why do you always pick a fight with her?" Jay asked gruffly, kneeling down and carefully cleaning off the blood staining her face and chin. Bree shoved him away indignantly,

"I don't pick a fight with her! She comes back from somewhere with an injury and takes her anger out on me!" Jay didn't budge but grunted his annoyance.

"Maybe we should do something about that," Holly commented watching Jay use his medical skills. "I don't like violence but maybe you should stand up for yourself-"

The door burst open revealing a flustered Leon and a confused Hadara.

"What happened to your friend Jac-Jay?"

"She got in a fight with her sister. How come you aren't with your parents?" Jay said gruffly, finishing up checking Bree for any more injuries.

"Because they want you back out there and Leon needs some help." She replied gently.

"Leon? What do you need help with?" Holly asked her brother who was red in the face.

"I hate you guys! What's with the whole Cindy's my girlfriend thing!"

"What's wrong with it?" Holly asked innocently. Leon let out some inaudible mumbling. "I can't hear you," She smiled at him. Leon glared at her and growls,

"They want me to kiss Cyn! We're friends! And friends don't kiss!"

Holly started giggling, covering her mouth with one hand, Bree also started giggling, amber eyes glittering with amusement. "Leon, I'm sure they mean a kiss on the cheek, don't have a heart attack," Holly soothed her brother, forcing herself to be serious for his sake, "Just kiss her on the cheek and stay quiet, I'm sure Skylar will cover for you."

"I don't want to, though!"

"Why not?"

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Jay tuned out his siblings and stood up, putting away the medical supplies, "Hadara, I'd love to stay with your parents and get to know them but Bree needs my help. Leon, come to Bree's house after you es- are excused." He forced the first sentence out, he may love their daughter but Hadara's parents were nerve wrecking, and a bit annoying. He followed Bree out the back door where Bree started pushing herself rather quickly towards her house, "What're we going to do?"

"Just like Holly I don't like this but, it's time for you to fight back against Brittany."

"With?"

"Violence." Jay sighed, "she needs to be shown that her sister isn't as weak and useless as she thinks she is."

"But I don't want to fight her!"

"Too bad Bree, you need to."

"I can't move my legs, though!"

"Bree! Enough with the nice girl, let your temper flare for once alright? You are going to explode or get sick from your frustration." He snapped turning blind eyes on her.

"I don't like my temper," Bree said softly, stopping at the front door.

"Neither do I, but you need to fight back." Jay replied, his voice curt but understanding, "I know you don't like your temper at all, but let it rear it's head just once."

"Never again?"

"Never again."

"Ok." Bree rolled into her house, she quietly rolled up the ramp up to the second floor where Brittany's room is. She paused on the doorknob, "You won't let me hurt her will you?"

"Of course not, Leon'll be here in a minute and he'll help me stop you from hurting her."

"I trust you." Bree pushed the door open and Brittany stood up from where she was watching something on her phone.

"What do you want Breanna? And why's you blind friend here?"

Bree took a deep breath and let the anger sparking in her body flow. Her eyes narrowed to a glare, her hands tightened into fists, and she sat up fully in her chair. "I want you to stop bullying me." She replied with an annoyed tone.

"Why? You stole her from me."

"I saved a life with a cost of an injury, she loves you just as much as she does me. You're more capable than I am so she doesn't fuss over you." She retorted, exploiting unusual behavior.

Brittany was startled at the unusual behavior but didn't let it show, "You still stole her from me, Breanna." She stepped closer to be less than a foot away from Bree. "I'm not remembered when you're around."

"Yes you are, but I'm not in the mood for this." Bree drew her arm back and slammed her fist into Brittany's gut making her sister stumble back and gasp for breath. "You think I like the attention sympathy and pity? It's not a great feeling you know Brittany." Her eyes flash, "It isn't wonderful seeing all the sympathetic looks and everyone rushing to help you with pity in their eyes! It's horrible! If you could untie the blindfold around your eyes you'd see I hate this just as much as you do! It's not fun getting injured all the time! I can't play soccer or climb! I can't do anything!"

Brittany seized the armrests of her sister's wheelchair and snarled, "You're broken Breanna, you can't be fixed! Because of that, you stole our mother from me!" Before shoving the wheelchair back and sideways, causing it to tip and sent Bree to the floor. Bree flipped over onto her back and struggled with her sister, struggling to keep her off her.

"I didn't steal anything from you! Mom's just being blind! It's not my fault she isn't paying attention to you!" She struggled, working hard to keep her sister from wrapping her fingers around her neck, "I have to work for everything! You don't! I have to work for people's respect!"

"I don't care! I'm not loved because of you! I'm not even sure if my twin likes me!" She succeeded in shoving past Bree's defense and wrapped her hands around her throat.

"Brittany!... It's not my fault!..." Bree cried, struggling to throw her sister off, gasping for air. "Mom… told me she… loves you!"

"No, she didn't!" Brittany tightened her grip at the words her sister said.

"I don't… lie!" Bree choked, her fingers reaching for something to help her. "She told me… herself!"

"I don't believe you!" Brittany snarls tightening her grip further

"I've… never… lied!" Bree choked out. Jay was struggling to pull Brittany off. "You… know… I… never… lie!" She choked out, abandoning her attempts to find anything to help her and struggling to pry off her sister's hands, "You… know.. I never… lie… she… loves... you!" Then her eyes partially rolled back, clawing at Brittany's hands. Brittany suddenly jumped off her like she was on fire and stared at her sister who started coughing violently, sucking in gulps of air and propping herself up on her elbows, amber eyes locked on her sister, pupils dilated in slight fear and lack of oxygen.

Brittany stared at her sister and realized what she nearly did. Tears filled her eyes as she threw herself at her sister and cried, "I- I'm sorry Bree, I'm so sorry!" she sobbed burying her face in her younger sister's stomach.

"It's ok," Bree rasped, reaching and patting her sister's back. Jay stood behind her, allowing her to lean back against him and not fall back on her back. "I'm ok, you didn't do it, Brittany, I forgive you." She croaked rubbing her sister's back and stroking her sister's hair.

"How can you forgive me so easily?" Brittany asked, looking up at her sister with awe in her eyes and sitting back on her heels.

Bree's eyes twinkled with love, "Because I love my siblings, both of you, everyone makes mistakes and I'm willing to forget them if you are."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Bree."

"I accept your apology, friends?"

Brittany shook her head with a smile, she stretched her hand out for her sister to shake, "sisters."

Bree smiled and shook her hand firmly, a wide smile on her face, "Sisters."

Jay just listened to the entire thing as he looked up at the ceiling, a smile tugging at his mouth.

 _ **Hey, everyone, I'm curious if you'd all like a Thanksgiving special short story? And a Halloween one for the one I missed? It's up to you guys :)**_


	21. Briarfeather Special

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I'm glad you like it :) I had a lot of fun writing it :) Didn't turn out as well as I hoped but I'm glad you love it! :) I apologize ahead if you don't like this chapter, it's Briarfeather and Jay's Wing returns :)**_

 _ **WaterWhisper- YEESSS! I will write a Briarfeather short story! Someone else likes Briarfeather with me! *squee!* That's what this chapter is about! :)**_

 _Broken Hearts and Second Chances_

 _Jackson- Jay's Wing The Actual Jay's Wing_

 _Bree, Jay- 17 ½_

 _Hadara, Jackson- 18_

Jay stumbled back, "W-What?" He spoke with genuine shock in his tone, "You thought I was your childhood friend?" His well-known temper emerged sparked at the thought, "You didn't like me for who I really am?!"

"Jay-" Hadara reached to console him but he recoiled a vicious snarl on his face, "Jay please-"

"No. I thought you loved me like I thought I loved you!" Jay cut her off, fists tightening into fists, blind blue eyes narrowing with fury, "but I see it's all a lie! A vicious one at that! Have fun with your 'Jackson' and stay out of my life!" He crashed through the trees, branches whipping at his face.

Hadara sighed, she never thought she'd ever call this person but Jay needed someone to comfort him, if not her how about his best friend? Pulling out her phone she hesitantly dialed a number Jay had made sure she had. "Hey… Yeah, I didn't think I'd ever call you either… Jay needs someone to comfort him… Can you do it?"

:) :) :) :) :)

Bree had been sleeping when her phone went off in her ear, startling her enough to fall off the bed and onto the floor despite her inability to move her legs. Reaching her hand up she managed to slap the phone to accept the call before using her forearms to heave her body up so she was sitting on her knees, which she couldn't feel either. "Hello?"

"Hey…"

"Oh! Hi, Hadara! I didn't think you'd ever call me!" Bree smiled, forcing the jealousy down to her unfeeling feet.

"Yeah I didn't think I'd ever call you either... Jay needs someone to comfort him… can you do it?"

Instantly the jealousy she had been feeling moments before vanished, replaced with worry and concern. "Of course! I'll be over there as fast as I can, where are you?" She dragged her wheelchair over and plopped down into it and checked everything over for kinks, issues, and problems before promptly freezing at Hadara's next words.

"We're in the Thunder woods."

"I'm on my way." Bree hung up and quickly left the room, rolling down the stairs and bursting out the front door that her brother so kindly left open. Pumping her arms as fast as she could she crossed the street and hurried towards the school where the woods were located. Bree's arms burned at the idea of rolling through the grass, undergrowth and rough terrain. "Oh dear." She sighed but determinedly pushed herself harder rushing to help her friend.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

(Jay's view)

' _I'm an idiot.'_ I thought miserably, ' _A fool'_

"Jay? You over here?" I heard Bree's voice call and heard the sound of tires crunching twigs and berries. "I know you're in here somewhere." ' _How in the world is she here? Her chair isn't made to be in the woods.'_

"I'm over here Bree," I said clearly, bitterness in my tone. I heard the rolling get closer and heard her grunt in frustration as a branch probably caught in her hair. I waited sitting on the tree stump my head in my hands as she rolled closer. I felt the fabric of my jeans move slightly as she rolled to a stop next to me, I could hear her heavy breathing like she'd been pushing herself to get here. I listened to fabric scrap against metal and wood before I felt her manage to sit next to me on the stump,"How'd you get here?" I asked in a gruff tone, attempting to hide my pain from her.

"I got here myself, but that doesn't matter, come here." She pulled me to her and locked her arms around my back, "You're hurting, I can tell. It's ok to cry, Jay."

"No, it's not," I replied gruffly, her kindness tearing at my walls. "I'm a guy, I'm not supposed to cry." I could feel the fabric of her shirt beneath my chin, ruffled like she had been struggling against some unseen force.

"There's nobody here but me, you know I'll never judge you." She said gently in an honest tone that always broke through my mask. Burying my face in her neck I cried, for how long I don't know but Bree stayed there, holding me comfortingly and rubbing my back, her ear against the top of my head.

:) :) :) :)

Bree's heart ached for her friend as she listened to his heart-wrenching crying, she quietly comforted him, rubbing his back and humming random tunes so her throat vibrated adding more comfort. Her head was tilted so her ear was pressed against his head, amber eyes gazing out at the dreary woods, her eyes locked on the slowly setting sun that sent rays of red, pink, and orange light through the gaps in the trees. ' _I was supposed to be sleeping right now, but it's worth it helping Jay. If only I knew why he was so hurt!'_ Jay's crying turned into hiccups but Bree didn't move, instead of tightening her grasp around his back, using one hand to gently run her fingers through his black hair, somewhere in the back of her mind she registered the texture but stayed focused on helping him. After while Jay seemed to fall asleep and Bree fidgeted, she was starting to get chilly having rushed out of her house in a t-shirt and capris, not prepared to stay out in the freezing cold of the night, her hair was billowing sideways from the chilly breeze. Finally, Jay moved back and she let him go, "Are you ok?" She asked gently.

"Yeah, thanks, Bree." He replied, rubbing his blind blue eyes that were red around the edges. Bree used her fingertips to remove any trace of his tears,

"Do you want to go back home? I need to get going or my mom's going to freak." She said using her arms to heave herself back into her wheelchair, her legs and arms were scratched up from all the undergrowth but her amber eyes were worried. "Can I trust you not to do anything stupid?"

"Probably not."

"Well, I have to. Don't do anything stupid Jay, I'll come over before Cynthia and Leon leave alright?"

"Okay." He murmured. Bree leaned forward and gently kissed his forehead before starting to roll away, looking back a few times.

:) :) :) :)

Later that night Bree opened her eyes with a snap, feeling someone's breath on her face. For a moment she stared at a pair of blind blue eyes before she yelped and pushed Jay back sitting up, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" She managed through a strangled voice. Jay's eyes locked on hers and he just stared at her, no visible emotions in his eyes. She recognized the blank look and spoke hesitantly, "You got thin mints again didn't you?" He nodded getting closer Bree pushed her back against the wall behind her and sighed, "They always make you drunk so why do you eat them?!" She pushed him back in one arm firmly, "Look, while I'm happy you aren't moping I didn't mean for you to eat those stupid cookies and find me!"

"I wanted to." He replied, moving her arm to the side.

"I don't want you to get in my bubble Jay,"

"Why not?"

"Because every time you eat these you either try and kiss me or pass out in my room, not a good situation when my parents come to investigate." Bree deadpans, looking up at the ceiling and purposely avoiding his eyes. The last time this had happened was a year ago when he was bullied by his cousin Dawn for accidentally letting her brother drown in the frozen lake, the last time she had let him, understanding he didn't know what he was doing and just wanted someone to show they appreciated him. But this time she didn't want to start anything when she didn't know why he was hurt in the first place. Because she liked the actions it was extremely hard for her to avoid it as demonstrated right now as she covered her mouth with a hand and pushed him farther back.

"Bree," He huffed insistently getting closer.

"Jay." She replied in the same tone, "I don't want your relationship with Hadara screwed up because you're drunk off sugar."

Jay frowned, "I don't have a relationship with her anymore, she thought I was her childhood friend." Bree froze in shock, her arms slipping down to her side, that moment of her shocked state let Jay get close enough to be breathing on her face. "See, so there's nothing to mess up."

"Except for the fact, you're drunk on sugar."

"No, I'm not." Jay huffed.

"Yes, you are-" She paused to push him back before finishing her sentence, "Maybe someday, but not while you're on a sugar high Jay."

Jay suddenly grinned his usual gruff grin, blind eyes filling with curt annoyance like normal. "I'm no a sugar high Bree, I'm fully aware."

Bree's face went pink and she narrowed her eyes at him, "Trying to steal something from me?" She snorted.

"Maybe, but you've already had a first kiss so technically I'm not stealing anything."

"Sure." Bree rolls her eyes, "Then why are you here?"

"Because I want to be."

"Sorry Jay, but I'm not your rebound, wait a while first."

"Ok fine. But, I don't want to be normal friends."

Bree thought about it for a moment before sighing reluctantly, "Alright fine. Friends with benefits, that better?"

"Very." Jay smiled a rare genuine smile before leaning farther forward and pressing a kiss to her nose. Bree rolled her eyes but let him, contently half closing her eyes.

 _ **As asked by WaterWhisper, a Briarfeather focused chapter :) I love these two, but Halffeather is cute too :) To each their own though :)**_


	22. Friends with Benefits? (Cinderblaze)

_**Unicorn Brownies- I'll do any Ivypelt one :) It'll be fun! Jay actually teaches Bree how to play soccer in her wheelchair XD That's one of the ways he helps strengths her, along with tickling the air out of her to increase her lung capacity, play tug of war with him and Hadara, race him and Cynthia in her wheelchair, teaching her a bunch of fun tricks in the chair like bunny hopping, spinning in circles, balancing on two wheels, turning tight corners, purposely running over Braxton and Brendon's feet, hook up a tiny cooler to the back, and build a small snap on table. :) So yeah I'll probably do one of those :) My favorite warrior's book?... Hm.. I'd have to say it's a tie between Fading Echoes (Cinderblaze forever!) and The Forgotten Warrior when Hollyleaf returns :) Out of the special editions? Definitely Leafpool's Wish :) Can't tell you how many times I read those books! :) Mixed feelings? Oh no! Did I do something wrong or do you just, not really like it? Anything I can fix? I figured Bree's got a lot of pent up anger so she'd have to lash out eventually, while Brittany's actions are from training the dark forest and learning to destroy the weak, luckily she couldn't kill her sister :)**_

 _ **Cute fluff! :D briarfeather is right behind Cinderblaze in my favorite warrior couples :) then Hollyleaves :)**_

 _ **Guest- Another briarfeather shipper YESS! :) But Halfmoon is a pretty cool character being the first stone-teller and all :) Halffeather is cool too :) But I agree, Briarfeather is better :) Live in the present Jayfeather, there's a hopeful she-cat right underneath your nose! XD**_

 _Maybe… Friends with benefits?_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 16_

 _Holly, Jay- 17_

" _Hey, we're here." Cynthia opened her eyes to find Leon's amber eyes a foot or so away from her, "We're at home Cyn," He looked up at his mother in the driver seat and smiled, "Thanks for picking us up."_

" _I'm glad you had fun at the game." Skylar smiled at her son and the groggy star player. Cynthia blinked the sleep from her blue eyes before getting out of the car with Leon, after walking into the house Leon wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple before letting her go as Holly came over, grinned, and tugged her back upstairs, 'Leon and I are a couple?' She wondered as Holly introduced her to Finli and explained how she needed her help to distract Leon._

" _I need you help to distract Leon or he's going to go ballistic."_

" _Alright, but why exactly to_ _I_ _have to distract him?"_

" _Duh! Because you're better at it than any of us! I think he's downstairs with the guys."_

 _Cynthia sighed, "I'll go distract him, but I'm not distracting him forever Holly."_

" _Why not?" Holly smirked cheekily, "You don't want to kiss you, boyfriend?"_

 _Cynthia turned bright red and smacked her with a pillow trying to get out an understandable sentence, she eventually gave up and stomped down the stairs walking over to Leon and sitting in his lap in a huff._

" _What's wrong?" Leon asked breaking off his conversation to look at her._

" _Holly's teasing me again." She grunted turning to look at him with angry blue eyes._

" _Auh, I sure she's just messing with you." Leon smiled, cupping her cheek and leaning closer to her, "Why not give her something to tease you about?"_

" _Okay," Cynthia agreed moving to tilt her head up slightly..._

"Cindy wake up!"

Cynthia jolted awake and fell off her bunk landing flat on her face on the floor. With a groan, she hauled herself up to be sitting on her knees. "Was that seriously necessary Holly?" She grumbled looking up at the other black haired girl who was already ready to school in her white button up blouse, light gray half sleeve, light blue jeggings and blue converse.

"Yes, it was," She smirked before racing out of the room while Cynthia got her bearings and tried to shake away the last traces of her dream.

' _Where the heck did that dream come from? I never dream about things like that.'_ Gazing out the window Cynthia's attention locked on a small robin singing in the tree, ' _It was so real…'_ Disappointment hung heavy in her throat, disappointed that Holly interrupted the dream before she could see what would happen. Holly seemed to have the talent of interrupting her, interrupting her and Leon in the hospital, startling her awake from her dreams, jolting her from any day dreams. After the whole rejection thing that she hadn't told Holly about she tended to avoid situations with Leon when they were completely alone, not wanting the whole thing to happen again. Getting to her feet she got ready for school, her mind still on the dream.

:) :) :) :) :)

"Cindy!" Leon caught of her wrist before she could leave for her class, "I need to talk to you after school." His voice was urgent and hopeful. He brought out the puppy eyes and Cynthia breathed a sigh,

"Alright, after basketball practice, where do you want me to meet you?"

"I'll come get you." Leon smiled, "I promise, it'll be worth it." They stared at each other for a moment before Cynthia spoke as the late bell rang.

"See you then Leon, I really need to go to class!" She slipped free of his grasp and ran towards her class, Leon running the opposite direction.

:) :) :) :)

"I have an idea, we can't be a couple but can we be more than friends?" Leon asked looking at her pleadingly.  
Cynthia squashed her hopes and replied, "As in?..."

"Friends with benefits," Leon suggested, pleased to see her eyes light up.

"What are the boundaries?" Cynthia was intrigued, this idea might be a way to get around her fear of hurting him as a couple.

"Everything a couple would do but we'll take it slowly, one extra thing at a time," Leon reassured seeing the fear flicker in her eyes at the mention of the word couple. "We'll take it slow, as slow as you want it to go, I want you to choose the pace that'll make you comfortable."

"Okay… I like it," She smiled at Leon's wide grin before looking down at the ground and nudging some grass with the toe of her shoe, "Want to… start now?" She looked up at him through her black hair shyly.

Leon smiled widely, "If that's what you want."

"What's first?" She asked shaking her head and looking straight at him, confident.

"Personal space maybe? How close I can get to you?"

Cynthia nodded slightly and Leon took a few steps back

"Tell me when you get uncomfortable," He said softly, taking a small step closer to her, amber eyes hopeful and patient.

"Okay." She breathed, watching him as he got closer.

"Now?" He was a few feet away from her.

"No," She breathed, and he took a few steps closer so he was a foot away,

"Now?"

"No."

"Now?" She could feel his breath on her face.

"No." He stepped close, his nose could brush against hers,

"How about now?"

"No." She barely managed to get out, heart pounding in her chest, her hands held behind her back to prevent her from accidentally hurting him.

"Now?" He was less than inches from her face,

"No."

"Are you sure?" He asked softly,

"Yes."

"What about now?" Cynthia felt him circle his arms around her waist.

"No."

"Now?" he was the directly in front of her, inches between them.

"No." This time Cynthia acted, cautiously partially leaning up on her toes she acted on impulse, placing her hands on his shoulders before cautiously kissing him on the lips. Leon responded gently, not wanting to startle or kick start her fear. A moment later Cynthia broke it but didn't move, staring at his face, looking for something to soothe her fear she hurt him. Leon's amber eyes glinted calmly and lovingly,

"How about now?" Leon whispered gently.

"No." Cynthia responded with a breathy whisper, "I'm not uncomfortable at all." She leaned closer, "Quite the opposite actually."

 _ **Yay Cinderblaze! :D Cynthia and Leon get together eventually :) just like her dream :) Her dream is actually what would've happened if she hadn't been so scared and rejected Leon :) It was would've happened that evening and the next day :)**_


	23. Pretty but deadly (Ivybreeze)

_Pretty but very deadly. (Ivypelt/Ivybreeze)_

 _Ivory- 16_

 _Braxton- 16 ½_

 _:) :) :) :) :)_

Braxton watched Ivory out of the corner of his eye as he punched the punching bag, frustrated at his lack of success but pleased to see Ivory was watching him train. She herself was leaning against the training room wall, one foot up against the wall, dressed in a darker gray tank-top, tighter black cargo pants, custom black combat boots with her famous skull hoodie tied around her waist. It was hard to ignore her, with green eyes and platinum blonde hair dyed teal at the ends up in a ponytail, tanned skin and being tall for a girl her age and lean, her choice of dark forest clothing defining her body like it's supposed to.

 _(Ivory's view)_

I watched Braxton as he punched a punching bag, we were both part of the dark forest although I was a teacher and a warrior while he was still learning as an apprentice. The warrior who had been teaching him had fallen prey to my blade when my mentor Alto told me to kill him and I would be a warrior rather than an apprentice. After that, I earned a lot of respect and even other dark forest people keep their distance.

I could hear his knuckles messily scrapping the thick fabric and sighed, getting up from the wall I was leaning on and strode over to him flexing my fingers before walking up behind him and throwing a punch over his shoulder so the bag swung wildly. "You need to put your weight into the attack." I said moving to stand next to him, "Balance your weight on the balls of your feet when you throw a punch all of your weight should go into the hit." I demonstrated, going in slow motion, twisting my body in the direction of the punch before landing it so the punching bag swung hard back and forth. I'd been punching things for so long I didn't need gloves, my hands were strong enough to punch metal without breaking the skin.

I watched as Braxton tried again, this time landing more of a pow but still messy. I positioned myself behind him and grabbed his elbow, showing him how to do the movements with his own body. Letting go I watched as he hit the punching bag so it moved, not as much as it did when I hit it but a good start. "Good. Keep trying and you'll get it." I strode away from him as I noticed my mentor Alto looking for me.

:) :) :)

(Braxton)

I didn't understand how she could show me how to do things so easily and have that effect on me. It was hard listening to her as she stood behind me showing me what to do, her breath on my ear. I worked to punch like Ivory had shown me and got the bag to move a good distance before I heard a commotion outside the actual training area. I stepped out hearing gunshots and the clashing of knife blades.

Fear sparked in my brain as I realized it was Ivory and one of the evilest women here named Malice, nobody knew her actual name, that's how scary she was. Ivory was blocking bullets with her custom blades, only I knew how she made them and me alone, and they were bullet proof.

Ivory was scowling in her usual focused way, her tight black clothing not inhibiting her movements, teal and blonde ponytail swinging as she dodged the knife attempts and gun shots, getting steadily closer to Malice. I guess Malice figured the gun wasn't working and dropped it, starting a fist fight between them. Minutes later, I watched in awe as Ivory managed to part way run up a wall before flipping backward and landing on top of Malice's shoulders, her signature move.

With a flick of her wrist she had the knife against Malice's throat, the shiny metal held dangerously close. With a split lip, cuts on the arms and palms -from where she pulled Malice's knives from her- she was mostly unharmed, her legs were tight around Malice's neck with her blade poking at the soft spot of the front of Malice's neck. "You may have beaten me once before," Ivory hissed with a sneer, "But not anymore." She leaped off her using her as a springboard and landed on a thick wire above us all. Crouching there and waiting for Atol to tell her she was finished, her blade still out, elbows on her knees.

"Good, very good." Atol murmured, "Come on down, you're finished for the day. You passed the test." He walked away probably to talk to his father. Ivory dropped down in front of me landing in a squat and standing up as if the entire thing was nothing.

"Show me your kicks." She murmured to me, walking back into the training area. I eagerly followed and showed her a few of my skills, she critiqued me in the areas I needed work and showed me how to make them stronger. The other apprentices in the training area all looked at me in envy as they struggled to work with their mentors while I got trained by the beautiful and deadly Ivory, I can't say I improved much from the feeling of her breathing on my ear but I can say I admire her even more.

 _ **Ah… a decent dose of Ivybreeze :) I hope you like this Unicorn Brownies! :) I made one just like you asked! :)**_


	24. Future Game, plead for T and D's

_**Unicorn brownies- I'm glad you like that one :) I had fun writing it :) I'm thinking about writing once that has many moments of her training and the development of her famous -flip off a wall and land on the enemy's shoulders- move**_

 _ **Yeah I was mad at Brittany too until I really thought about it for a while :)**_

 _ **I'm actually working on a Briarfeather drawing right now :) It's in pencil sadly but maybe I'll put it up on DeviantArt and make a digital one of it later :)**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- :) I'm the same except they're switched, Briarfeather then Halffeather :) Of course I'll do a Hollyleaves special for you :)**_

 _ **Breeze and Holly?... that's an interesting couple :) Ivyfrost(Hawk/Ivy) is actually another of my favorite couples, I figure she had a crush on him in the beginning :) But then I decide that she meets the actual Breezepelt in the dark forest when he's getting frustrated and helps him out, eventually getting closer to him :)**_

 _ **So I wrote the chapter where Jay helps Bree get stronger but it got deleted! :'( So I decided to write something else, this one is kinda a game, it will feature one character, the characters are in their late twenties or early thirties, There will be a small child, infant to toddler and you guess who the other parent is and what couple it is :) I'll add another chapter that has the endings and see if you're right! Just a warning, some of these aren't couples I particularly like so they won't always be the ones I usually mention**_

 _Future couples Game, guess who!_

With a sleepy grunt Holly sat up, shoving the blankets off her legs before getting to her feet and quietly walking into her son Connor's room, she walked over to the crying two year old and picked him up before walking over to a comfortable chair she put in here for this reason. She sat down and held Connor who hiccuped a few times and snuggled into his mother's lap, yawning widely before going back to sleep. Holly ran her fingers through her son light brown hair, with aqua blue eyes and light brown hair that nobody knew how he got, Connor looked nothing like his parents besides his mother's nose, father's almond shaped eyes, and quiet and reserved nature like his father. Not that Holly minded, she preferred the comfortable silence and she always worried when he cried or fussed.

"Holly? What're you doing up?"

 ** _Who's the other parent? Couple?_**

:) :) :) :) :)

Whiny crying woke up Jay, carefully avoiding waking up his exhausted partner he made his way to his daughter's room and carefully picked up the young infant who he called his miracle daughter, her name was Caylee. His wife had told him she had icy blue eyes and dark brown hair, he knew she was quite small with a small nose, strong grip and made lots and lots of noises, not liking to be alone and all by herself. Jay heard noise and turned around,

"Is everything ok?" He heard his partner ask worriedly

"Of course, she started crying, that's all. No need to follow me I can handle her."

"Oh I'm not worried about that, Jay, I know you won't drop her."

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia's blue eyes opened at the sound of small footsteps, slipping out of the bed and catching herself before she could hit the ground, briefly dizzy, she started towards the source of the footsteps. "What's wrong Lixa?" She whispered to her daughter, picking her up and gently closing the door behind her before she started walking to her daughter's room.

"Flynx's crying and it scares me." Lixa sniffles, rubbing her teary hazel green eyes with one hand. Cynthia smoothed her daughter's blonde hair.

"It's ok, you go back to bed and I'll take care of it alright?" She soothed looking at her, "I'll quiet Flynx ok?"

Lixa nodded and she put her down, the young child scurrying off to her room while Cynthia braced herself against the wall and went to her son's room where the infant was crying his lungs out. She was startled to find her partner already there and soothing the dark brown haired sapphire blue eyes boy. "You're awake?" She asked in surprise walking over.

"Yeah course, but why are you up?"

"I'm fine, Lixa was scared of Flynx's crying that's all."

"You've been told a thousand times you need to rest and you never do do you?" He mused rocking the fussy infant.

"Most of the time no."

:) :) :)

Hannah opened her eyes to find her son's looking back at her, "It's my birthday mommy!" He giggled scrambling up onto the bed and hugging her.

"It is isn't it Leo," She ruffled her son's black hair and sat up, "Why don't we find your father and go do something?"

"Okay!"

:) :) :) :) :)

Braxton watched his partner care for their fussy baby girl named Dalia, striding around the room and bouncing Dalia while humming, as beautiful as always.

 _ **So hey everyone… I think the updates are going to be more spread apart with multiple chapters at once, I need to get back to work on my other stories as well and I don't want to disappoint them either, Connected Forever seriously needs an update! XD I have something to ask you viewers, I would like a truth or dare for each of the characters, I want to make a special truth or dare chapter! And I probably will do a holiday chapter! Make the dares as silly and as embarrassing as you can :)**_

 _ **Example.**_

" _Play seven minutes of heaven with a guy of your best friend's choice." Cynthia read aloud before looking up at Holly with wide pleading eyes to not make her do this one._

" _You're not getting out of it Cynthia," Holly smirked, she looked around the circle faking the act of thinking of who to choose for her best friend. They boys were sitting with expression ranging from nervousness to indifferent disgust *cough cough* Braxton. Besides him there was Fin, Finli, Tyler, Ben, Leon, Jay, Mike, and Brendon, all looking either scared, excited, calm, or fidgety from eating sugar. "Hey Leon, you're playing it with her." Leon nodded, not making eye contact with his friend. Holly dragged Cynthia to her feet and shoved her into her room causing the girl to nearly fall flat on her face before she caught herself and whirled around but Leon was shoved in as well and Holly closed and locked the door. Cynthia shuffled her feet nervously, glancing up at him a few times. Leon leant against the door watching her with nervous anticipation._

" _Do you think they'll actually do anything? Paige asked curiously from where she'd been dared to sit in Brendan's lap until the game ended._

" _If we leave them in there long enough." Hazel grinned pulling out her phone, "The camera is set up so we can see what they're doing."_

" _You're evil Hazel." Her brother sighed rolling his eyes._


	25. Future Game Answer 1-3 T and D's please!

_**So I'm going to rant here because it's *checks time* 11:13 as I'm writing this and I'm so upset I want to hit something and cry while doing it. So I was introduced to digital art a few days ago but my brother got the drawing tablet taken away, so today I snuck it back and got to work, spending**_ _ **six hours**_ _**on a picture of Jayfeather and Briarlight(Their actual characters) when my computer glitched and screwed with my program, DELETING THE ENTIRE THING! I had been about to save my new changes *cough cough* everything on Briarlight, the newborn kit, and the almost completed background and it deleted! I'm so mad! I found out it was my brother trying to hack into my computer and I can't do anything to him no matter how furious I am! The only copy of the drawing I have on my now buggy laptop is Jayfeather completely finished, and Briarlight and the kit's completed outline, a part that took TWO of the SIX HOURS! I had spent THREE AND A HALF HOURS on Briarlight and the kit, designing the kit's tabby patterns and perfecting the kitting gone wrong with Briarlight, meaning the kitten and her hindquarters are covered in blood, It looked like an actual liquid with it being lighter in some areas than others and the flowing style! I even had her fur shining like she and Jayfeather were being bathed in sunlight! And Halfmoon was standing near them with tears in her blue eyes along with the stars in her fur and the partial transparency of her coat! There were crappie trees, realistic grass and even a small bit of the lake visible!(I'm horrible at plants besides grass) Argh! I'm so mad! And disappointed, I was so close to finishing it and now I only have the outlines, not including Halfmoon, or the background nor any of the cat's markings besides Jayfeather's! I was going to submit it to DeviantArt too! ARGH! I suck at drawing -_- and my electronics hate me. Jayfeather's now the only one with his coat colored, blind blue eyes colored so he looks blind, darker tabby markings, and worried yet grumpy attitude! Briarlight is just an outline on her side her back facing the viewer with one of the kittens also an outline near her tail which is laying on the ground close to her back. Halfmoon isn't there at all because I drew her after I finished Briarlight and by the extension the kit. *Whimpers* I have to essentially completely start over! *Sighs* I think I'm going to draw Cinderheart vs Heathertail or Cinderheart sleeping before I go back to that one, I'm seriously upset now :(**_

 _ **Future Couples Game, Guess Who Answers:**_

 _ **Unicorn brownies got three of them :) here's the full ones for those ones :)**_

 _ **First is: Hollyleaves**_

 _ **Second is: briarfeather**_

 _ **Third is: Cinderblaze (Lixa's hair color totally gave it away didn't it? XD)**_

 _ **And the last two haven't been solved yet! Someone solve them! XD**_

 _With a sleepy grunt Holly sat up, shoving the blankets off her legs before getting to her feet and quietly walking into her son Connor's room, she walked over to the crying two-year-old and picked him up before walking over to a comfortable chair she put in here for this reason. She sat down and held Connor who hiccuped a few times and snuggled into his mother's lap, yawning widely before going back to sleep. Holly ran her fingers through her son light brown hair, with aqua blue eyes and light brown hair that nobody knew how he got, Connor looked nothing like his parents besides his mother's nose, father's almond shaped eyes and quiet and reserved nature like his father. Not that Holly minded, she preferred the comfortable silence and she always worried when he cried or fussed.  
_ " _Holly? What're you doing up?"_

She turned around to see Finli standing in the doorway looking like he was half asleep, ginger and white hair flattened on one side from sleeping on the same side for so long. She inwardly giggled at the ginger hair sticking up on the left side of his head. Finli walked closer sitting on the armrest of the chair Holly was sitting in.

"Connor was crying, I have it handled, though. And you've got a bunch of hair sticking up." She explained before reaching up and running her fingers through his hair to flatten some of the crazy hair. "It's seriously sticking up over there."

"Again?" Finli groaned, "Why is it always flat there?"

"Because that's the side you usually sleep on," Holly replied with a grin and he attempted to flatten the hair.

"Well, it's not flattening anytime soon." Finli grumped before watching with fond eyes as Holly shifted Connor into one arm before she got her feet and put the now sleeping toddler back into his bed.

"I'm going back to sleep if you want to fuss over your hair have fun with that." She disappeared around the corner, Finli hurried to follow.

 __

 _Whiny crying woke up Jay, carefully avoiding waking up his exhausted partner he made his way to his daughter's room and carefully picked up the young infant who he called his miracle daughter, her name was Caylee. His wife had told him she had icy blue eyes and dark brown hair, he knew she was quite small with a small nose, strong grip and made lots and lots of noises, not liking to be alone and all by herself. Jay heard noise and turned around,  
_ " _Is everything ok?" He heard his partner ask worriedly  
_ " _Of course, she started crying, that's all. No need to follow me I can handle her."  
_ " _Oh I'm not worried about that, Jay, I know you won't drop her."  
_ _ **(Darnit, this last sentence was a total give away wasn't it? Hadara wouldn't have said something like that, neither would Willow for that matter)**_

Bree smiled up at him, still drowsy but alert enough to be aware what he was doing. Caylee was called the miracle daughter because it wasn't thought possible that Bree could give birth do her back injury and paralysis, other than the slight issues consisting of Bree feeling only faint twinges for contractions Caylee was born without a hitch, although Bree stubbornly refused to have any more kids after the whole experience, not wanting to test her luck. Jay grudgingly accepted the idea and the defeat with the bet between him and siblings, his brother Leon already had two kids, a daughter who recently turned three and a baby boy. Lucky for Jay he didn't lose by much, with Cynthia's issues with Flynx Leon, told him she had turned white as a sheet and hid under the blankets at the casual suggestion of another kid. Jay himself was actually tied with Holly, both of them having only one child, but knowing Holly she'd probably have another just to beat him at the bet.

Jay didn't mind, he was content with his wife and energetic daughter, even if he sometimes wished for more kids.

"Jay," Bree said noticing the look on his face and the intense look he was giving her, "I'm not risking my life to have another," she said gently, "While I love both of you I don't want to put my life on the line to fulfill your wish, we could always adopt, then you could beat your siblings at that bet of yours."

"Wait you know about it?" He said in surprise, as far as he knew she never knew about the whole bet thing.

"Of course I do, so does Cynthia, which is why I don't mind adopting kids, I just don't want to risk leaving you and Caylee at the expense of another child." Bree replied cheerfully, "I knew about the bet the whole time, hence why I even let you try you goof." Jay grunted his embarrassment, cheeks flaming. Bree's smile widened at his embarrassment, "Caylee's asleep by the way, I'm heading back, you coming?" She quickly spun her wheelchair before rolling out of the room, moving her arms only a few times as she turned down the hall. Jay put Caylee back in her crib and sighed, walking back to their room pinching the bridge of his nose, ' _How embarrassing.'_ He thought as he stepped into the room to find Bree already asleep again, her arms around her knees so she was curled in a lightly snoring ball.

 _ **(ha ha ha ha :) The bet is going to reappear in the next one :))**_

 _:) :) :) :)_

 _Cynthia's blue eyes opened at the sound of small footsteps, slipping out of the bed and catching herself before she could hit the ground, breifly dizzy she started towards the source of the footsteps. "What's wrong Lixa?" She whispered to her daughter, picking her up and gently closing the door behind her before she started walking to her daughter's room.  
_ " _Flynx's crying and it scares me." Lixa sniffles, rubbing her teary hazel green eyes with one hand. Cynthia smoothed her daughter's blonde hair.  
_ " _It's ok, you go back to bed and I'll take care of it alright?" She soothed looking at her, "I'll quiet Flynx ok?"  
Lixa nodded and she put her down, the young child scurrying off to her room while Cynthia braced herself against the wall and went to her son's room where the infant was crying his lungs out. She was startled to find her partner already there and soothing the dark brown haired sapphire blue eyes boy. "You're awake?" She asked in surprise walking over.  
_" _Yeah course, but why are you up?"  
_ " _I'm fine, Lixa was scared of Flynx's crying that's all."  
_ " _You've been told a thousand times you need to rest and you never do do you?" He mused rocking the fussy infant.  
_ " _Most of the time no."_ _ **Cynthia replied simply, leaning back against the doorframe and watching her golden blonde haired husband.**_

"Why not go back to sleep?" He suggested, "I have it handled here."

"I'll go back to sleep when you do, you're the one who has to work tomorrow, not me." Cynthia shrugged watching him put Flynx in the playpen. "Oh, and I know all about the bet between you, Holly, and Jay." Leon's reaction was hilarious, stumbling in surprise and tripping over one of Flynx's blocks he hit the ground hard but Cynthia had misjudged, his trip sent her flat to the ground underneath him, knocking the air out of her lungs.

"What?" He asked quickly getting off of her and helping her up. Cynthia wheezed trying to get air back in her lungs, Leon wasn't soft and squishy, quite the opposite really so it was like an elephant sitting on top of you.

"I… know about… the bet." She wheezed coughing a few times, leaning forward on her knees. Leon rubbed her back feeling not at all guilty

"You totally deserved that you know that right?" Leon asked her, "You pulled a surprise on me in a room full of stuff to trip on."

"I figured." Cynthia replied straightneing up, "Anyway I know all about it." She started back towards their room and was startled when Leon let her get to the hall before pinning her to the wall,

"Then will you help me win it?" He asked amber eyes locked on hers. Cynthia hesitated, her ears ringing from the sounds that still haunted her from when Flynx was born. The pleading look on his face broke her fear and she sighed, keeping her blue eyes on his amber ones,

"Alright fine, I'll try and help you win the bet, but only this once more, I don't need another infant right now." She responded carefully.

"So… yes?"

"Ugh, Yes leon, I'll help you beat your siblings." She sighed before she smiled as Leon got closer to her, then she caught sight of a small blonde head to her right out of the corner of her eye green eyes wide open and curious, she stopped herself from leaning forward and instead spoke, "Leon. Lixa is awake watching us, I don't want to be the one explaining what's going on."

Leon blanched and quickly backed away from her, calmly walking to their room and closing the door behind him. Cynthia chuckled before going over to Lixa and picking her up.

It took twenty minutes to put the toddler back to bed and by then her promise to Leon had skipped her mind. That was before she entered their room and was carefully tossed onto their bed by Leon who grinned and started tickling her. Cynthia tried slapping his hands away but couldn't in time and started laughing, wriggling in his grip to get away, using her arms to push on his shoulders, her feet braced against his stomach, she pushed playfully trying to get him off as he kept up his relentless tickling.

 _:) :) :)  
Hannah opened her eyes to find her son's matching blue eyes looking back at her, "It's my birthday mommy!" He giggled scrambling up onto the bed and hugging her.  
_" _It isn't it Leo," She ruffled her son's black hair and sat up, "Why don't we find your father and go do something?"  
_ " _Okay!"_

 _ **(I'll add something else to help out)**_

 _Leo grinned a smirk and ran off, messy black hair like his father ruffled and never neat. Hannah quickly got changed and ready before she walked down the stairs to find Leo munching on some pancakes while her partner was cooly watching her from where he was leaning against a wall._

 _Braxton watched his partner care for their fussy baby girl named Dalia, striding around the room and bouncing Dalia while humming, as beautiful as always. It was interesting how one minute she could be as intimidating as a Lion then be as gentle as a cat a minute later._

Here's a few new ones

:) :) :)

" _For Starclan sake, Holly get back here!" Skylar growled, chasing the paint covered four and a half year old who ran to her brother and best friend Leon and Cynthia Lawson. The two younger children glanced at Holly over their shoulders before seeing Skylar rushing towards them. Cynthia let out a yell and bolted, the black haired four-year old running as fast as she could to her sisters and hiding behind them. Leon ran away from Skylar to Jay, hiding behind his older brother -by nine months- where he and Bree were drawing, Bree showing him what she did by letting his fingers brush over the crayon marks and she moved his arm so he understands what she was making._

 _Holly raced over to Cynthia and bowled the younger girl over, getting paint all over her and causing her to yelp as she smacked her head on the wooden flooring of the living room. Cynthia burst into tears and curled into a ball while Holly looked at her confused, green eyes not understanding what made her friend cry. Leon scurried over and patted Cynthia's head, not sure what to do but trying something. Paige and Haliah scurried over to their younger sister and hugged her in a sisterly hug that Leon turned into a group hug as he understood what they were doing, he wedged his way in and squeezed Cynthia in a hug grinning widely at her. She sniffled but smiled back, rubbing her eyes._

 _Skylar made it over and checked Cynthia for injuries, finding a decent sized bump on the back of her head and covered in paint by Holly, Leon also now covered in it. "Why I agreed to this while he's not here I have no idea." She sighed, she had volunteered to watch the Lawson girls while Sarah took their brother to a baby checkup, Bree was over because she had unthinkingly agreed to watch the energetic four and a half-year-old while Miley took the twins to a dentist appointment so their younger sister needed someone to watch her. Holly had gotten into the art supplies, Leon and Cynthia had already figured out how climb up onto counters and grab things such as cookies from the cookie jar Skylar had, Paige and Haliah quietly played with the dolls they brought, Jay and Bree had played tag, hide and seek and were now drawing with crayons on the floor in the living room, Bree kicking her legs as she drew lying on her stomach._

 **:) :) :) :) :) :)**

 _Sarah felt someone tugging on her blankets and opened her eyes to see her three-year-old twin daughters Paige and Haliah looking at her, panic in their eyes. "What's wrong?" She whispered, sitting up being careful not to wake up her partner._

" _Cynfia's crying," Paige reported a little annoyed at her energetic younger sister. Sarah sighed, the girl couldn't stay asleep longer than a few hours at most. Unless she was staying with Holly, Jay, and Leon._

" _Let's go play a game with her." She suggested, slipping out of the room with the two toddlers on her heels. They reached Paige, Haliah, and Cynthia's room to find Cynthia bouncing in her crib, the barely two years old girl full of energy and eager to play. "Hey Cynthia." Sarah smiled, reaching in and lifting her out and placing her down on her feet where the toddler plopped down to be sitting down and looking up at her sisters and mother with wide innocent blue eyes. After trying many different games that Cynthia all rejected Sarah was relieved to hear a male voice say,_

" _Hey Cindy, wanna play with the blocks?" Sarh turned to see her partner walking into the room, scratching his head sleepily but helping her with the daddy's girl Cynthia._

 _Cynthia chirped an answer and got to her feet, going over to him and wrapping her arms around his leg and looking up giggling._

:) :) :)

 _ **So there's two more :)**_


	26. Truth or Dare Special! :)

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Ha ha ha ha! Love it!**_

 _ **Unicorn brownies- good dare!**_

 _ **WaterWhisperWarriorCat- :) course I replied :) I love reviews :)**_

 _ **:)**_

" _ **Have Lion and Cinder kiss reach(each?) other for five whole minutes." ~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan**_

"Kiss Cynthia for five minutes… Wait what!" Leon yelled dropping the dare card in shock while Cynthia choked on the water she had been drinking, she slapped a hand over her mouth and her now reddening face and water trickled between her fingers while the rest of the group giggled. "Who's idea was this?!" Leon yelped while Cynthia rushed off probably to change from the water all over her front.

"Check the back." Holly said through her laughter.

"It doesn't say anything!"

"Then they want to be anonymous."

"Do I have to? That's a really long time!"

"Jeez, am I unkissable or something?" Cynthia scoffed coming back in dry clothing consisting a light blue half-sleeve shirt and skinny jeans like she'd been wearing before except different colors and not water covered.

"No." Leon replied getting to his feet and walking over to the indignant teen, cupping her face in his hands before glaring at Holly then leaning forward and kissing her. Cynthia reacted eagerly and the group timed them. By one minute Cynthia's back was against a wall with Leon's arm behind her head.

The timer went off after five minutes and Leon released her, he went back to his spot and so did Cynthia; both teens looking like they'd been hit in the head with something _**(Perhaps a cupid's arrow? XD)**_ and dazed, Leon seemed too giddy to be uncomfortable while Cynthia wasn't responding to Holly waving her hand in front of her face or snapping, instead her blue eyes were spaced out looking out the window, Leon's knee pressed against hers.

" _ **Ask Holly if she has ever fallen in love" ~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan**_

 _ **I'm going to make it so she has to give a story where she was with that person. :)**_

"Have you ever fallen in love? If so, tell everyone a story involving you and that person." Holly read off the card, "Well that's easy." She commented, reaching over and putting the card down on the used pile. "Yes, I've fallen in love before." All the girls besides Cynthia all waited in eager anticipation. Holly settled back into her spot before speaking again, "Let's see… a story involving him? Hm… Alright got one." She sat up straight, "When I ran off after the gathering I fell into the sewers and met a guy, his nickname is Fallen. After about a year I asked him to teach me how he maneuvered around the dark place and he agreed to show me. Turns how he usually ran along or swung off of sturdy piping," She laughed, green eyes foggy from memories, "I was still afraid of heights and nearly had a panic attack when he asked me to try it with him."

" _Are you sure this is a good idea?" Holly asked a bit worriedly, craning her neck to look up at Finli, "Heights aren't really my thing."_

" _Of course it's a good idea, I do it all the time, I won't let you fall."_

"After he reassured me I wouldn't fall and break my leg again for the second time I reluctantly climbed up next to him and he started teaching me how to keep my balance walking along the medium sized pipes."

" _I'm going fall!" Holly squeaked as her footing slipped. Finli grabbed hold of wrist as she slipped,_

" _I won't let you fall." He replied in a calm voice, locking eyes with her._

"It took about six months before I could keep pace with him on the pipes, sometimes we'd race each other, he'd usually let me win I could tell by the rolling of his eyes he did after each one."

" _I win!" Holly grinned jumping off the pipes and landing on her feet in the nook._

 _Finli rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair grinning at her indignant squeak from the action._

"Eventually he found a deck and cards and we started playing with those instead of racing each other on the pipes, each game lasting about ten to twenty minutes from our matched intelligence."

 _Holly stared at the cards laid out on the table, tapping her cards against her chin as she waited for Finli to go his turn and for something she didn't expect. Finli placed the card down and Holly grinned in victory, slamming down one of her cards, "I win!"_

" _Wait what?" Finli said in surprise, looking it over, he slouched and hung his head in defeat, "I lose."_

" _Again?" Holly asked giving him to part of the card deck._

" _Definitely." Finli grinned lopsidedly before shuffling the deck and they started again._

"That's my story." Holly smiled, the girls besides Ivory -who was looking not particularly interesting- and Cynthia -still dazed from Leon's dare- were grinning from ear to ear and Diana was bouncing in her seat.

" _ **Ask Berry to fess up that he likes Honey better." ~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan.**_

"Who do you like better, Haliah or Paige." Brendon read aloud before his face drained of most color as both Haliah and Paige looked at him expectantly while Cynthia snapped out of her daze to turn a warning glare on him. "Do I have to answer this?" He pleaded to Holly who's name was on the back of the card, "I don't want to die!" Haliah and Paige looked at each other in confusion while their younger sister looked smug and crossed her arms over her chest. Ivory grinned at Cynthia, her teeth briefly visible as Cynthia managed to tickled her funny bone.

"Yes you have to answer it," Holly said seriously, "it's required."

"Can't I take off my shirt or something?" He asked panicking.

"And make it so we have to see your pathetic excuse for muscles? No thanks, my sisters may drool over you but I don't." Cynthia sniped, blue eyes triumphant.

"Just answer the question Brendon." Holly insisted impatiently.

"Skip me, ask Cynthia something," Brendon pleaded, "give me time to gather myself against her."

"Fine." Holly sighed, "Your turn Cynthia."

Cynthia barely glanced at the card she picked up before dropping it and scowled realizing she didn't have any other options, she pulled her shirt up over her head and threw it into the center revealing her darker blue tank-top.

"What's so bad about it?" Leon asked slightly annoyed at the other guys' sudden paying attention. Cynthia gave him the card and Leon's amber eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he spluttered indignantly.

"What is it?" Diana asked curiously.

"The card says kiss your crush, confess, then embarrass yourself in front of them. After that attempt to sing soprano 'Roar' and pretend to pass out from air loss." Cynthia replied, "And I can't sing for the life of me. That and I refuse to do the last part."

"Isn't it the singing part?"

"No," Leon cleared his throat recovering from his spluttering, "It says on the bottom, 'If Cindy gets this she has to choose between Holly and Leon and make-kiss one of them." He corrected himself quickly, not wanting to embarrass Cynthia.

The other girls started laughing while the guys chortled at their situation. Cynthia rolled her eyes, "Hence the discarded clothing, I'm not doing it and nobody can make me. Brendon are you ready yet?" She asked the blonde who nodded and nervously coughed into his hand.

"Erm… My favorite out of Paige and Haliah is…" Everyone leaned forward expectantly while Cynthia curled one hand into a fist, blue eyes locked on his face, clearly anticipating his answer.

He ran his fingers nervously through his hair, "uh, Haliah." his cheeks turned pink before he scrambled backward as Cynthia lunged to punch him, her knuckles barely tapping his nose as Leon heaved her back so she didn't injure him. Haliah squealed happily, green eyes twinkling happily. Paige pouted crossing her arms over her chest, her lighter brown hair swinging down in front of her face and hiding her disappointment and heartbreak.

Cynthia glared viciously at Brendon before she shoved Leon's arms off and stood up, before plopping down between her set of twin sisters she pulled Paige into a hug, the shorter girl buried her face in her sister's shoulder. Cynthia put her chin on the top of her head and let her sister cry, her blue eyes wandering to meet with Leon's who's expression mirrored the one she wanted to express, anger, sympathy, and annoyance. Cynthia swatted away any attempts from Haliah to comfort Paige and the green eyed girl reluctantly understood, leaving her twin sister be with her younger sister. Leon scooted over so he was in front of Cynthia and Paige, blocking anyone from eavesdropping as Cynthia talked to Paige, lifting her spirits and explaining why she shouldn't be too upset. Bree heaved her wheelchair over and rummaged in the back cooler before taking out a large handfull of chocolate bars and sliding them across the the floor so they hit Cynthia's knee. Cynthia flashed a smile at the always cheerful girl before opening one of the bars and giving it to Paige, whispering in Leon's ear who nodded and stood up. "We're going to take Poppy upstairs for a little while, when it's out turns just put the card in our spots,"

"I think Poppy's done with the game." Cynthia said helping her sister to her feet and leading her upstairs, "We'll be right back." Leon jogged after her picking up the chocolate bars in the process, probably to help explain from a guy's point of view.

" _ **I dare Mike to run down the school hallway singing wrecking ball and wearing a troll costume and leave a trail of snickerdoodles behind him" ~Unicorn brownies**_

"Run down a school hallway singing 'Wrecking Ball' and wearing a troll costume while leaving a trail of snickerdoodles?" Mike echoed staring at the Dare card in utter confusion, "Who's idea is this?"

Fin grinned raising his hand, "Mine!"

Mike sighed, "Anyone have a troll costume?"

"I do!" Bree smiled widely, "It's in my backpack, Fin asked me to bring it!"

"Snickerdoodles?"

"In the kitchen." Jay answers curtly, "Don't use all of them or Cynthia and Leon will be furious."

Mike sighs, "Let's get this all over with."

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

The next day after four period everyone who had been playing truth or dare at Leon's house were all hanging out around their lockers, waiting for Mike's 'Surprise' entrance. Then the front door of the school burst open and Mike burst in, sliding on his knees in the troll costume and throwing snickerdoodles into the air while attempting to sing at the top of his lungs. Everyone stared at the troll costumed guy for a few seconds before scattering, quickly running as Mike ran down the hallway still singing and throwing snickerdoodles as he went.

"That was hilarious Mike!" Leon grinned, smacking his friend in the back as he trotted back and pulled the troll helmet off his head, revealing his overheated face and sweaty hair.

"It's like a heater in here!" Mike exclaimed shaking his head and causing the girls to flinch or complain as he shook the sweat from his hair.

"We can see that," Leon continued, "But that was the best thing ever!"

"Whatever Leon, I'm getting out of this thing, have fun with the snickerdoodles." He trudged off, probably to go change out of the forest troll costume.

Bree cracked up, she'd been holding in her laughter for quite some time with Jay's help of him pinching the back of her neck. She howled with laughter giggling, amber eyes twinkling with complete amusement. Everyone else started laughing as well, the group becoming a whole laughing mess in the hallway with snickerdoodles scattered around them.

 _ **So yay! :) Truth or Dare chapter! :) I'm working on the Hollyleaves one and it should be up soon :) Unicorn brownies, I am working on writing Haliah and the snake :)**_


	27. Ivybreeze 2

_Protection Isn't a False Hope_

 _Ivybreeze_

Ivory raced through the dark streets and alleys, pushing herself to the limit, Brian had challenged Braxton to a duel in one of these alleys at seven tonight, Braxton in his anger accepted was going to be sliced to ribbons if she couldn't get there fast enough. ' _Come on!'_ She told herself, ' _It's almost seven! Thank everything that's holy that Alto tipped me off!'_ She ran faster, her boots in a bag on her back, the clunky shoes harder to run in so right now she was barefoot and too focused to notice the occasional glass piece she stepped on.

Spotting a flash of reflected light and sneering voices she dropped the bag, yanked out her two switch blades and promptly crashed headlong into Braxton, sending him flying as Brian swung his blade, Ivory leaned backwards so the blade only cut open her cheek and one side of her nose rather than slice open the rest of her face, which would've slit Braxton's throat if she hadn't been there at the right time and place. She locked her hand around Brian's wrist and pressed against a painful pressure point causing him to drop the blade before she slammed her fist into his ribs, hearing the partially satisfying snap of a few of the idiotic skilled man's ribs.

Brian staggered back with a surprised gasp, clutching his chest and staring at Ivory with fear and shock. "You could've killed me!" He gasped furiously, heaving for air.

"I know the limits of a human man Brian," Ivory replied rage coloring her tone, "But I also know you shouldn't have challenged an apprentice. They are here to train, not be killed." She stepped closer to him, the blood on her cheek and nose gleaming in the moonlight, "It's against orders, apprentices don't kill, warriors can and do. That's how you become one, everyone except you sorry excuse for a dark forest warrior."

"I did kill!" He snarled furiously wheezing slightly, "I killed kids! I'm eviler than you'll ever be!"

"Maybe, but your best weapon isn't being evil." She offered a hand to help Braxton up, "It's being underestimated and knowing what skills you possess and by extension the limits you and others have." When Braxton took her hand she pulled him up to be standing up on his feet. Ivory then flicked her wrist and her switchblade opened, the tip pointed at Brian's nose. "Now get out of here. Alto will be told what has gone on here." Brian ran as fast as he could into the dark.

Braxton stared at Ivory who looked like she had just got to the dark forest before running over, she was dressed in black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt, and her black skull hoodie, but she was also barefoot. It looked like she had just come from an activity with her sister or something. He couldn't help but feel guilty about the cut marring her pretty face, it would scar he knew, dark forest knives were designed to leave a visible scar, to remind them all what their mistakes were. He shouldn't have accepted the duel, he had been so mad and angry at Brian's accusation of a crush on Ivory that he had impulsively acted. "I'm sorry." He forced out, pushing away his pride for a moment.

"It's fine Braxton, just don't try and duel him again alright?" She walked over to where her bag was and slung it back over one shoulder before turning back to Braxton, blue eyes calm and understanding, "I know what it's like to be rash and impulsive but dueling an experienced warrior isn't a good idea."

"Yeah, I see that now." Braxton watched her for a moment before cautiously putting his hand on the side of her face and wiping the blood off her face, hoping not to be thrown to the ground at the action. Ivory's eyes widened a small amount but she remained mostly calm about it and didn't move. "You know the whole kisses make everything feel better?" Braxton asked a bit embarrassedly, his pale cheeks going pink.

"Well yes, I think everyone does," Ivory replies in a collected tone, remaining a calm stance, standing quietly with partially relaxed posture.

Braxton cautiously kissed her cheek where the cut from Brian's blade was still bleeding slightly. He then drew back a few feet and coughed nervously into his hand while Ivory stood temporarily frozen before rolling her eyes affectionately and starting back towards the dark forest, "Are you coming?" She called over her shoulder, "I'm not bailing you out again."

"Coming!" He hurried to catch up to her, ' _So protection really isn't false dream, she protected me.'_ "Are you working with me today?"

"Yes, you need some skills in close combat and awkwardness." She replied teasingly, looking at him through the corner of her eye.

Braxton blushed again, "I'm not that bad!" He exclaimed indignantly, bumping her shoulder before they continued walking in a companionable silence. Just before they entered the dark forest Ivory ran the back of her hand against her wounded cheek, smearing the blood and hiding the awkward moment that had happened between them.


	28. Dancing the Impossible, Being Accepted

**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I'm glad you were excited for that one! :) Say hello to the moon for me! Don't hit your head! XD**

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- Smiles are good :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) SMILEY BOMBARDMENT! XD**_

 _Dancing the Impossible and Being Accepted_

 _Braxton Crawford- Breezepelt (Can't remember if I put him in the descriptions.)_

 _Bree, Jay, Holly- 17 ½_

 _Leon, Cynthia- 17_

 _Ivory, Braxton- 16 ½_

 _Paige, Haliah, Brendon- 18_

 _CinderBlaze, BriarFeather, IvyBreeze, hinted Hollyleaves,PoppyHoneyNose, and one-sided HeatherBlaze._

Bree frowned as she rolled along the school hallways, a deep frown on her usually cheerful features. There was another dance coming up but she couldn't go yet again, not because her overprotective mother wouldn't let her, but because she couldn't stand or dance at all, and she didn't want to make some poor guy suffer with her. She squeaked as someone grabbed the handles of her chair and steered her to a quiet hallway, craning her head upwards she saw it was Jay leading her, blind eyes fixed ahead of them. Finally stopping he crouched next to her looking at her with knowing blind eyes.

"You want to go to the dance." He said bluntly.

Bree's eyes widened and her surprise was evident in her tone, "Well yeah, but I'm not going-"

"Why not?" Jay asked, "I'm asking you to go with me."

"But, B-but Jay!"

"I don't want any buts, no pun intended. Why not go?"

"I can't dance or walk or even stand!" She replied slamming her fists down on the armrests, "I don't want to force you to be miserable!"

"I'll teach you how to dance and I'm sure we'll figure out those issues. Now, go with me to the dance."

"Alright fine. But you're just torturing me."

"No, I'm not, I promise."

"I trust you." She then turned around and left for her class, Jay trailing behind her.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

"Carry her with one arm under her waist," Leah instructed Leon who was giving a sprained ankle Cynthia a hand, "It'll keep her upright." Jay froze from where he was helping a student by treating a small scratch. ' _Under the waist, it'll keep her upright…That's perfect! There's a solution!'_ He hurried to finish treating the student before running off to the library, gone before Leah could tell him to come back. ' _Luckily the medical books all have copies that are in Braille. Balance, Spinal Alignment, Carry Holds. Got them.'_ He sat down at a table and dumped the books, taking one and starting to quickly read them one at a time, his fingers speedily rushing over the pages. About an hour later he closed the last book, his fingertips throbbing but he was satisfied, he knew exactly what to do to help Bree dance with him at the dance.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"Come over to my house," Jay whispered in Bree's ear from where he was sitting next to her in art, "I have a solution."

"Okay, I hope this works."

"It will."

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

"The idea is for me to support your weight, understand so far?"

"Yes."

"So if I do this," He leaned down and grasped Bree's wrists, gently pulling her upright where she started to drop back to the ground, he then locked his arms around her lower body so she was pinned to him and being supported by his arms, "It should you upright for as long as my arms don't give out."

"Amazing!" Bree squealed, the sound muffled by his shoulder where her face was squished.

"It gets better, just watch." He said confidently, "If I nudge your foot with my own as I move forward it'll move and you can complete a move." He demonstrates, having her look down at her feet where he then nudged her left foot forward with his own step so her foot moved backward. "Because I know how to dance I can guide your steps and all you have to do is let me know when you're getting tired and what style the dance is."

"I love it!" Bree smiles, pressing an excited kiss to his cheek, "We'd have to practice but it'll be wonderful!"

"I'm glad you like it." Jay smiled at her, blind blue eyes directed at her. Although he couldn't see the hopeful and loving look sparkling in her eyes he could sense the emotions and that made him smile unintentionally.

XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD

Holly heard giggling from Jay's room and went to investigate, a heavy feeling in her gut. But that instantly vanished the moment she saw what was going on, Bree was actually standing! Jay's arms were locked around the paralyzed girl's hips but Bree was actually upright with her feet on the ground. The giggling was from Bree who had her face pressed against Jay's shoulder to stifle her giggles while he was nudging her feet so they did what was like a square dance before he tripped and fell backward, making her fall on top of him by default. She started full out laughing, he joined on the laughter a moment later. Holly smiled and gently closed the door, walking to the living room to where she had been 'studying' with Finli.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

"Ready?" Jay asked Bree from where she was sitting in her wheelchair next to him, her wheels a few inches from his feet, his hand resting nervously on her shoulder so her hands were free to push her chair on her own. The day of the dance was finally upon them, after weeks of practicing and excelling in the modified dancing -Jay hadn't tripped up in at least a week- it was finally time for the real thing.

"Yeah," Bree replied nervously, she smoothed out her dress and started into the gym, Jay at her side, his hand still comfortably clasped on her shoulder.

The place was loud and Jay winced slightly, his ears temporarily ringing. For a little while, they caught up with their friends and siblings, munched on some snacks, and ignored the confused staring directed at them; before they finally moved. Rolling over to the edge of the dance floor Bree moved to the front of her chair then Jay carefully pulled her up, putting one arm around her waist and carefully maneuvering onto the area as she circled her arms around his neck for extra stability.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

(? POV)

' _Why am I always the one picked to give out awards?'_ I thought miserably, pulling my pencil from behind my ear and looking for good candidates for the awards, ' _Best dressed guy and girl?'_ I spotted Haliah Lawson and Brenden Michaels looking at me and I quickly wrote down their names, nobody wanted a hissy fit from them both. Even though Haliah was pretty, some of the other girls like her annoying sister Cynthia Lawson, or even the "goth girl" Ivory Fernandes were surprisingly dressed up and actually participating.

' _Most miserable?'_ Every dance without fail this question was hilarious, but this year Ivory Fernandes and Braxton Crawford took the cake; looking reluctant and wearing matching scowls despite being on the opposite ends of the gym. I jotted down their names for that category and looked around for the next one.

' _Most cheerful? Breanna Grayas would win this one if she was here… Wait! She is?!'_ I stared at the paralyzed girl who was actually at the dance, on her feet and laughing, her arms circling Jay Bramble's neck. I wrote down her name and looked for the next one.

' _Cutest and best couples? Bleh.'_ This year I'd have to write down Cynthia Lawson and Leonardo Bramble, the couple most of the school population had been waiting for since the whole paint thing involving Cynthia, Leon, and I at least two years ago. Even Isa's attempts to get him and she and I's combined attempt to incapacitate Cynthia failed, **_(Briarfeather and Cinderblaze reference btw)_** so I gave up after that experience, that was a really hard knock to the head and I didn't fancy another one from the thunder athlete who had rightfully claimed him as hers. I watched them grudgingly, I had to in order for the choice to be accepted. Cynthia and Leon were surprising with everyone else on the dance floor -usually, they both avoided it and each other- and seeming to be having a good time, Cynthia's arms curled around his shoulders while Leon was whispering something in her ear, causing her to giggle with amusement. I jerked my attention back down to my clipboard and filled out their names, despite Cynthia's empathetic offers of letting me have him for a while I refused, not wanting to see him uncomfortable like the last time I had danced with him and I'd been a decent idiot.

' _Ok, so that's obviously the most wanted couple, but what about the cutest. I'll wait until a slower song to look at that one, I refuse to let them be the cutest one.'_ I then watched, declining any offers to dance and waiting. My opportunity arose after about ten minutes. Completely ignoring Cynthia and Leon I looked for another couple that people wouldn't hate me for choosing and found one. Leon's brother Jay with the easily most known person in the school Breanna Grayas. The reason everyone knew about her? She helped everyone, no matter what the sector, issue, or problem she was always around helping people. Despite how much I disliked her being a thunder kid, sometimes I looked up to her and her compassionate personality, she even helped me mostly get over Leon.

 _I sat there with my knees drawn up to my chest staring blankly at the wall ahead of me. Seeing my crush Leon together with the girl I'd been fighting against since we were little, broke my heart more than it would have if he had gotten together with some random girl._

" _Hello?" I heard a kind voice ask and the sound of tires rolling over the tile flooring. "Are you ok in here?"_

 _I didn't reply instead hiccuping and turning my head as the person emerged. With a wheelchair, dark brown hair, amber eyes and a bright colored hoodie saying, "Cheer up, the world isn't ending yet!" It was obviously Breanna Grayas, a large-ish bag on her lap. I realized with a jolt it was Friday, the start of the weekend and when Bree gave out all the stuff she managed to truthfully acquire for people. "Oh! Hannah are you ok?" She asked me, rolling closer with worry on her features, not pity or sympathy but pure worry. I chose not to reply and turned my head the opposite direction. I listened the sound of her putting the bag down before I heard the rustling or fabric and I felt her sit next to me on the floor and put one arm around my shoulder, her knees visible in my peripheral vision. I looked over startled, I didn't think she could maneuver out of the chair at all, but here she was, a thunder kid worried about me a wind kid, with no mobility in her legs, sitting back on her knees with one arm pulling me into a comforting hug, amber eyes worried and concerned. "I saw Leon and Cynthia, that's what's upsetting you right?" She asked._

" _Yeah… How'd you get down here? I didn't think you could move." I spoke, my throat clogged with emotion, my heartbreak and astonishment at the girl. Bree smiled warmly and removed her arm to push up her hoodie sleeves, revealing thin but defined muscles,_

" _I've strengthened my arms so I can maneuver around, can't really help people if you can't move right? I can actually climb trees with my arms. But I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you, would you like a hug?" She opened her arms looking at me with a warm smile, "I'm not going to judge you if you cry, Hannah."_

" _You won't tell anyone?" I asked, a bit hesitant; I've heard about her well-known ability to not judge anyone but I didn't know if she kept secrets well._

" _Of course not! Cross my heart and hope to die, cover my face in pie!" She grinned and I smiled at the silly rhyme and felt the tears pricking at my eyes worsen, she must've noticed because she hugged me comfortingly, "I promise I won't tell anyone Hannah, it'll go into my vault of secrets." I took the invite and cried, feeling her compassion like a warm comforting blanket. After a few minutes, I sniffled and rubbed my eyes drawing back slightly to find Bree smiling at me. "Feel better?" She asked with a bright smile._

 _The smile was infectious and I smiled as well, "Yeah, thanks."_

" _No problem! Oh, here!" She dragged her large bag over and pulled out a heather blue colored, easily the fluffiest blanket I had ever seen folded into sixths with a medium carry-on bag of the same color. "A blanket for you." She smiled handing it to me. I stared at the blanket, made out of some kind of silky soft material it was probably an expensive blanket._

" _What? Why me?" I asked in surprise, staring at the girl, "I'm in Wind sector."_

" _You're a person in need Hannah," She replied with a warm grin, "Everyone needs help sometimes. Oh, here's this too!" She pulled out a huge chocolate bar from the cooler I think everyone knew she had. She put it on top of the blanket and smiled, "I hope you feel better, if you need my help I'm always around, it might take a bit to find me but I'll help you whenever you need it." Her amber eyes go compassionate but serious, "One day you'll get over Leon and find a guy perfect for you, there's much fish in the sea and all of them are different from each other." She then scooted away from the wall before pushing her wheelchair behind her and heaved herself back into it. For a moment she rummaged through her bag before handing a small envelope to me, "Someone asked me to give this to you, I hope you take the chance to heal your broken heart." With a smile and tossing another chocolate bar of my favorite kind into my lap, she turned and started wheeling herself away. I looked down at my lap where the blanket, bars of chocolate, and now the envelope lay, feeling lighter than I had all day._

So everyone knew Bree, there was even a group of kids who tried to be just like her, calling their idol GoldenHeart, a name everyone except Bree knew about and agreed with the name. Jay, on the other hand, was well known for his blindness, sharp tongue, rare compliments, abilities in healing, and breakthroughs in medical issues; He tended to stay in the thunder area but occasionally helped out other sectors and students. I watched them for a little longer, taking careful note that Bree was standing on her feet, arms circled around Jay's neck, her height giving her a disadvantage so I could only see the top of her head and the dark blue headband she had on, shining against her darker brown hair. Content with my decision I wrote down their names and put down the clipboard with a sigh. I scanned the room but couldn't find Cynthia, Leon was seemingly waiting for her, his hands in his pockets with his gaze in my direction a few inches to my left. Then someone grasped my wrist and pulled me towards Leon. I struggled to get free, not wanting to be dragged. I looked over to see Cynthia grinning at me, blue eyes sparkling.

"You're going to dance with him even if I have to drag you."

"Then you're going to have to drag me." I hiss, struggling to get her off.

"Hey, Ivory! Can you help me?" She asked, looking at the blonde standing near the snack table, blue eyes thoughtfully looking at the stuff on the table. Ivory looked over, caught my reluctance and Cynthia's eager yet mischievous expression and grinned; walking over she aided Cynthia in pushing me towards Leon who rolled his eyes at his girlfriend and his friend but helped, while the girls pushed me from behind Leon grasped my wrists and pulled.

"I once said I'll dance with you," He said looking at me and recalling a promise he made a year ago, "So I will, Isa was clinging to me like a squid at that time and this is the only dance that's happened since. Will you give me the honor of dancing with me?" He asked amber eyes truthful. I glanced at Cynthia who nodded with a smile. Reluctantly I agreed and Leon took me onto the dance floor.

"Only one," I told him with a warning.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Everyone seemed happy, Hannah reluctantly agreed to be a group of friends with Ivory, Braxton, Cynthia, and Leon; Bree and Jay were about to leave, exhaustion pulling at the former's body while the latter was content with what he got and that he found a solution. Haliah was with Brenden while Paige hung around her other sister, glad to find that her younger sister accepted her into the group with no issues, a smile in her direction before continuing her playful bickering with Leon.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

It was quiet the moment Jay closed the gym doors behind him and Bree, they walked -or rolled in Bree's case- in comfortable silence, Bree idly humming the tune to the song that had been playing when they left while Jay listened to her humming with lingering amusement. He had one other thing to ask her before they split up to go home and it was a decently important one; having waited patiently for a full year after the whole Hadara thing he decided that now was a good time to ask her. He gently stopped her before she could get up on the porch and into her house before kneeling in front of her so they were eye to eye.

"Do you need something Jay?" Bree asked with a small amount of concern in her voice.

"Yes, but only an answer to a question." He replied casually.

"Oh ok, shoot for it!" She smiled, amber eyes glittering happily from the whole dance experience.

He decided to be blunt about it. "Will you be my girlfriend?" Glad to hear no stuttering or stammering in his question this experience was a bit different than when he had asked Hadara. Bree made a faint surprised unintelligible noise, amber eyes wide with shock and surprise, sitting still in complete shock. He managed to render her speechless. "Bree?" He asked a bit worriedly, not getting an answer. "Are you ok?" He asked in concern when she only made another unintelligible noise, he then tapped into her thoughts. Which were shocked and surprised, unable to form words. Jay chuckled before leaning forward and kissing her forehead and returning to his crouching position. "You're speechless eh Bree?" She made a strangled indignant noise, "We can wait for you to regain your speech if you like." So he waited. A few moments later she cleared her throat embarrassed and smiled.

"You rendered me speechless! And the answer is yes." Bree grinned, amber eyes glittering joyfully.

"Yes!" Jay grinned throwing one fist into the air before she leaned forward and kissed him with a joy-filled laugh

 _ **I started a new series that's called Briarfeather and Cinderblaze, it's completely focused on those two couples and yes, a few of the fluffy chapters in here are in that one too :) And... Cynthia and Leon finally get together in that one! XD You'll have to read that series to read it! :) This one is on the other one, I designed it so it could go in both :)**_


	29. From Apprentice to Warrior (Ivypool)

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- hahaha! :) :)**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- :D All the missing moments between Broken Hearts and Second Chances, Dancing the Impossible and Being Accepted, and Future game (The briarfeather part) are all on my new story Briarfeather and Cinderblaze :)**_

 _From Apprentice to Warrior_

 _Traktor- Tigerstar_

 _Ivory- 15_

 _Braxton- 15 and a few months-ish_

Atol watched Ivory silently keep punching the punching bag in front of her, each punch dead center and causing the bag to swing dangerously. "That's enough. You don't want to tire yourself out before your test."

"Test? What test?" She asked, obediently stopping and stepping back from the bag.

"Your test of becoming a warrior and a soldier." He said walking over to her, looking completely serious

"I'll try my hardest Atol." She replied fervently, blue eyes flashing with determination.

"I have no doubt that you will pass. You've done well in your training." He cracked a smirk and ruffled her hair like he would a daughter, "After all, I am your mentor."

"Hey!" She pushed his hand away with a grimace, "I just fixed it!" She took the ponytail holder out and re-did her ponytail once again, sticking her tongue out at him at she did so. "Anyway, I am ready to become a full dark forest warrior, I've been ready since I came here."

Atol nodded, he was proud of the girl he had brought into the dark forest two years ago. She had grown into a fierce fighter that could easily match his own skills, he taught her everything he knew and even got his father to show her a few things. "The test will take place in ten minutes out in the obstacle course, your mission is to track, find, and kill Alex."

Brief shock sparked in Ivory's eyes but she quickly recovered, "Kill style? Any specifications?"

"Only that you make sure he won't be getting up. Be well aware Ivory that you get points for kill style and how badly he's killed."

"Alright," Ivory already had an an idea of what she was going to to, "So stay out of sight, track him down then kill him?"

"Yes. That is the point of the test, the faster and the sneakier you do it the more impressive it is."

"Yes, sir," Ivory said calmly, her mind whirring on the fastest way to carry out her plans. No she wasn't and evil person and didn't like to kill but it was necessary if she was going to advance farther into the dark forest and make Atol proud, all the warriors would be watching and she would get some decent respect if she did this right.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Ivory slipped into the dark obstacle course, listening for Alex's footsteps. Carefully following him for at least six minutes she made out the pattern he went in and slipped away, hiding behind a thin brick wall. Throwing one of the bricks to catch his attention she drew him right to her with the wall. Crashing through it with her blades open and ready for battle, she tackled him to the ground and moved as fast as she could, slitting his throat and clamping her hand over his mouth and nose.

Using a blade three times as large as she usually would, starting at his neck she let the blade travel down to his stomach, feeling a small amount of pity at his cries of pain she put him out of his misery, hitting his temple with the steel handle of her blade. She waited until the blood flow stopped before she got to her feet, completely drenched in Alex's blood from head to toe. She flicked the red liquid off her blades and closed them, tucking them into her boots for safe keeping and looking up as the obstacle course was lit up with light.

Every face was shocked, expressions all containing shock behind the pleased looks. But Ivory was only looking for one, wanting to see her mentor's expression. Atol's face was lit with pride, shock, and amazement, he was grinning with what looked like partial blood lust but mostly pride. Ivory smirked at them all as she heard Traktor announce,

"Ivory Is deemed a dark forest warrior, any objections?" Nobody dared to speak, "Then it is official, Ivory Fernandes is a dark forest warrior!"

:) :) :)

"That was great," Atol told Ivory as they were walking back to the training buildings. "Very well executed. But why did you knock him out?"

"Because the screaming would bring attention," Ivory replies smoothly, "If he kept screaming then it would attract all kinds of unwanted attention."

"Very good, I must talk to my father, go train."

"Yes, sir." She ran off.

:) :) :)

Braxton was in the training room without his mentor who had been the victim of Ivory's test, shocked and stunned, not at all missing the coward of his mentor, but stunned at the display of power and skill from the girl probably at least half a year younger than him. He'd been told to watch just like all the other apprentices had and received the shock of his life. A girl younger than him broke through a brick wall, slit his mentor's throat, and essentially flayed him like a fish, all within a span of about two minutes. He wasn't horrified by the action, he knew it had been necessary for the test and Alex had been the worst mentor in existence, completely ignoring him and not teaching him anything. The door opened and Braxton looked back to see Ivory walking into the room, clean of the blood with damp hair and a cold look in her blue eyes. She walked over to one of open punching bags and started punching with focused hits and a focused and determined look in her eyes. He watched her for a while, watching her movements. ' _I'll be as strong as her one day.'_ He promised himself, watching as she nearly knocked the punching bag off its chain.

:) :) :) :) :)

Ivory blocked his strike starting to back off towards a wall, giving Atol the appearance of giving up and backing away, he kept up the pace and Ivory smirked at him, turning around in the tight space she ran up the cement wall behind her and crashed down onto her previous mentor's shoulder, causing his knees to almost buckle and the cold metal of her blade touch his throat.

"Where'd you learn that?" He asked in obvious surprise, at the mercy of her blade.

"It's something I taught myself," She shrugged easily, getting off him and dropping to the ground. I figured if I could make the opponent feel like their gaining the upper hand their defense falls slightly and if I can surprise them and catch them off guard."

"Clever, very clever. Some day you'll have to teach me how to do it."

"Maybe,' She grins at his surprised look, "We all secrets don't we?"

"Yes, I guess me all do," He replied grudgingly, "But tomorrow I'm teaching you how to balance on wires."

"Seriously?" She asked in surprise, "Balancing on wires? Now that's a surprise."

"Maybe, but I'm sure you'll do well."

"I can always try."


	30. AU A Squid (Cinderblaze)

**_Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Ivyfrost is cool too :) I can't decide which one's better, Ivyfrost or Ivybreeze XD_**

 ** _Unicorn Brownies- Hawkfrost is your favorite? He's mine too ^-^_**

 _AU An Annoying Squid_ _  
_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 17_

 _Isa- 16 ½_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree- 17 ½_

Skylar sighed as she walked into the living room. The basketball team had stayed over for a sleepover and the entire team was crashed there with the addition to the teens who already lived in the house. Cynthia, Leon, and Holly were asleep on the couch, Cynthia stretched out on her side curled into a half ball, one arm flung over her eyes the other flung out next to her, Leon curled around her from behind, his hand resting on her lower right thigh, his chin resting on the top of her head, essentially spooning the black haired girl, Isa was asleep behind him, her back pressed against his, one arm thrown over her eyes, Holly was curled in a ball next to Cynthia, the other girl's arm over her eyes and hiding them from any light.

Jay was asleep in the recliner with Bree asleep next to him, the two squished into the comfortable chair, her wheelchair sitting there next to it. The rest of the team was sprawled out on the floor asleep in many variations of sleeping positions. Skylar sighed but got to work cleaning up the trash, random DVDs and threw blankets over each of the players, tucking the edges under them. She let Cynthia and Leon share a blanket so did Bree and Jay but everyone else got their own, even Isa who was pressed as close to Leon as she could get. She had to go to work but the company was going to be coming over later and the team was staying over until Thanksgiving which was in a few days. She'd figure out the sleeping arrangements later.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Cynthia's sapphire blue eyes slowly slid open and she groggily turned her head and looked at the clock before getting out of Leon's grip and stretched out on her stomach, her face turned towards Leon's so she could feel his breath smelling of spearmint and cinnamon flitted over her face. She settled back into sleep and didn't notice Leon slipping one arm under her waist and settling on his back, starting to softly snore, his face still turned towards hers. ' _Eight o'clock is too early'_

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Leon's amber eyes slid open to the sound of people waking up and stirring, his eyes softened at the sight of his friend sleeping next to him, lying on her stomach in her usual position, one arm pinned under her stomach and his back, the other bent at the elbow, her palm resting on his t-shirt, blue eyes closed and breathing a cat-like purr. As much as he wished he could stay like that the whole relationship was still on thin ice and a secret to everyone besides Holly and Jay. He carefully pulled his arm out from under her waist and put both arms over his head looking up at the ceiling. Cynthia shifted away from him and threw her free arm over her head, not waking up just yet. He dozed off, subconsciously turning just slightly towards Cynthia

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

"Two boys are going to have to sleep with the girls in Holly and Cynthia's room." Skylar told the group that night, "There isn't enough room in Leon and Jay's room for all ten boys."

"I'll sleep in in there with the girls," Leon said confidently, "You can trust me."

"He can share with me," Cynthia said, "He won't dare do what he's not supposed to with me threatening to punch him."

"If Leon's going then I am too." Jay said calmly, "I don't want to be teased or harassed."

Leon and Jay waited till the girls were changed and chatting with each other before entering, Jay wearing gray black fleece PJ bottoms with a t-shirt that said, "Sleeping, do not disturb." In red lettering. Leon was wearing his usual PJs, a black muscle shirt, and basketball shorts, comfortable. Isa couldn't take her eyes off him, she was wearing white sweats and a t-shirt that had a bunch of zzz's scattered along the front. Holly was braiding her long black hair wearing black PJ bottoms and a t-shirt with the words, "Warning, silent but sleeping." Bree was already sitting up in Holly's spare mattress, leaning against a wall and reading a book, a braille copy on the mattress next to her, her dark brown hair up in a french braid wearing light blue footies with small positive emojis scattered all over the entire thing with the words, "Emoji Explosion!" On the front. Cynthia was taking her hair out of her usual ponytail before she shook her head and the strands settled nicely behind her ears and tumbled down her shoulders to the small of her back, she was wearing a blue tank-top that complimented her eyes and light gray yoga pants. Isa stared at her in surprise that she didn't seem to care that both boys were in the room.

Cynthia raised an eyebrow, "I didn't let them in here to sacrifice my comfort, I'm sleeping how I want to," She shrugged easily, ignoring the sharp glance at her from Leon of the raising and lowering of her lightly tanned shoulders, "I live with them, if they have an issue with it, they can go crash on the couch." She strode over to her bottom bunk and slipped under her covers, flopping on her stomach and going to sleep. Leon followed her example and got under the blue sports ball covered blankets lying on his back and closing his eyes. Bree guided Jay so he didn't fall and trip over the extra mattress before both settled down and read a book. Holly finished braiding her hair and climbed up to her bunk before settling down and drifting off. Isa warily watched Leon and Cynthia for a few moments before she too climbed up, settled down, and went to sleep, out like a light.

Isa was the first to wake up though and she climbed down the ladder and froze, Cynthia and Leon were still asleep, but close together, Cynthia was curled into his side, her nose pressed against his shoulder, one arm draped over his body while Leon was still slightly snorting, one arm wrapped around Cynthia's waist the other curled around the back of her knees. Isa yelled startled and actually fell off the ladder, Landing on Bree and Jay. Bree jolted awake with a pained yelp as she fell on top of her while Jay grunted and shoved her off. Holly peered over the railing of her bunk in worry, green eyes foggy. Cynthia and Leon startled awake as well, groggily pushing each other away and partially sitting up, Cynthia's hand clenched into a fist around her blanket, blue eyes blurry from sleep, Leon's expression mirroring hers, eyes blurry and groggy, body language drowsy and half asleep, partially defensive. Skylar came running and so did everyone else. Isa blushed as she got to her feet, "S-Sorry, I was surprised."

"By?" Skylar asked taking in the entire sight, Cynthia and Leon still half asleep, Holly peering over the railing, Jay checking Bree over for injuries and Bree groaning from Isa landing on her.

Isa hesitated before speaking, figuring out how to get Cynthia into trouble, "I was startled because Cynthia and Leon were sleeping together."

"What?!" Cynthia burst out, "I fell asleep before you did!"

Leon rolled his eyes and flopped back on his back, "She's overreacting mom, we were asleep the entire time, come on Holly tell her."

"I would've woken up if there was any noise, I didn't and I'm sure they were only sleeping." Holly said appeasing her mother, "They were sleeping." She emphasized the word sleeping.

"Look, Holly, you sleep in Cynthia's bed with Leon and Cynthia-"

"I don't mind moving," Isa says quietly, a small amount of hope coloring her tone.

"Fine whatever, I'm going back to sleep."

Cynthia sighed in defeat and climbed up with Holly muttering curse words under her breath as she settled down on her side, blue eyes open and fully awake. Leon was already asleep, curled into a tight ball in a corner while Isa smiled and settled down in Cynthia's bed next to Leon who shifted as she threw one arm over him. Cynthia watched the entire thing and gritted her teeth, forcing her blue eyes squeezed shut and trying to some sleep out of the whole situation. She slept fitfully the entire night, tossing and turning bothering Holly who curled up in a corner and fell asleep while Cynthia read a book, watched a movie on her phone with headphones, swing her legs over the railing and did everything possible to tired herself out, even going outside at 4 in the morning, in the rain and running 30 laps around the large area before jumping in their pool and doing laps that way, then climbing trees and watching the sun rise. Finally, around 8 she managed to get back up to Holly's bed and finally fall asleep for two hours when Skylar woke them all up to get to work on chores. Cynthia groaned when she said that and trudged off outside before jumping into their pool to wake herself up. Hauling her body out of the water she went back inside and upstairs, passing the boys who stared at her, the water dripping down her body and hair. She came back down with the rest of the girls, along with Jay, and Leon. Blue eyes fully awake and aware, but her exhaustion not present.

So that's how it went for a few days, Isa smugly getting to sleep next to Leon who was uncomfortable about the whole thing while Cynthia ran laps, cleaned, organized, swam, climbed, read every book in the house and worked on her basketball skills all at night and waking herself up by jumping into the freezing pool every morning. She didn't show any signs of exhaustion beside the occasional attention lapse. By day five the entire house was clean thanks to Cynthia's night time excursions and Skylar's slave driver during the day. Most of the team had gone home, only Isa staying beside Bree and the four who lived here. Finally, Leon got fed up with it, during some time they weren't cleaning he pushed Cynthia against a wall at the top of the stairs and looked closely at her face, he noticed the exhaustion pulling at her gorgeous eyes and the slight frown on her lips. "You're tired." He said simply, feeling guilty he hadn't tried to escape Isa and sleep up with her and Holly.

"Yes." She replied with a tired tone, "I'm exhausted."

"I'm sorry." He said, tracing the slight bags under her eyes with his thumb.

"There isn't anything you can do, Isa clings to you like a squid when she's asleep," Cynthia shrugs tiredly, "I can handle it, Leon,"

"I know, but I don't want you to."

"Isa's coming you guys." Holly hissed as she passed to go down the stairs. Cynthia's blue eyes were torn with a pleading hope, exhaustion, and grudging acceptance. Leon looked at her eyes and quickly pressed a fleeting kiss to her forehead before hurrying back downstairs while Cynthia went up to ready the guest rooms. It took a few more days before Cynthia actually started getting clumsy and forgetful, sometimes privately asking Skylar for a repeat of the instructions to what she needed to do, she tripped down the stairs a thousand times, tripped on the ladder of Holly's bunk, stubbed her toes multiple times; but she never asked Isa to leave or for Skylar to change her mind on the sleeping arrangements.

Leon met up with her again and looked at her with helplessness in his eyes. Cynthia was usually considered drop dead gorgeous but right not she was drop dead exhausted, blue eyes plainly showing her tiredness, a frown usually in place of the beautiful smile she always had, and if you bumped into her she'd probably hit the ground and pass out. Finally, Leon was done with it. He pushed Cynthia onto the couch, threw her a pillow and told everyone he was going to make Cynthia take a nap. Isa asked why, worried all her efforts on getting his attention were failing, but he only replied because she's tired. He informed them he would be watching a movie and if they wanted to join him they could.

Skylar let Leon start up the movie and coax Cynthia to sleep while the others kept working for a little longer. Finally, after ten minutes they trudged into the room where Leon was sitting on the couch, Cynthia asleep against his shoulder, her blue eyes closed, expression tired but peaceful. Holly gave her brother a blanket and Isa grudgingly sat down on the part of the couch Cynthia wasn't blocking, who's head was resting on Leon's shoulder, legs curled beneath her but also partially spread out, both arms resting at her sides. Holly curled up on a recliner while Jay and Bree took the other one, all of them watched the movie, Cynthia dead to the world, Leon watching the movie and forcing himself not to kiss her crown or run his fingers through her hair. When the movie finished Cynthia was jolted awake by Isa discreetly pinching her ankle.

She regained her bearings as fast as lightning and sat up straight, taking out her ponytail and re-doing it then they all went and got more orders from Skylar who was panicking about the whole thing. Brad's work was having a party here and a few families needed to stay over, Skylar was working on menus, sleeping arrangements, cleaning, activities, and entertainment. Leon locked eyes with Cynthia as they all got into their beds, promising he'd try to escape tonight.

Cynthia waited for a few hours, curled up on her side and staring out of the window. Leon finally managed to get free of Isa without waking her up before he climbed up to Holly's bed, his sister hissed, "Leon?" Leon put a finger to his lips and settled down behind Cynthia, wrapping an arm around her waist and drawing her flush against his body, burying his nose in her vanilla scented hair. Holly sighed but her lips twitched into a smile and she settled behind him to steal some of his body heat. Cynthia was out like a light, the purring breathing her made while contently sleeping vibrating her throat.


	31. Fighting For Love and Hope Moment 1

Yeah… so I wasn't going to continue this, but since I have that new Fighting for Love and Hope story I figured I could put some of the missing moments/histories and background up on this story :) If it doesn't make sense then read the actual story :)

Loneliness and a Solution.

(Fighting For Love And Hope Short Story)

Leon, Cynthia- 9

Holly- 10

Miles- 2

At the end

Leon, Cynthia- 16

Holly- 17

Miles- 8

Leon kicked a pebble looking gloomy and upset, his siblings had been taken away to the Light in Darkness group leaving him on his own with both his parents in the group itself, of course, he had a place to stay and all the essential things, but he didn't have any company and the loneliness was making him miserable. He heard yelling and nearly crashed into a girl his age running by, with black hair and blue eyes with a shoulder bag slung over one shoulder and a two-year-old boy on her back she ran like lightning, running like the wind. A few people were chasing after her, yelling bad things at her and cursing violently as they lost her. Leon followed her trail to a small covered alleyway where the girl stopped and put the boy down before digging in the bag and pulling out a Ziploc full of bread slices, she then started breaking up pieces of the bread and put the pieces on top of the Ziploc it had come out of before pulling out an apple and a sharp looking switchblade and carefully cutting the fruit into smaller pieces and also putting it in the bag.

She was breathing heavily while the small boy was staying quiet, ravenously eating the food. She closed the knife and tucked it into her jeans before sitting next to the small boy and putting him in her lap to keep him off the dirty ground, she didn't touch any of the food at all, instead making sure he ate all of it before pulling out a small cookie and giving it to him then leaning back on her arms, blue eyes gazing at the large buildings.

Leon watched them for a few more moments, studying the place they had set up, the girl seemed to be good at survival stuff, with a clear plastic sheet forming a small tent over a pile of blankets and a pillow, twine hung across an area where a few pieces of clothing was seeming to air dry. The tent had cardboard tied to the plastic sheet by tiny knots, adding insulation and structure to the small safe haven. With his mind made up, he mentally marked the girl with his location finder thing before running off to the apartment his parents gave him and kept fully stocked, putting everything he never ate and some things he enjoyed into a backpack before running back to them and alerting them to his presence.

"Hi, I want to give this to you," He spoke gently, noticing that was a small boy was in the tent while the girl was sitting on the ground outside it, seeming to be standing guard. He pushed the backpack through the hole in the fence and waited as the girl cautiously came over and rummaged through the backpack, keeping a careful eye on Leon in the process. "Can I come in?" He asked as if asking if he could come into someone's house. The girl nodded and swung the backpack over her shoulder, leading him to the tent and slipping inside where she knelt down and handed the small boy a cheese stick after opening it for him. Leon crouched down and smiled at the innocent eyed boy, "My name's Leon, what's yours?"

The boy glanced at the girl who nodded before speaking with a rasp from disuse innocent child voice, "I is Mile's, sissy is Cyndia."

"Glad to meet you, Miles," he smiled widely, "The same to you Cynthia." the girl nodded to him but never opened her mouth to talk to him, 'I'm going to help them.'

:) :) :)

It was a really long process that took almost three months but he managed to become best friends with Miles and Cynthia, something always made him gravitate towards Cynthia, the girl opened up a lot more and was quite the excitable kid, always eager to play whatever game Leon brought with him, becoming an ace at UNO and was quite the quick thinker. Right now he was on his way over to them with his backpack stuffed with food, games, and a few toys for Miles. He froze, seeing the fence that blocked the small alley broken and in splinters. He could hear faint crying and a gentle voice soothing it, he rushed over and found Cynthia and Miles hiding behind a dumpster, Miles was crying because his wrists were red and swollen like a rope burn. Cynthia seemed relatively unharmed at the moment and was trying everything she could to keep Miles quiet. Leon rushed over, "It's just me," He reassured them, sitting down on the ground next to miles and putting a stuffed bear in the small boy's lap, "What happened?"

"We got attacked!" Miles sniffed, hugging the bear tightly, amber eyes glimmering with tears.

Leon could hear barking in the background, getting closer to them.

For the first time he heard Cynthia speak, her voice was rough from disuse but relatively calm. "Do you have a place that Miles could stay with you?" She asked, getting to her feet.

"Yes, you could come too," Leon told her, heaving miles up onto his back.

"No," She said quietly, "I have to lead them away. Leon-" Whatever she was going say got cut off by a pitbull tackling her to the ground, she struggled against the dog, "Get out of here!" She told them, "Get Miles to safety!" She threw the dog off and gave it a neat kick to one flank, startling it but not hurting it. "I can handle this." She said, seeing the hesitant and worried look in Leon's eyes, her blue eyes softened, "I trust you, don't let Miles be hurt again."

"I won't." Leon agreed his voice trembling, "Where do you want me to meet you if you escape?"

"I'll find you," Cynthia replied before howling as the dog knocked her to the ground and fastened its teeth to her ankle and started dragging her backward, red starting to stain her jeans. "Go!" She yelled, looking at him as she was dragged on the ground by the dog, "Get out of here! I trust you, Leon!"

Leon turned and started running, blocking out Mile's cries,

"Cindy!" Miles wailed, "Sissy!"

'Please come back Cindy, please come back, don't leave me all alone again.'

:) :) :) :) :)

Cynthia limped along, her hood up over her head, she was trying not to be recognized as she trusted her instincts to lead her to Leon. Her ankle stung like someone had dumped a gallon of alcohol on it and her back hurt just as bad; luckily she had managed to find her other hoodie that was in good shape and not torn to pieces like that one had been from being dragged along the dirty alleyways, over the glass and other sharp objects. She slowed to a stop at an apartment complex and looked at a certain one, her gut was telling her that's where Leon and Miles were. Taking the risk she went over to the front door and knocked on it a few times, moments later it was pulled open to reveal Leon with Miles at his feet. Leon's face broke into a wide relieved smile and let her in, Miles hugging her not injured leg so she gave him a ride as she went into the apartment

"Sorry," Leon apologized, "It's a mess at the moment."

Cynthia just looked around, she hadn't been in a house like this since her siblings were taken away from her a year and a half ago, and six months ago when her mother gave miles to her. "It's perfect." She replied, smiling at the sight of the messy but warm and cozy place.

"I"m glad you like it." Leon hugged her to which she responded and Miles hugged their legs.

Leon tickled Cynthia who giggled and laughed, wriggling as she struggled to get free, her brother turning three today, was sloppily tickling her tummy while Leon was tickling her by the neck, sides, and toes. "I'm awake!" The now ten-year-old laughed, managing to push Leon off and roll over to tickle her baby brother, causing him to giggle madly and jump off the bed -Leon helped him- running away probably to the kitchen. Cynthia's blue eyes twinkled with childish love and amusement at both of the boys as she jumped up and chased after her brother, "I'm gonna get you!" She sings, wiggling her fingers as she chased the small boy around the apartment.

It had been nearly a year since Leon had brought Miles to the apartment and Cynthia found them, he loved the company and having someone his age with the same level of maturity was fun, there was often a lot of laughter, playing fun games, and the occasional request to get something or other that he usually had given to him when he asked.

Cynthia chased Miles around only to stop in the living room and start tickling him as he plopped down onto the ground near the t.v. she then picked him up and put him on the couch, jumping up beside him with Leon jumping onto the couch so all three of them were curled up on the sofa while Leon looked for the show Miles liked to watch the most.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Leon groggily opened his eyes, hearing familiar voices. The three of them had been asleep moments ago, Cynthia sprawled on her stomach with her face pressed into the pillow, Miles was curled in a ball next to her, while Leon was sprawled on his back. He lifted his head and Cynthia propped herself up on her elbows, the ten-year-olds locking eyes and nonverbally creating a plan. 'You check it out, I'll hide Miles' Leon nodded and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and getting to his feet, walking out of the bedroom and out of the hallway.

"Leon? I'm here with dad to come get you." The voice was of his sister Holly! Briefly making sure he was presentable he left the hallway and smiled at the sight of his older sister.

"Holly! You came!" he hugged her with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm here to take you to the group." She smiled and hugged him back.

That stopped Leon in his tracks and he took a few steps back.

"You're taking me away?" He asked, alarm sparking in his mind, he didn't want to leave Cynthia and Miles, they were his family away from family, and he loved both them and wanted to keep them close to him.

"What going on?" Leon heard Miles say and turned to see the small boy rubbing at one eye, the small stuffed bear Leon had given him under one arm.

"Miles! Get back here!" Cynthia hissed, rushing over and pushing her brother behind her, standing in a defensive stance. Leon noticed that Holly froze, her green eyes locked on the scar visible thanks to Cynthia's hair up in a ponytail, the scar never bothered him, Cynthia had a lot of scars and he the reasons behind a lot of them, if anything it was cool. The scar Holly was staring at was from when these guys in black clothing tried to kill Cindy's sisters but Cindy blocked it and now had a scar tracing its way from her shoulder blade up her neck, over part of her ear, under one eye and stopping at the bridge of her nose.

"What going on?" Miles whined, still tired and fussy, "What happening?"

"I don't know," Cynthia replied, ushering him down the hall to the bedroom.

Leon noticed his sister and father speak in hushed tones and got annoyed at it, "I can't leave them." He told them, "I don't want Cindy having to fight for her life again."

"Leon, you're coming with us, she's not safe." His father told him.

'Not safe? With me? She's harmless!'

"You're not going back on a promise young man." anger sparked in Leon's mind before it vanished when he heard Cynthia's voice, her tone lined with fear and uncertainty.

"You're leaving?" She asked him, her stance tensing to be defensive and on guard, blue eyes lit with a fierce fire.

"No-" Leon started but his father finished it for him.

"Yes, he's my son and he's coming with us."

"What about Miles?!" She asked Leon, blue eyes worried, "I don't know what to do with him, I don't want him hurt again."

"I'm not leaving," He tried to reassure her but was cut off by his father once again.

"Yes, you are." Brad insisted, amber eyes glinting with anger, "Holly, take Leon to the car."

Leon struggled against his sister, hearing Cynthia react.

"No! You can't do that! He doesn't want to go!"

"Cindy! Help me!" He cried, pushing against Holly with all his might, he saw Cynthia move and was freed as she tackled Holly to the ground before being lifted up into a choke hold by Brad. He struggled against Holly as he watched his friend's face starting to turn red and she struggled against his father, blue eyes fiery but quickly dulling as she started losing consciousness.

"Cindy!"He tried to reach for her as she reached for him before slumping forward and passing out.

"Holly get him out of here!" Brad commanded Holly who obeyed and pulled Leon away from them. He quickly explained why he forced her to pass out when he rushed over, "that's Cynthia Lawson, well known for her ability to fight despite her size, we had to knock her out or she wouldn't let Leon go."

"Cindy! What did you do to her?!" Leon struggled as hard as he could, amber eyes starting to tear up, "Cindy wake up! Help me! I don't want to go! Cindy!" He wailed as his family shut and jammed the door. As they neared the vehicle the door slammed open, revealing a dazed and panicked Cynthia, blue eyes rage filled and steely with a want to battle. "No!" He yelled, stopping her from attacking Holly and Brad as they pushed him into the car, "Don't hurt them, Cindy," He pleaded, amber eyes gleaming with tears. "I'll come back, I swear I'll come back." He promised, locking eyes with her, "I'll come back and I'll take you and Miles with me, I'll come back!" He pressed his hands against the window of the car mouthing, 'I'll come back, I love you!' Before Brad quickly drove away, he watched Cynthia stand there looking lost, hurt and confused.

:) :) :) :)

"Holly," Leon told his sister, interrupting a meeting with a steely look in his amber eyes, "I request a team for an extraction."

"Are you sure Leon?" Holly asked him with worry in her green eyes, "How many people do you need."

"Three, just three."

"Alright, Hannah, Isa, and I will all be going to extract the potential member."

"Thank you, Holly, I'm sure she'll be perfect for the need for extra power and speed."

"I trust you."

:) :) :) :) :)

"Cindy?!" Leon called, "Cindy! Cynthia! Cynly!" he tried every name he had called her by but nothing seemed to be working, "Cyn!" He called the private name she always responded to.

"Stop shouting. Shut up and go away." A familiar voice spoke with an unfamiliar hostile tone. Someone stepped out of the hallway and Leon's amber eyes softened at the sight of his friend before the group, even though one year had passed he missed her and had felt like there was a giant hole in his heart. "Isn't taking my brother away from me good enough for you?" She snarled, and Leon saw that her usually twinkling blue eyes were red around the edges and there were tear tracks glinting on her cheeks.

"Cyn," He spoke softly, drinking in the sight of her. "It's me, Leon." She seemed broken and tired, with more scarring littering her hands and arms, she was clothed in a black hoodie, white t-shirt, and dark washed jeans, the preteen looking like she had aged years in her separation from Leon, her black hair hung limply around her face, her usually glossy hair relatively frizzy and up in a sloppy ponytail, blue eyes dull and tired. He smiled as her blue eyes widened and she rushed over but was blocked by Hannah, Holly, and Isa. She looked confused and frustrated but her lips thinned to a thin line and she walked backward and away from them, the happiness in her blue eyes vanished, replaced with cold frustration. "Get out of the way, she won't hurt me." Leon pushed past the three girls and hugged Cynthia tightly, laughing slightly from relief and joy, spinning her around a few times, Cynthia smiled as well and soft giggling escaped her mouth as he spun her around. He set her back down and smiled, "I came back like I promised, where's Miles?" He looked around for the small child but didn't find him, instead, Cynthia hung her head miserably.

"Gone." She spoke in a rough, quiet, and grief ridden voice. "He was kidnapped a week for two ago."

"What?" He breathed in shock, looking at her. Cynthia raised her head to reveal guilt-ridden blue eyes,

"I couldn't stop them, they tried to kill me by slitting my throat and I couldn't get up and help him…"

Cynthia's blue eyes snapped open at the sound of the door opening and struggled when she felt a rope being pressed against her windpipe. Snapping the rope she roar in anger which turned into a gurgle as the same person slid his silver blade against the soft area of her throat, she could hear Miles crying and watched through hazy vision as he was dragged away from being asleep next to her. She struggled to reach him with blood spilling from her throat, her movements become sloppy and weak as she struggled, "Miles!" She rasped, feeling blood sliding down the inside of her throat as she spoke, "No!" And her vision went black.

"I couldn't do anything to stop them." She sobbed, hugging him tightly and crying into his shirt.

"I know, I know, shhh." He comforted her, it's ok, it's going to be ok."

:( :( :( :( :(

"Miles!" Cynthia knelt down and her brother ran over, jumping into her arms with an excited yell.

"Cynthia!" He exclaimed, hugging her and letting her squeeze him tightly. The sixteen-year-old girl held her brother close to her with a relieved sigh, "I knew you would come for me!" The eight-year-old boy told her confidently, "I knew you'd come save me! I never gave up hope you'd rescue me!"

"You're never leaving my sight again," she told him in a relieved sisterly tone, "Never again."

"I don't want to ever leave you," He replied wrapping his arms around his sister's slim body, and burying his face in her shoulder.

"You don't have to," Cynthia smiled, and Miles drew back to look at her, "You're staying with me in the Light in Darkness group, we're well cared for there."

Mile caught sight of silver glinting on Cynthia's left hand and he pointed at the sapphire studded silver band on her left ring finger. "What's that? It looks like a promise ring."

"That's cause it is." Cynthia smiled, uncurling her hands from being fists so he could see the ring easier.

"To who?" Miles asked her with the protectiveness of a brother, "It's a nice guy right? Not some idiot? Leon would be a good candidate… Wait." He studied his sister's face and the sudden glow in her blue eyes at Leon's name. "It is to him isn't it!" Miles gasped in surprise, "You mean I was actually right?"

"About how I loved Leon and would end up promised to him? Yes, you were right Miles-"

"There you two are!" Leon hurried over and knelt next to Cynthia and Miles, grinning from ear to ear as the boy tackled him in a hug.

"Leon!" The boy grinned, hugging Leon before moving back to his sister's lap, "You're so tall!" He had to crane his neck to see Leon's face, the sixteen-year-old being quite tall, "And I so called it on Cynthia being promised to you."

"You did? When?"

"I think it was a few months after you left, Cynthia was really upset about it…"

Miles watched his sister wipe her sleeve across her eyes again, he was curled up in a ball next to her and felt upset that she was crying again but trying to hide it from him, her eyes were closed tightly. "Cindy," He told his sister, "I know you crying." He stumbled a bit over the words but pronounced them as well as he could.

Cynthia opened her eyes, revealing water glimmering in the blue depths, "I'm sorry," She apologized once again for the millionth time, "I shouldn't be moping."

"You just sad," the three-year-old boy studied his sister's face, "You love him." He stated it simply.

"Yes." She replied without a single ounce of hesitation.

"Not like me."

"Yes,"

"You love him… roman. Romant?" He tried to pronounce the word with little success, but she seemed to understand what he was trying to say.

"Yes, I love Leon romantically, not like a sister like I love you."

"You love him den!" Miles said cheerfully, "You be promised to him," He smiled widely, "He can be my brother!"

Cynthia laughed through her tears and pulled Miles' blanket up higher and tucked him in tighter, "Sure Miles, Leon can be your brother."

"If he marry you!" Miles grinned at her, noticing the drastic widening of his sister's blue eyes, "Night!" He then dozed off.

"It was quite the interesting conversation," He finished with a grin while Cynthia and Leon locked eyes with matching grins, amusement glinting in each other's eyes.


	32. Fighting For Love and Hope Moment 2

_**Dragonwriter112- He is isn't he! XD**_

 _ **WaterWhisper- This hopefully this explains a bit with Cynthia's reasons on why she's completely on her own :) Leon's siblings and parents are all really busy in the group, Jay's a trainee medic, Holly becomes a subdivision leader when she's 12 ½, Skylar is**_ ** _Firen's_** _ **daughter and is in charge of close combat training, and Brad is the co-leader of the Thunder division. They often don't have any time to go home every day and take care of him. Bracken is the group's main income source, which is why she was kidnapped and nearly killed a handful of times.**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- :D**_

 _ **Dawnshade49- :D**_

 _ **Featherflight123- It's not over yet! XD, I didn't mean for it to seem like it's over :) What I mean is the updates are going to be more spread out and sparse :)**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- I'm sure you could if you put your mind to it :) And it's not over, it's just going to** **updated** **a little less :) and not all the time**_

 _Rescued From All the Fighting, But It didn't Last_

 _Fighting for Love and Hope_

 _Cynthia's Backstory_

 _Cynthia is 7 in the beginning_

 ** _I apologize for grammar mistakes, for some reason, my device is having issues detecting them -_-_**

Brad stared at the cages in shock and slight disgust, they had come to cripple a camp but had found a cage fighting place that pitted kids against each other, right now most of the kids were huddled in the backs of their cages, watching them all with wary eyes, only four kids remained out of the twelve cages.

He jumped and stumbled backward, falling to the ground startled when one of the cages made a banging noise as one of the kids crashed into their cage. He stared at the seven-year-old child inside, with black hair and sapphire blue eyes he felt like he recognized her somehow. She was snarling like a caged wild animal, blue eyes flashing with a fierce but intelligent fire, small hands wrapped tightly around two of the grimy bars, clothing dirty and bloodied, her chin was covered in dried blood along with her knuckles, feet, and knees. What made him realize who it was, was by the moonlight shining perfectly on the child's face, revealing a thin, pale pink scar that went from the bridge of her nose, across her cheek and disappeared behind her black hair. "Spider, let's get these kids out."

"We've got a few of them already out, they're just teenagers, one told me he'd been here for four years."

"Four years?!" Brad echoed, still staring at the seven-year-old girl who looked like she was ready to fight and protect herself. "Let's get this one out, she's going to be a handful."

"Pin her down!" Spider yelled to one of the members, he was clutching his knee from where the girl had hit him and everyone had heard a vicious crack, he suspected he had broken his knee. Everyone struggled to pin the girl down and put a muzzle on her, she had already bitten a few members and didn't stay still. They had tried bringing in one of the other kids but the moment the kid saw the girl they ran away from the room and the girl. "Get her down! Someone have a sedative?"

"I do," Leah murmured running over with her medical bag banging against her hip as she ran over. She crouched down near the pinned child who was growling in anger, but Leah saw the terror and fear of people in her eyes, "Hey," She spoke quietly to the girl, "I'm not going to hurt you, we're going to let you go alright? Can you sit still for me?"

"Leah, she already broke Spider's knee and brad's wrist, we're not letting her up."

"Just trust me, let her up and back away" Leah instructed, "That's an order." Reluctantly the warriors got off and the girl scrambled to her feet, looking scared but violent and fierce. "I want to help you," Leah spoke in soothing tones, "You won't have to fight in here ever again." The girl hesitated but sat down on the ground, blue eyes locked on Leah. "It's ok," She soothed, slowly getting closer. She was nearly next to her when she saw the shift in her eyes, a shift to pain and sickness. The girl ran off and the warriors almost chased her When Leah stopped them, "Listen," She said, "She's just vomiting, she'll come back." True to her word moments later the girl came back, white as a sheet but came back and moved to sit down in her previous spot, face pale and sweat shining on her face. "I'm going to pick you up and take you home with us, is that ok?" Leah asked and the girl nodded so she carefully picked her up, mentally noting the tenseness of her body and abnormally defined arm and leg muscles. She looked at the warriors, "We need to get back to base, she needs medical attention. The teens are ok, with a little food they'll be fine, but this one won't."

"She has to come with us anyway." Brad said, cradling his broken wrist, "That's Cynthia Lawson, Bracken, and Sarah's missing daughter."

"I know." Leah said quietly, "but for now she needs peace and quiet to recover."

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"Bracken and Sarah Lawson, please come to the medical bay, there's someone you might like to see." Leah's voice came over the intercom and Bracken and Sarah exchanged confused looks but both got to their feet and made their way from the white-walled cafeteria to the creamy-walled and warm and cozy medical bay.

Cyllia was waiting outside of an examination room, when they came over she spoke quietly, "You'll have to be quiet, don't scare her, Leah will open the curtains in a second." She rapped her knuckles softly on the curtained window where Leah then pulled open the beige colored curtains, revealing her to be carrying a small seven-year-old black haired girl, the girl was clean and in clean clothes with a few IVs in her left wrist, cuddled against Leah with tired blue eyes open alert and scared, the violence in her eyes was still brightly visible, a fiery fire lit in her eyes.

"Cynthia!" Sarah exclaimed, pressing her hands against the glass and staring at her daughter who didn't seem to recognize her, instead she flinched at her movement and moved closer to Leah, fear flashing over the violence in her blue eyes.

"Don't do that," Cyllia told her quickly, "That scares her, she's already afraid of people, and men terrify her, don't do that Sarah, we don't want her to be traumatized."

"But, it's my daughter!" Sarah's brown eyes welled with tears, "She's my missing daughter!"

"I know," Cyllia soothed, "But she's grown up in a child cage fighting arena, she's not used to kind contact, she's used to being beaten and forced to fight."

"What?!" Sarah whirled to stare at her, "Cage fighting?!"

"Yes, that's why she's so violent and scared, she's used to fighting for her life in an arena with her opponents being teenagers older than 14."

"But I missed her so much!" Sarah exclaimed, "Please let me see her," She pleaded with Cyllia, "Please let me hold my daughter again!"

"Sarah, I know your emotions are heightened from your pregnancy but you're going to have to be patient, let's see if she recognizes you first alright? If she does then you can come in Alright?" Cyllia compromised and Leah held Cynthia closer to the window where Sarah approached again, this time moving slower with a teary smile on her face. Leah said something and the girl nodded before studying her mother and her eyes widened; the child put both hands on the glass, tilting her head slightly and asking a question, to which Leah's amber eyes sparkled and she nodded at Cyllia. Cyllia then opened the door and let Sarah in who tried to keep her movements slower as she took Cynthia from Leah and hugged her gently, relieved and happy tears trickling down her face as the girl cuddled against her, locking blue eyes on her mother's amber, the violent fire dying to a feisty stubborn fire.

"I'm so glad you're safe Cynthia," Sarah whispered into her daughter's hair, "I was so worried about you."

"I missed you." Cynthia said in a weak and scratchy voice, like her vocal cords were raw from overuse, "I didn't think I'd ever be free."

"You're ok now," Sarah sniffled, "I have you and I love you very much."

"I'm glad," Cynthia responded as if she was trying to stay awake, her blue eyes were already drooping closed and she was settled in a comfortable position in her mother's arms.

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia stared in shock at her parents, "What?" She breathed, the eight-year-old girl stared at them with faint horror in her violent blue depths.

"Cynthia," Bracken said, kneeling down to his daughter's level, "It's time for Haliah and Paige to come with us to the group, they're old enough now."

"What, what about me?"

"You'll stay here until you turn ten."

"Why? I don't understand, did I do something wrong?! I swear I didn't do anything! Paige broke the vase not me!" Cynthia spoke the truth quickly, worried and frightened that she did something wrong and now her family was abandoning her, "I haven't hit or even touched anybody!"

"You didn't do anything wrong, Cynthia," he reassured her, "We just have to stay at the base to help Haliah and Paige settle in."

"Then why are you taking my sister's away from me?!" Cynthia wailed, "I didn't do anything wrong! Why are you leaving me!" She was terrified at the thought of another person betraying her, she already had that experience a bazillion times now, "I don't want to be alone!" tears welled in her blue eyes.

Bracken's patience was being tried. "Look, we're just leaving for a little while, we'll be right back."

The moment he said that he wished he could've taken it back and smacked himself over the head. Leah had told him saying that would trigger Cynthia to revert back to the way she was when she was in child cage fighting.

Cynthia's blue eyes narrowed, the tears in her eyes vanished, leaving violent and dangerous fury in the alway violent sapphire depths. Her hands clenched into fists and her entire body stiffened into an offensive attack stance. _'They say that and they'll never come back. If they want to play it this way then I'm leaving on my own terms.'_ She blue eyes darted around the room, picking up on things she would need, ' _Tarp, knife, jacket, bag.'_ Bracken fell over as her super speed power kicked in so she vanished into a blue trailed blur, grabbing everything she lifted and needed, before stopping to be crouching on the window ledge, blue eyes holding rage, fury, hurt, and betrayal.

"No, Cynthia I didn't mean that!" He tried to save the situation, with Sarah upstairs with their six-month-old son Miles she was busy and wouldn't be able to stop her daughter from running away. "We aren't leaving, we'll stay here, just don't jump off that." He pleaded with her as Haliah ran up the stairs to get her mother.

"I don't believe you," Cynthia spoke in a cool tone, the eight-year old's expression dangerous and fierce.

"I promise, we're not going anywhere, please stay here, I didn't mean to say that Cindy."

Cynthia's body tensed as Sarah ran down the stairs and she spoke with anger, "You're leaving, so I'm leaving first. You're not tearing me away from my siblings. I won't allow it." She locked eyes with her mother who opened her mouth to speak. "I'm not sorry for leaving, and I never will be." She looked at her father, "You planned on betraying me like everyone else. Goodbye." And she slammed her shoulder against the window, it shattered and she jumped, landing in a perfect roll ending in a squat before getting to her feet and super speeding off, not leaving a trail to follow.

"Cynthia!" Sarah yelled, racing over and leaning over the window, "Cynthia!" She cried, sliding down to her knees and sobbing while Bracken stared guilt-ridden at the broken window, Haliah and Paige both hugged their mother, crying with her.

:( :( :( :(

Sarah stumbled in on Cynthia's living place a year later when she was thinking about what to do with Miles, being home all the time made her miserable, with the reminder that her daughter was gone once again and it was taking away from her time training the new girl members of the thunder division, her set of twin daughters being a few of them. She shook away her thoughts as she stared at a small tent in a tiny alley made from cardboard and clear plastic where she could just barely see a small form asleep under a pile of blankets. She got closer on a hunch and nearly gasped, it was Cynthia, the now nine-year-old girl was asleep, tucked into a pile of blankets and under a few of them, sleeping flat on her back with her arms free, her blue eyes were completely closed and she seemed happy enough being on her own. An idea sparked in her mind and she quickly left after writing something on the cardboard, 'Cynthia, please come to the house, I want to give you something for your birthday, he needs you ~Sarah'

:( :( :( :( :(

Sarah was pacing in the living room, Miles was awake and giggling, looking at his mother with a bright few teeth filled smile. The door opened and a girl slipped in, wearing loose jeans, a t-shirt and a windbreaker the girl seemed like your everyday person. Her black hair was up in a low ponytail and her blue eyes raged with controlled violence and anger. "Cynthia!" She ran over to her daughter but didn't touch her, seeing the tensing of her muscles, "I need you to help your brother."

"How." She spoke curtly and direct.

"By taking him from me."

"Why."

"Because I can't be doing two things at once."

Cynthia walked over to her brother and picked him up along with the bag that was lying on the couch next to him, before going back to the door and moving to leave.

"What're you doing?" Sarah asked her in surprise.

"Taking my brother from you like you asked. This way he won't be betrayed and I won't have to stay here." Cynthia then vanished. Sarah stared after her, she hadn't meant it like that at all.

:( :( :( :(

Cynthia quietly cleared the snow on the ground into a bucket before sorting out the junk and putting the snow bucket onto the hot plate she had rigged last week to runoff of melting glass. Sitting in front of the small tent she waited to Miles to wake up and for the snow to melt so she could use the water. When it was at a rolling boil she managed to strain the dirt and grit out to leave the clean water. Just to be safe she dropped a water purification tablet into the hot liquid and let it melt and purify it more.

Pulling out a small mug and a hot chocolate packet from her bag she carefully made the chocolate beverage and split it into two mugs before digging her milk cooler out of the snow before pouring some of the cold milk into one of them and stashing the cooler back under the snow. She then ducked into the tent and waited for her brother to wake up, who did moments later with a yawn, she helped him drink his part of it, allowing more warmth to spread through his tiny body while she ignored hers and asked him if he wanted anymore, to which he nodded happily.

:( :( :(

Cynthia sat at the entrance of the small tent, blue eyes cold and violent as always, she was keeping watch over her brother, usually the alley was quiet and calm, but sometimes it wasn't, and she didn't want Miles getting hurt because of her idiocy. She forced herself to ignore the complaining and whining of her empty stomach, finding food for herself was an issue without stealing, but two people? One a small growing boy? It was a lot harder. She could remember everything she'd eaten that week, only eating enough to keep herself moderately healthy, eating every few days while she did everything she could to make sure Miles had food and water. Looking at a bakery she could vaguely see she sighed and got to her feet, nobody was stupid enough to come during the day, and she needed to find something for Miles to eat for dinner. He wasn't built like she was, whereas she could go days without food and not lose any weight and instead gain a bit more muscles mass he couldn't and meals were required.

Guilt for what she was about to do clogged her throat as she carefully ran across the street and ducked into another alley before activating her super speed and darting into the bakery. She then essentially caused chaos, overturning things and making a mess while cramming things in her bag and running back out, guiltily listening to the baker's angry shouts at his employees. She slowed to a stop in front of the tent and set down her bag as Miles ventured out of the tent on wobbly legs. Without a word she pushed the bag to him after pulling out a small piece of normal white bread and putting it into her mouth, watching the smaller boy as he dug into the food ravenously.

:) :) :) :) :)

Cynthia's blue eyes and wider and wider at the sight of all the food on Leon's table, the boy was grinning widely at them, "Eat it all, I can't eat it on my own, woah!" The nine-year-old girl had tackled him into a hug, causing them both to hit the floor with a crash and a Cynthia giggled nervously but hugged him tighter. "You're welcome Cyndy." He smiled, hugging her back.

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia jolted awake with a snap and lifted her head to look at what woke her up, Leon's arm had flopped over top of her once again. 'You know what? I simply don't care at this point.' With that thought she let her head plop back down onto her pillow and closed her blue eyes. She'd been woken up seven times that night because each time she pushed his arm off and it kept ending up on top of her. It wasn't that uncomfortable and she could put up with it for the ability to actually get a full night's sleep, something she hadn't had since she took Miles off her mother's hands. Drifting back to sleep she didn't notice she unintentionally moved closer to his body heat and Mile whined as she moved, snuggling back against her stomach to steal some of her body heat.

:) :) :)

Cynthia's face went bright pink and she blinked in shock before it settled in and she whirled around, hiding her face in her hands while Leon hurriedly finished pulling his shirt on over his head and coughed a little nervously, his ears dusted a light pink, his hair was still wet and lying messy and flat against his head. "Sorry, probably should've warned you." He said, scratching the back of his head a bit embarrassedly, the ten-year-old boy was embarrassed and worried, "It didn't freak you out too much did it?" He asked her worriedly.

Cynthia clasped her hands behind her back and shook her head, her cheeks still pink, "No, I just wasn't expecting it." She hadn't expected the sight or the feeling of her heart skipping a beat from him acting silly in front of the mirror, accompanied with a possibility of having a crush on him that she really didn't want to admit.

:) :) :)

Cynthia grunted and kicked a table, expression sour. No matter how much she tried to avoid it she knew she had a major crush on Leon, probably the biggest crush in the history of crushes. She adored him, flat and simple. She completely and utterly adored the boy her age who acted like an immature idiot at times and a mature companion at other times. While he had faults, so did she, he didn't need to be literally perfect to be perfect to her, being able to accept and understand who she was was good enough for her. With a drawn out groan she childishly stomped around slightly, feeling like the child she hadn't felt like in a seriously long time.

"Cyn?" She heard Leon ask with a hint of nervousness in his tone.

"Yes, Leon?" She replied, immediately stopping the childish pouting to look at him, her expression flat and controlled.

"Um… I have something to tell you."

"Shoot for it." She stole a page out of his book for the witty remark.

"Um… I think… I think I have a crush on you." He almost stammered, scratching the back of his head in his usual nervous and embarrassed way. Cynthia breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Good, so I'm not alone in this emotional insanity." She sighed but smiled at him, blue eyes twinkling merrily.

:) :) :) :) :)

Cynthia forced her eyes open with a gasp and shakily hauled her body to be propped up on her elbows, feeling the dried blood on her neck shift as she moved. Shakily touching her fingers to her neck she felt the sticky blood and looking down she could see the pool of blood she had been lying in was still there, soaking into the blanket and her shirt. The reality she was in crashed down on top of her and she breathed a shaky breath, her brother was gone, she was probably going to die, and Leon wasn't ever coming back to her. The eleven-year-old girl squeezed her eyes shut, wishing hopelessly that it was all a crazy and terrifying dream, but in her heart, she knew it wasn't and it was the horrifying reality she lived in.

:) :) :)

Cynthia listened quietly, not particularly fond of the idea of joining the group Leon belonged to.

"... and frankly, we need help. We don't have the power and strength you do, I may be smart but I'm not strong." Holly, Leon's sister finished, turning expectant green eyes on the blue eyed girl.

"I'm sure if she's even that strong." One of the other girls murmured to the other who giggled.

"I can still hear you," Cynthia told them bluntly.

"Like I care."

"Really?" Holly asked in surprise, "What else can you hear?"

"Depends on what I want to be able to hear. Right now? I can hear each water droplet dripping from the sink faucet, the faint breeze ruffling the curtains in the bedroom, the indignant boy outside whining about how he stubbed his toe, and I can hear the sounds of a car idling outside waiting for you guys." Cynthia shrugged, while everyone but the golden blonde haired boy sitting next to her, was surprised. "If I want to I can depict the different pitches in your voice, doesn't mean I'm going to, though."

"Leon, you didn't tell me about that!" Holly exclaimed to her brother who shrugged.

"It's not mine to tell, I told you enough for you to allow me to come here, that doesn't mean I gave away all her secrets." He replied smiling at his friend, whose lips twitched into a smile.

:) :) :) :) :)

"Fight me," Brad instructed and Cynthia looked at Leon to make sure that's what she was being told and wasn't hallucinating. Leon nodded slightly, amber eyes amused, Brad wouldn't know what was going to hit him. Cynthia shrugged and rolled her shoulders seemingly calm before hunkering into a offensive attack stance, the twelve year old girl waited for Leon to nod once again before attacking, lunging forward she dodged Brad's punch by sliding on her knees, going between his legs before jabbing at the back of his knees, causing his knees to buckle and make him fall over before springing to her feet once again standing still and waiting. Fighting like this made her remember what it was like fighting in her youth.

 _Cynthia struggled against the bars, wishing she could bend them and break them. That was before she felt someone pinch the back of her neck and her anger heightened further, whipping around she bit the person who had_ _pinched_ _her, causing them to laugh and push her back. "She's ready to fight." Cynthia's vision was red from her fury and being treated like a toy, she prowled around the cage as a dark cloth was thrown over it and she barely twitched as the cage started moving, years of doing the same thing made her balance strong. She heard the sound of people laughing and cheering and it made her fury melt into a fiery_ _rage_ _. Who did these people think they were? Enjoying watching kids fight to the death?!_

 _"Today's match is 17-year-old Brian vs. The undefeated champion six-year-old Cynthia!"_

 _The cloth was ripped off the cage in a flourish and Cynthia threw herself against the bars, snarling violently, a loud tiger like_ snarl _emerging from the back of her throat, her throat vibrating from the force of the snarl, her teeth bared._

Cynthia barely managed to dodge Brad's next punch with how lost in her memories she had been in. Instinctively blocking his punch she twisted and would've jabbed her elbow into his ribcage before Leon stopped her.

"Cyndy no!" She froze her elbow barely and inch from Brad's sternum. "That's enough," He said in a softer tone, noticing the flash of horror in his friend's eyes. "It's ok, that's enough fighting, for now, It's lunchtime, let's go eat." Cynthia quietly agrees and runs over to him, ignoring his father who looked confused and annoyed.

"Leon, she has to be trained-"

"By me," Leon tells him, locking eyes with his father, the amber fire stubborn and strong. "She won't hurt me and I don't want anyone getting hurt and forcing her to leave. I'll teach her everything I'm trained and she's already a really good fighter Dad."

"Talk to Holly about it," His father sighed, "She's the one in charge of this subdivision."

"Thank you, Dad."

:) :) :)

Cynthia's fingers twitched slightly, her temper flaring slightly. She was getting tired of Hannah's whining, once again she had been forced to go out onto the field with another random guy, who was currently not shutting up and it was really starting to make her mad. "Will you please shut up!" She finally snapped, "I don't care what you were doing this week!" The thirteen-year-old snapped violently, her hands curling into tight fists, blue eyes violent and angry, "Just shut up! I can't focus if you keep jabbering!" She stalked off to take position behind a wall where she aimed her pistol, the cool metal balanced awkwardly in her hands. 'Sorry whoever's about to leave this world.' pulling the trigger she felt the kick from the gun and closed her eyes to avoid seeing anything. 'I can't keep taking people's lives, but I can't leave Leon alone here, he's already nearly been killed a few times.'


	33. Hollyleaves Special (Forgot to Post)

_**So… I wrote this back in the beginning of November and I had thought that I posted it *sweat drops*, but apparently not, sorry! XD**_

 _Promises, Hopes, and New Dreams._

 _Hollyleaves Special_

 _Holly- 16 ½_

 _Finli- 17 ½_

Holly had been walking to Paige's house to help her do some things for her mom when she saw a pair of bright green eyes watching her from a nearby porch. She froze staring at the person who calmly stared back at her. The guy had ginger hair with white highlights, leaf green eyes and was wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt, and a light gray hoodie. He stood up and slipped down to the sewers through one of the entrances. Holly quickly followed, moving the cover and lowering herself back under to the dark place, her eyes quickly adjusted and she looked around, "FInli?" She asked peering around in the dark and starting to where she knew his "nook" was. She reached it and was completely shocked. It was completely empty, but the person she wanted to see was there, standing in the middle watching her. "Finli!" She smiled moving towards him. Finli stepped back as she got closer. Holly paused looking at him in confusion, "What's wrong."

Pink spread on his cheeks while he looked her up and down, the first time he'd seen her without mud streaking her skin and clothes and not wearing ragged clothing. "Just making sure this beautiful girl is you, Holly." He said quietly still looking her over.

"It's me," Holly confirmed getting closer. Finli took another step back, "What now Finli?" She huffed, hurt briefly flashing across her face.

"I don't want to get your clothes dirty Holly." He said. Holly sighed and grabbed his wrist to stop him from backing up,

"I don't care at it Finli, you're more important." She hugged him, "clothing is nothing compared to seeing my best friend again."

Finli smiled and hugged her back, "I'm glad you came,"

"Me too, but I have to ask," she drew slightly looking at his face with confusion, "What happened to your nook?"

Finli's smile widened to a happy grin, "I've been adopted! So I have an actual home and I'll be going to your school! Isn't it amazing?!"

Holly squealed hugging him again, "That's awesome!" Her usually reserved nature was out the window with her excitement of seeing her friend all the time. She ruffled his hair taking a step back, "You need a haircut," his hair was long and shaggy, while Holly didn't mind the half slacker half rugged look, she doubted other people would.

"Getting that taken off today, will I see you at school tomorrow?" He asked holding her at arm's length with worry in his eyes.

"Of course!" Holly smiled fondly, "I'll even get permission to guide you around the school."

Finli smiled in relief, "I'd love that,"

"Me too." Holly smiled up at him.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Holly's green eyes twinkled as she saw Finli walking over to the school, looking nervous and slightly frightened before he saw Holy and his eyes lit up. "Hey!" He smiled running over and Holly looked him over before smiling as well.

"Hey!"

"Will you show me around?" Finli asked, offering his arm to her. He was dressed in clean brand new blue jeans, a light and dark green plaid shirt over a white T-shirt with a pair of light gray brand new tennis shoes, his hair was now a medium length and messy rather than longer and shaggy.

Holly grinned and looped hers through the offered arm and spoke cheerily, "Definitely. "

 _ **Yay! Hollyleaves! :) This one is really short but I hope you all like it :) I lost inspiration about half way through :(**_


	34. Kisses of All Shapes, Sizes, and Couples

_Kisses In All Shapes and Sizes_

 _Cinderblaze, Briarfeather, Hollyleaves, Honeynose, Ivybreeze, Ivyfrost_

 _(I apologize for grammer errors, I'll fix it later :) My computer's havign some serious issues XD)_

 _The Shut Up Kiss Briarfeather_

 _Bree and Jay- 17 ½_

Bree was rambling nervously, she had asked Jay to go with her to a movie as a date but was insanely nervous about him saying no because he was blind."I know you don't really like movies because you can't see them but I don't know what else to do with everything else being closed for thanksgiving-" Her amber eyes widened to the size of golfballs as Jay kissed her full on the mouth in front of everyone. After a few moments, he drew back and spoke to her with a fond smile

"I love you, but you really need to stop talking." He said gruffly with a smile.

"I like your method of keeping me quiet." She smiled and Jay leaned forward again, closing the gap between them.

:) :) :)

 _Distraction Kisses_

 _Cynthia and Leon- 17 ½_

"What? Why do I have to distract him?" Cynthia complains to her friend as they walked up the stairs to where Finli, Holly's boyfriend was hiding.

"Because he pays more attention to you than everyone else," Holly replied calmly, ignoring the complaining tone of her friend's voice.

"But I don't want to distract him by challenging him to a basketball game, it's freezing cold out there!"

"Cindy I need your help alright, I didn't say you had to play a game of basketball with him, I just need you to distract him so he doesn't murder Finli."

"How else am I supposed to distract him?" Cynthia asked her in confusion.

Holly grinned mischievously, "There are a few options that I can think of."

Cynthia's blue eyes widen in surprise at her friend's mischevious attitude and what she was implying. "I'm not going to kiss Leon to distract him for you!"

"Why not?" Holly grinned, "Do you not want to kiss your boyfriend?"

"Cynthia's face turned pink and she spluttered indignantly as they entered their shared bedroom where Holly shrugged Finli. "No, I mean of course I do," Cynthia spluttered, "but I don't want to kiss him, I mean. Ugh!" She flung a pillow at her friend and stormed back down the stairs while Holly laughed and Finli laughed alongside her.

Cynthia found Leon and grumpily took her spot next to him, inwardly fuming.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, looping one arm around her waist and looking over at her, speaking in a low tone as to not disturb the other teens who were actually watching the movie all of them were supposed to be watching.

"Holly's being mean to me," Cynthia muttered, her bottom lip was jutting out slightly in a tiny pout.

"Well she's not over here," He says, pulling her close, "Your pout is adorable by the way." He commented, brushing his thumb over her lower lip and chuckling when she nipped his finger, "Do you like nipping things or something?"

"Only certain things." She admitted, pushing away her grumpiness to help her friend that needed her help despite how much it annoyed her to do it this way. This was the only diversion that would close his eyes, even if it was for a few moments. Noticing Holly watching her from the stairwell, she put her palms flat down on Leon's right thigh before leaning forward on her arms and impulsively closing the gap between them, Leon's left hand moved to cup the left side of her face. Holly ushered Finli passed them and everyone else before he slipped out the front door and Holly disappeared back up the stairs. Moments later, Cynthia drew back and settled back against the couch cushions with her eyes still mostly shut, letting her drowsiness be apparent.

"What was that for?" He asked her in a soft tone, surprised by the random and impulsive action.

"I wanted to." She replied simply, speaking a half truth. Leon smiled and looped one arm around the drowsy girl's waist and pulling her close to him.

:) :) :) :)

 _Victory Kiss_

 _Hollyleaves_

 _Holly- 18_

 _Finli-19_

"Gotcha!" Holly grinned, moving her bishop to the spot she needed to win yet again, "Checkmate!"

Finli sighed, a smile tugging on the corners of his lips. He softly knocked over his white king, "You win again," He relented, faking being a little peeved by the constant loses. No matter how hard he tried Holly kept crushing him in chess, it was quite embarrassing if he was honest with himself. "How are you so good at this game?"

"I don't know," Holly smiled sheepishly, "chess is just one of those games I'm really good at."

"You're really good at cards as well," He chuckled, rolling his eyes, "I sometimes wonder if you have a special talent for learning things, you get really good at things like this and leave me in the dust in that aspect."

"I don't mean to!" Holly laughed.

"Well I guess you get your reward now right?" Finli said, leaning forward slightly on his arms.

"What reward? I'm just playing the game-" She started to say before he grasped her wrist as she started to rearrange the board, pulled her forward and soundly kissed her. Holly breifly froze in shock but responded back, scattering peices as she put her hands down on top of the board to stabilize herself, Finli did the same so they were both leaning over opposite halves of the chess board, fingers interlaced in the center, Finli's white king and Holly's black queen the only standing peices on the board.

 _Unexpected Kisses_

 _Ivybreeze_

 _Ivory- 17 ½_

 _Braxton- 18_

Ivory blocked each of Braxton's punches, they were training in a secluded part of dark forest, sharpening eachother's skills for the next battle. "Shorter blows," Ivory told him, "It'll make you faster."

"I'm trying!" Braxton gritted his teeth, attempting to land a hit on the fast warrior, "But you're faster than fricking lightning! Not that it's a bad thing, it accents your movements but you're so fast!"

The compliment messed Ivory up and she misplaced her foot, causing Braxton's punch to make contact with her gut. She puffed a breath and doubled over while Braxton stared at her and his fists in shock.

"That's what I'm talking about," She wheezed, looking at him with approval in her green eyes, her blonde hair free of its usually restraining ponytail and flittering around her face, "Good distracting Braxton that was one strong punch, now it's my turn." She smirked slightly and straightened up. Braxton would've smiled at the compliment if he wasn't worried about what she was going to do to him.

Moments later, he found out. His back made contact with the ground, Ivory pinning him to the ground with one foot on his chest, she was leaning over, smirking at him. "Please don't murder me." He said with a sigh, "I value my life-" He stopped himself as Ivory moved, leaning down further, her platinum blonde hair falling from being tucked behind her right ear to be hanging down like a curtain and tickling the side of Braxton's face. "What're you doing?" He breathed, unsure what to do. Ivory didn't reply just yet, instead her smirk widened, green eyes twinkling with amusement and something else he couldn't figure out for the life of him.

"It's my turn is it not?" She said a bit vaguely.

"What? What does that have to do-" Braxtonn was cut off when Ivory's smirk widened and she completed her intending action, cutting him off with a short kiss.

"-With anything…" Braxton finished his sentence in a breathy dazed whisper when she drew back, grinning like a chesire cat.

"Nothing really," Ivory shrugged slightly, green eyes gleaming, "Besides the fact I needed to get even with you for that cheek kiss." She grinned, speaking cheekily. She pulled her hair back up in a ponytail while she spoke.

"Oh," Braxton was a bit dazed, it was hard to believe that she actually kissed him, him of all people.

Ivory was just as dazed as he was, but she was better at hiding it, straightening up and getting off him before offering her hand to help him up, she restrained the wide innocent grin that was tugging at her mouth. "Come on, you need more training."

Braxton took the offered hand and got to his feet before he remembered a remark she had made a little while previous. ' _You need more training in close combat and awkwardness.'_ He smirked and Ivory's eyebrows raised in surprise and a bit of confusion at his expression. Briefly checking that nobody was watching them he smirked wider and siezed her around the waist, leaving her shocked and temporarily speechless at the action, "In close combat and awkwardness I hope?" With out letting her object he returned the favor and kissed her, a little teasingly and playfully.

Ivory's green eyes widened and she felt like melting into a puddle of goo, but with her reputation

she decided to cut it short, indulging in it for a few more seconds before pushing him back with enough force he stumbled slightly and she jogged off with the words, "Find someone else to train you, Atol's looking for me." She jogged off towards her mentor who was indeed looking for her.

Braxton grinned when she left, he had seen the light pink blush dusting her cheeks and ears, and had felt the few moments where she had relaxed into the kiss. Overall, that was going to be one of his favorite memories.

 _You're my favorite_

 _Honeynose_

 _Haliah, Brendon- 18 ½_

Brendon shifted a little nervously, he was waiting for Haliah so they could go on the date he had asked her on, and was stuck in the same room as her younger sister Cynthia, who he knew wasn't pleased about this whole thing. Luckily Leon was also there, making sure his girlfriend wasn't going to kill him. Well.. he was supposed to, but he wasn't really, Leon was sitting on the couch with his head leaning back against the top of the couch, one arm looped around Cynthia's shoulders, idly playing with a lock on her midnight black hair. Brendon gulped softly and tugged on his collar, he was sitting on a different part of the couch, trying not to cower under Cynthia's deadly protective glare. He and Cynthiat had never gotten along, from when he had made Paige cry when they were a preteens, to accidentally putting his foot in his mouth with both of her sisters.

"Hey!" Haliah smiled, hurrying down the stairs with her twin sister Paige on her heels. Brendon's jaw dropped at the sight of the golden blonde beauty. Haliah was dressed up like he was except she was gorgeous, her golden blonde hair in curls, up in a bun with a few curls bouncing around her face, wearing a light blue floor length dress with a thin golden sparkly belt around the waist and white and blue sandals.

"Hey," Brendon smiled at her, picking up his jaw and getting to his feet, moving forward and kissing her hand softly.

Haliah smiled softly at him before she looked at her younger sister who dropped the glare and sighed, "Alright fine," Cynthia sighed, "Have fun, don't be stupid, and if I hear that he asked Paige to a date tomorrow I'm going to beat him up no questions asked, sound good? Yes? Now shoo." She settled back against the couch cushions casually swatting at Leon's hand where he was trying to tickle her behind her left ear.

Haliah smiled widely at her younger sister and left with Brendon being a gentlemen and letting her through first, holding the door open. Once they got into the car he asked her one of the things he had been thinking about asking. "Why do you listen to her? She's your younger sister, she can't boss you around."

"No, she can't," Haliah agreed as they pulled away from the house, "But I know she's only looking out for me and Paige, we don't have any brothers and Cynthia just wants to make sure I'm ok and that I have someone who will play the intimidating protective sibling card."

"I guess that makes sense," He agreed, he knew what it was like playing the protective sibling card, he did that a lot with Hazel and her crush Fin.

:)

"So… do you really like me more than Paige?" Haliah asked a question that been plaguing her mind all night as they rolled to a stop in front of her house.

"If I'm allowed to be honest," Brendon said, looking at her with affection glimmering in his jade green eyes, he leant closer to her and whispered softly in her ear, "You've always been my favorite." He then pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before getting out of the car and moving around the front to go open her door, helping her out. He smiled slightly at the surprised look on her face, "It just took me a while to decide to get over the fact that Paige would be hurt, I didn't want to hurt either of you." He quietly walked her back to the porch and started back to his car when Haliah spoke once again, raising her voice slightly to be heard clearly.

"I love you Brendon!"

Brendon paused about to get into his car and grinned, speaking without any hesitation, "I love you too Haliah! Have a good night, maybe I can take you to school tomorrow?"

"I'd love to!" Haliah smiled and Brendon grinned wider before getting into his vehicle.

"Did he hurt you?" Cynthia asked as she stepped out onto the porch, "you look like you're going to cry."

"No," She smiled turning to her sister, blue eyes shining with joyful tears. "I'm so happy Cindy! He said he loved me!" She hugged her sister tightly and Cynthia looked breifly impressed before she jerked her head in a subtle approving nod to Brendon, who caught it as he left, the grin he had seemed to be glued to his face.

 _First Kiss_

 _Cinderblaze_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 13_

"Leon?" Cynthia asked her bestfriend, her curiousity spurred on by her crush on him, "You've kissed Hannah right?"

Leon blushed and he looked grumpy, "Yes." He said gruffly, not fond on remembering the girl.

"What's it like?" She asked curiously, completely curious about what it was like, she hadn't had a first kiss yet and she was curious if she really wanted one.

"I don't know, she was crying." He muttered angrily, "It was wet and kinda gross."

Cynthia tilted her head slightly, confused, "Then why did you do it?"

"Because I was hoping it would cheer her up."

"Why?" Cynthia stopped herself, "Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset."

"It's ok," He sighed looking at his friend, "I don't like thinking about Hannah."

Cynthia felt a small amount of jealousy but she pushed it down, "I'm sorry… I was just wondering if it's worth it."

"A kiss?" He asked in a bit of confusion, "Oh! You're wondering if a kiss is worth everything it's supposed to be?"

"Yeah." Cynthia nudged the grass with her shoe, "Haliah told me it's the best thing in the world… But I don't believe that."

"Well I don't know how to explain it, the kiss I had with Hannah was pretty uncomfortable and gross…"

"Could you… show me?" She asked shyly.

Leon stared at her in confusion for a moment before thinking it over, ' _Well… If she really wants me to…'_ "Only if you really want me to."

"Please,"

"I don't want to take your first kiss without permission Cyndy." Leon said awkwardly and Cynthia shrugged,

"I don't mind if it's you Leo."

"Oh ok, but only because you're curious." He reluctantly agrees and Cynthia smiles at him, leaning up on her toes to shorten the height difference between them. "Only this once." He told her, "And we're still just friends."

"I know," Cynthia smiled, "normal friends." Leon nodded before cautiously kissing his friend, the whole thing uncomfortable in the beginning with neither of them having any skill in the department at all, but both of them enjoyed it despite the awkwardness. Cynthia's hands clasped behind her back, leaning up on her toes, Leon's head tilted down, his arms at his sides. Cynthia broke it by lowering herself back onto her heels and giggled slightly, a pink blush spreading across her cheeks. Leon straightened up completely and smiled at his innocently giggling friend, watching her as she shyly looked back at him through her black bangs as she giggled, dispersing the awkwardness between them and bringing up Leon's depressed mood.

Cynthia smiled widely as she giggled, feeling a tingling sensation in her toes and fingertips. ' _I believe you Haliah, it is the best feeling in the world.'_ She thought as Leon started chuckling with her, his lips twitching into a bright smile.

 _Protective and Comforting Kiss_

 _Ivyfrost_

 _Ivory- 13_

 _Atol- 19_

Ivory howled with pain as Malice dug her blade into the back of Ivory's spine, the silver easily and cleanly cutting through the apprentice's hoodie and shirt, digging into the soft flesh and causing blood to well up. "Maybe if I paralyze you your attitude will calm down!" Malice hissed, digging the knife down deeper and dunking Ivory's head back under the water.

Ivory's hands clenched into fists around the leaf mulch on the ground, her head was submerged in the dirty water, bubbles leaving her mouth in thick trails. She couldn't breathe, if she twitched she was going to be paralyzed, and she was staining the dark forest floor crimson red from her blood.

"If you kill my apprentice I will murder you myself!" Atol roared, shoving through the crowd and tackling Malice off his apprentice, slamming his fist into her gut and pinning her to the floor, "She will be more then you ever were Malice! Keep your dirty rotten fingers off my apprentice!" He uppercutted her and shoved her to the ground, "I will train her," He hissed lowly, "And she will be the one to end your miserable excuse for a life!" Malice growled but didn't attack back, not daring to attack the second in command of the dark forest. "I will train her to be better than you ever were, and she'll take your spot and be my right hand." He hissed, "Now scram if you value your life." Malice got to her feet and obediantly ran off while Atol ran back to Ivory who was viciously pulling at the noose that was keeping her head underwater, her movements getting weaker and sloppy.

Anchoring his feet to the ground Atol yanked on the wooden spike keeping her head under and cleanly cut through the rope and throwing the sharp stick into another guy's stomach to released his anger as Ivory scrambled backward, coughing violently, water streaming from her face and blonde hair, green eyes narrowed and fearful. "Get out of here, all of you! Before I decide to tell my father you were all engaging in the killing of an apprentice!" He roared and the other members quickly scattered while he knelt next to his violently coughing apprentice who was shivering just as violently from shock setting in. "Ivory, come on," He pulled the coughing girl to her feet, and started walking with her towards an empty training room. Where he let her sit on the floor and draped his jacket around her shoulders before crouching next to her, watching her, "You had enough yet?"

"No," Ivory shivered, teeth chattering, "I'm not bailing out, but that was terrifying." She admitted, looking at him head on.

"I know, and I apologize." As fast as possible he dropped a breif kiss on the top of her head before he got to his feet and started walking off, "I have to go visit my father, don't go anywhere. I'd rather not have you nearly killed once again." ' _You are my daughter now, and like my father did for me, I will protect you and make you the fiercest and finest warrior the dark forest has ever seen.'_ Atol promised himself, not noticing the joyfilled spark in Ivory's eyes as he expressed his protectiveness in just a few words of his wish of her not getting killed.

 _The Kissing Tree_

 _Cinderblaze_

 _Bree- 17_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 16 ½_

 _Haliah, Paige- 17_

Cynthia's blue eyes got wider as the seconds passed by and she read the dare card to herself.

"Read it outloud!" Bree grinned at her from her wheelchair, the bright and happy girl excited for the game of truth or dare to continue.

"Uh, ok. Call your crush and get them to meet you at the huge oak tree in the woods, while up there ask them if they've heard of the Kissing Tree Legend, if they answer no then say, 'There's a legend that goes with this tree, it's called the kissing tree, when someone hears about the kissing tree then they have to kiss the person who told them. If they already know about the kissing tree then they have the kiss the first person they see.' if they do then just smile and hope it works. Give someone else this card and make them do it as well." Cynthia said a bit confused, "What? I've never-"

"You've never heard of it?!" Paige gasped, looking at her younger sister in complete shock.

"Of course I've heard about it, every thunder girl has. But I've never actually seen it work…" Cynthia shrugs, she was still a bit out of it, getting used to being friends with benifits with Leon was interesting and quite enjoyable, but it still made her confused sometimes, even after a few weeks.

Haliah smiled, "Well I can tell you it works, that's how I got Brendon to kiss me, and you have to do it, it's a dare Cindy."

"If I fall out of the tree I'm blaming you if I get injured." Cynthia sighed, going along with her stupid dare. Pulling out her phone she called her crush Leon. "Hey Leon, yeah, I'm still at Haliah's whatever you want to call it-"

"Girls Sleepover!" Haliah intergected indignantly.

"Sorry, aparently it's Haliah's Girls sleepover. Anyway, I need you to meet me in the woods, there's a pretty tall oak tree over there, can you climb one of the lower branches and wait for me there? Thanks, see ya then." She ended the call and pulled on a hoodie and tennis shoes, "I hate you Haliah." She muttered while the rest of the girls followed her example, probably wanting to watch and make sure she does it.

:)

Cynthia grumbled and jumped into the oak tree before a warm hand grasped her wrist and helped pull her up so she was on the same branch as the other person was. "Hey!" Leon smiled at her, having a hunch on what was going on.

"Blegh." She replied with a sigh, "Have you heard about the legend of the Kissing Tree?"

"No," he looked confused, "Never heard of it."

Cynthia sighed again, "There's a legend that goes with this tree, it's called the kissing tree, when someonehears about the legend they have to kiss the person who told them. If they already know about the legend then they have to kiss the first person they see-" Leon didn't let her finish, already knowing what to do. Leaning forward he cut her off and pressed his lips to hers in a warm kiss. Cynthia melted into it, leaning forward slightly as well, leaning on her arms which were resting on Leon's knees. She would deal with her giggling and squealing sisters later she decided, having an excuse to get a kiss from Leon? That didn't happen very often at all.

 _Congradulatory Kiss_

 _Cinderblaze (Sorry if there is an overwhelming amount of Cinderblaze, but they're my OTP! XD)_

 _Cynthia, Isa, Fin, Leon, Hannah- 17 ¾_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree, Mike- 18_

 _Paige, Haliah, Brendon- 18 ½_

 _Braxton- 17 ½_

 _Ivory, Diana- 16 ¾_

"Yes!" Holly cheered, tempted to do a happy dance no matter how embarrassing it would be, "Yes!"

"Take that Wind!" Paige shouted, cheering with her friend, hazel eyes gleaming with triumph.

"We won!" Haliah cheered, jumping around and doing a happy dance.

"Thunder! Thunder! Thunder!" Bree cheered, being as loud and happy as possible, Thunder that managed to steal the soccer championship victory right under Wind's speedy nose. Jay was even grinning, despite his inability to see he was also feeling smug about winning the championship and stealing it away from the arrogant team.

Mike and Brendon high fived, cheering with everyone else, pumping a fist into the air. Diana glomped her sister squealing at the top of her lungs and her sister was too excited to be upset, abandoning her fierce and indimidating facade to throw her hands into the air and whoop loudly, green eyes gleaming with satisfaction and joy.

Isa was dancing around with her goof of a brother, laughing and cheering as well.

On the opposite team, Hannah was being chewed out by their couch and she was apologizing over an over again, looking disgruntled and upset; while Braxton had his eyes locked on Ivory, a grumpy look on his face while inwardly he was grinning, watching his friend look like an innocent teenager for once.

The Captain and Co captain of the Thunder team, Leon and Cynthia were cheering as well, but their eyes locked from across the field. Cynthia sprinted back over to the thunder side and literally jumped on him, hugging him with a carefree laugh which was cut off as Leon fell backwards from the impact and kissed her full on the mouth.

" _Looks like love's on the field this afternoon!"_ Brad, the temporary announcer said in amusement and half the thunder students laughed, including the principal Firen. With this activity out on the wind soccer field and after school any rules that prohibited any physical displays of affection weren't in play for the thunder occupants.


	35. Living in a Messed Up World AU

_AU Living In A Messed Up World_

 _Bree, Jay, - 20 ½_

 _Bree- 19_

 _Cynthia- 21_

 _Leon- 20_

:( :( :( :(

"How in Starclan's sake am I going to get out of all of these infected!" Jay hissed as he fought his way through the hordes of infected that were trying to get to him.

"Duck!" He heard the familiar voice and obeyed, ducking as a brown haired, paralyzed girl in a modified wheelchair bounced off a roof and flew over his head to crash down on a bunch of infected, brutally smashing them. "Hi, Jay!" She chirped cheerfully despite the horde they were surrounded by.

"Tell me you brought Cynthia and Leon as well."

"I did, here they come!" She grins and spins her chair, knocking a few more down before bouncing up and down as the sound of two silenced pistols being fired echoed nearby. Cynthia emerged, leaping off the roof Bree had been on and firing her silenced pistols as she fell, her handcrafted bow and quiver strapped to her back. "Hi!" Bree grinned throwing a thin throwing small throwing knives in an arch at a multitude of the infected, "I found him!"

"Awesome, Leon and I found a whole stash of ammo for our pistols, and more tools to add onto your wheelchair," Cynthia said briskly, switching from her pistols to her simple silver bladed knife, tendrils of her midnight black hair hanging down in front of her face near her nose.

Jay turned his attention to the black haired sharp shooter, cloudy blue eyes focusing on her. Years ago he had been attacked by an infected that managed to claw at his face and left vicious scars across his face along with a cloudy look and foggy blurry vision. "Where's Leon? You aren't carrying the backpack." Usually, Cynthia carried the backpack that they put found materials in due to her higher speed and agility compared to Leon.

"That's because Leon's being a pain in the butt because I've been sneezing all morning." She told him in exasperation with a small amount of annoyance in her tone, sapphire blue eyes flashing with partial amusement.

"Well you aren't infected if that's what he's worried about, you probably have a cold from jumping into the iced-over lake to fetch that supply drop yesterday." Jay told her, "Besides, I do have a few more vials of the immunity cure back at the safe house."

"Don't tell that to Leon," She mused wielding her blade like she was born to fight.

"Don't tell me what?" Leon asked as he dropped down to the ground from a roof and crushed a few infected as he landed, flicking crimson blood out of his golden blond hair and amber eyes, standing in a fighting stance, his brass knuckles on and streaked with dried and wet blood.

"That she's pregnant." Jay deadpanned and his brother nearly fell over in shock.

"What!" Leon yelled staring at his girlfriend who's face flushed bright scarlet, the color so bright it hid the freckles crossing the bridge of her lightly tanned nose and cheekbones.

"I am not!" She nearly shrieked, her voice high-pitched and strained, "Don't joke about that!" Her blue eyes were wide with shock and horror. To diminish her embarrassment she smacked Jay upside the head and went back to fighting the horde, her ears, visible from her black hair being up in a ponytail, bright scarlet as well, matching the color of her face.

"What's going on?" Bree asked, rolling back over to them all after having found an escape path during the conversation going on between the three of them.

"Nothing, just having a conversation involving the new supplies," Jay replied, picking up a chunk of concrete from the broken and dusty cobblestone street before hurling it at an infected; knocking the bloody-clothed infected humanoid creature to the ground with a lovely spot of crimson in place of its previously fat nose.

"A conversation that nearly gave me a heart attack!" Leon exclaimed, cracking an Infected creature's skull against a dirty brick wall, his ears were a light shade of embarrassed pink.

"If it gave you a heart attack then my heart stopped." Cynthia retorted in return. "That was a dirty trick Jay-" She cut herself off by sneezing violently.

"I found an escape path guys!" Bree grinned pointing to a small alleyway, "Let's go!" She shot off into the alley with Jay on her heels, Leon right behind him, Cynthia whipped out her bow, notched a whistling arrow and let it fly into the horde chasing after them, the sound from the arrow causing the humanoid creatures to stumble around and shriek in confusion.

Jay woke up in the middle of the night to violent coughing. Sitting up and blinking away a small amount of the blurriness of his vision he focused on Leon sitting next to Cynthia who was sitting up and was the source of the coughing, Leon was rubbing her back, blonde eyebrows pinching together in worry. Bree was sitting up as well, looking at the coughing teen with worry in her eyes. "How long has she been coughing?" Jay asked, getting to his feet and crouching next to the other three.

"She's been coughing on and off all night," Leon told him, "So about three or four hours."

"That's not good. Look at me Cynthia." Jay asked the coughing girl who gagged before the coughing ceased and she obeyed, lifting her head to look him in the eye, blue eyes groggy with traces of sleep, but had a slight glazed over look. He used the back of his hand to test for a fever and found a very small one. "No more jumping into freezing lakes alright?" He stood up, going over to his stuff and pulling out a medical kit and pulled out a dose from the latest batch of the homemade cold medication he had made a few days ago.

"What's wrong with her? Is she infected?!" Leon asked, his face pinching with worry.

"She's just got a small cold from jumping into the icy lake yesterday," Jay replied, crouching back in front of her with a water bottle and the small green pill. "Take this Cynthia, it'll taste disgusting but try and keep it down." Leon took the water bottle and opened it before handing it to the mentioned girl, who took it from him and took the medication, her expression immediately changing to disgust and she literally chugged the water to try and get rid of the taste.

"Give her some of the immunity Jay," Leon told his brother, "Please,"

"She already has a lot of it in her system, Leon," Jay cut off his brother as the golden blonde opened his mouth to cut him off. "But," He got to his feet and went over to the medical table where more of the immunity was being produced, "I'll give her a small dose if it'll help ease your mind." He measured out a very small dose of the immunity cure that seemed to cure pretty much everything, the clear pure liquid swirling around in the small clean shot glass and glowing light blue before it settled as he stopped pouring in anymore.

"Thank you." Leon murmured, hugging his girlfriend who was shivering slightly and had her blue eyes mostly closed.

"Here, you know the drill Leon, get her to drink it in small sips, I'm going back to bed," Jay muttered, handing his brother the tiny glass before going back to his sleeping area and getting back into the sleeping bag bed each of them had, and closing his eyes. Right away he was dragged into a memory.

' _Ah!" A thirteen-year-old Jay howled, struggling to get the weird humanoid creature off him, he could hear Leon howling in pain near him along with Holly screaming as well._

" _Cynthia!" A higher pitched voice shrieked, "Look! Infected!"_

" _Well-" A girl's British sounding voice spoke and got interrupted by the first voice._

" _Don't swear!"_

" _Why are you worried about my language at a time like this?!" The British sounding girl was speaking once again._

" _We can't help them." Another female voice spoke, "We'd be killed in the process!"_

" _I'm going to act like I didn't hear you." The British voice spoke again and a gunshot rang out, Jay froze in shock and fear, feeling the creature above him go limp and still._

" _Did you just shoot him?!"_

" _No you idiot!" the British voice retorted, and Jay felt some haul the unmoving pile of humanoid creature off of him with a grunt, revealing a girl probably at the most a year older than he was with blood and grime streaking her clothes, a backpack strapped to her back with a small chainsaw strapped to the pack, "I shot the infected creature Haliah, I didn't shoot the boy." She rolled her sapphire blue eyes and went to go help Leon, taking out a rusty pipe from her bag and swinging it against the Infected human's skull, the force of her swing sending him to being fly into a wall where a loud crack was heard, splattering the nearby ground and walls with blood and gore. She dropped the now bloody pipe, before offering a hand to the golden blonde haired boy who took it and she helped him to his feet._

 _Once he was on his feet she went over to Holly and grabbed the Infected around the neck before sharply twisting, snapping its neck before pulling it off Holly and moving back to be standing with the other two girls. Jay glanced at Leon who was looking at the British-accented girl with what looked like shock and awe._

" _Who are you?" Leon asked looking slightly dazed, his attention fixed on the blue eyed girl that had saved his life._

" _Well I'm Haliah," A golden blonde girl with bright green eyes, average height, and a few years older than Jay and his siblings spoke "This is Hadara," She gestured to the light blonde with blue eyes who was a little on the tall side and was probably a year older than Haliah. "And this is-"_

" _I can introduce myself Haliah." The British-accented girl rolled her eyes before offering a handshake with Leon, "My name's Cynthia." She told them, smiling slightly at the golden blonde in front of her, she was of average height, four inches shorter than Leon, with midnight black hair and sapphire blue eyes._

 _Leon shook her hand gently, "My name's Leon, and these are my older siblings, Jay and Holly." He said, amber eyes locked on her blue ones._

" _Leon, we need to get going," Holly fretted going over to her younger brother, "We're going to be killed if we stay here!"_

 _Jay snorted with amusement as his brother didn't break eye contact with the strange girl as he answered his sister. "I know that Holly."_

" _We have a place you guys can stay with us, we came out here hearing screaming." The British-accented girl named Cynthia told the golden blonde in front of her, not breaking eye contact with him either._

 _Holly whispered to Jay, "Does Leon have a crush?" She asked with a small amount of amusement and worry._

:) :) :)

"Leon, pass me that wrench," Jay told his brother from where they were working together on reinforcing Bree's chair, the girls were sharpening and checking over weapons near them.

"I don't see one Jay," Leon told him, scratching the back of his head a bit groggily. They had been awake for a few hours, but Leon had been up all night, keeping watch over his sick girlfriend and worried sick about her.

"Then open your eyes, Leon," Jay grumbled, still holding his hand out for the tool.

"I got it!" Bree reached over, grabbed the wrench and putting it into Jay's palm, smiling happily, as cheerful as she usually was in the mornings.

"At least someone's awake and listening." He grouched curtly, using the wrench to tighten the bolts on the new shock absorbers his brother and Cynthia had found

"Give him some slack Jay," Cynthia soothed the grumpy boy, with amusement in her voice, blue eyes twinkling cheerfully, "he's been up all night." Leon smiled slightly before yawning widely, displaying his tiredness as he paused checking over the spikes made from knife blades

"I'll cut him some slack when you two can stop preventing each other from getting any sleep in a scattered random pattern of nights." He grunted, tightening the last bolt while the two mentioned didn't even blush, instead, Cynthia continued her actions of cleaning her pistols and Leon argued with his brother.

"Maybe someone needs to stop being such a pain in the butt and see what's underneath your nose," Leon argued back, hinting at the idea of his brother finally getting together with their companion Bree.

"Good idea Leon, then maybe he'll stop being a such a big stick in the mud." Cynthia comments, supporting her golden blonde boyfriend and grinning at the black haired boy's maddened huff.

"I'm not a stick in the mud." He huffed, checking the straps on the wheelchair

"Jay," She deadpanned, "You are very much a grumpy stick in the mud."

"You guys! Stop berating him!" Bree interrupted, "He's not a stick in the mud, he's just different than all of us, each of us have a different attitude!" She chirps, supporting Jay and diffusing the argument, "I'll help Jay Leon, why don't you two go get some more supplies? Oh! And Leon, you might like this!" She threw something at the golden blonde who caught it quickly, "I found them earlier," her amber eyes twinkled cheerfully, "I didn't think you wanted Cynthia to find these,"

"Nope, thanks, Bree, come on Cynthia!" He pulled her to her feet and out of the room, pink staining his tanned cheeks.


	36. Catching up on Reviews! XD

_**I'm not sure if I have replied to these or not so I'm doing this to catch up on all of them :)**_

 _Fighting for love and Hope Moment 1_

 _ **Dragonwritergirl112- Miles is a cutie :) he makes a reappearance in the future!**_

 _ **WaterWhisper- They are living on their own because their families are really busy and Cynthia ran away from her family a while ago, being raised as a child cage fighter, she's not used to having change and doesn't react well. I hope that helps :)**_

 _Fighting for Love and Hope Moment 2_

 ** _I know right? She's had some serious issues in her past :(_**

 _Hollyleaves Special (Forgot to Post)_

 ** _Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I'm working on them :) I have a bit of a harder time dreaming up moments between them :) They are really cute, though! :)_**

 _Echo in the Whispering Wind_

 ** _(Ivypool and the Dark Forest)_**

 ** _I can fight like that actually :) which is why Ivory's character is so easy to write and display :) she's actually a lot like me :D I totally wish I could beat up all the annoying guys at school XD_**

 ** _(Hollyleaf's Sewertrip)_**

 ** _I know, it really is confusing :) I'm considering making it shorter and more descriptive, like she was only down there for two years and I'll put a lot more stuff that happened down there between her and Finli :) I'm glad you love it! :)_**

 ** _(Fight! Fight! Ivory Interrupts)_**

 ** _Yes, another fight :D if you like action and the warriors as humans you should check out my "Fighting for Love and Hope story"_**

 ** _(Briarfeather Special)_**

 ** _Are you a Briarfeather shipper as well? Glad you liked it!_**

 ** _(Pretty but deadly (Ivybreeze))_**

 ** _Ivory, I mean Ivy, is pretty cool :) I have a suspicion that she's your favorite character :)_**

 ** _(Hollyleaves Special (Forgot to Post))_**

 ** _I have like six that I keep forgetting to post! XD Ranging from AU's to A sick Day Extravaganza and random hilarious moments XD_**

 _Kisses of All Shapes, Sizes, and Couples_

 ** _Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Maybe because you're like me and you're a sucker for fluffy romance? XD the Hollyleaves one is my second favorite, my first favorite it the Ivybreeze one XD_**

 ** _Echowind- I love romance as well :D Fluffy romance in particular :) Or a romance between a hero and a heroine :)_**

 _Living in a Messed Up World AU_

 ** _Snow crystal of Thunderclan- I'm glad you love it that much! I have an update on Fighting for Love and Hope, the next chapter should be up either tonight or sometime tomorrow :) Next chapter is the Division Games! *Squeal!* I can't wait to write it! So much sabatoge, humor, competition, and arguments!_**


	37. Secret Singing Talent!

**I don't own: "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry**

 **or "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson :)**

 _Secret Singing Talent?_

 _(Slight AU, there are a few differences, such as Cynthia being a YouTube Singer! I actually prefer this one XD)_

 _Cynthia, Leon, Isa- 17_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree- 17 ½_

 _Haliah, Paige, Brendon- 18_

Haliah froze hearing singing coming from her younger sister's room.

" _A penny for my thoughts, oh no I'll sell them for a dollar_

 _They're worth so much more after I'm a goner_

 _And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'_

 _Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'"_

Haliah crept closer, carefully and silently pushing open her sister's door to see who was singing the familiar song she knew was 'If I die young' by a band she didn't listen that often too.

" _If I die young bury me in satin_

 _Lay me down on a bed of roses_

 _Sink me in the river at dawn_

 _Send me away with the words of a love song_

 _Uh oh uh oh,"_

She stared at her sister who was sitting at her desk, working on what looked like homework, tapping her foot to the beat of the song she was currently singing at a medium volume. Haliah had no idea that her athlete of a sister could sing, and sing that well, everyone knew Cynthia loved sports, but she constantly denied having any ability music related, saying she sounded like a dying cat. But with the way she was singing Haliah seriously doubted it, Cynthia sounded more like a choir singer than a dying cat, she was really good.

" _The ballad of a dove_

 _Go with peace and love_

 _Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket_

 _Save 'em for a time when you're really gonna need 'em oh_

 _The sharp knife of a short life,_

 _Well I've had just enough time_

 _So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls,"_

Haliah gently closed the door as Cynthia finished and spoke in her normal voice, "Ugh! I got this same stupid problem wrong again!" Haliah giggled softly at the remark as she went to her room, no doubt her younger sister was working on math homework, her most hated subject. Sitting at her desk an idea popped into mind, last week she had hosted a fundraiser for the graduating high school students that were going to graduate alongside her and had promised she would get someone to sing for them. Asking her sister would be free and wouldn't cost a ridiculous amount of money, maybe, just maybe, she could get Cynthia to do it. The scheduled date was in a few weeks, plenty of time to convince her. Getting to work on her multitude of homework she thought of ways to convince her

:) :)

The first thing she tried was the direct approach, "Cindy, I want you to sing at the fundraiser reward assembly."

"What!" Cynthia yelled in surprise, "I'm not singing for you Haliah!" She stumbled backward and tripped over the couch, falling flat on the floor.

Her sister pleaded, "Please! You're really good Cindy! We can't disappoint all those people who helped raise that money! They want to see someone sing and I want you to do it!"

"No! I'm not singing for you!" Cynthia insisted, "You can't change my mind!" She fled the room up to her room, disappointed in her inability to keep her talent under wraps

:( :(

Cynthia froze, hoping she wasn't seeing what she was seeing. Quickly dropping her basketball bag and the ball itself she turned and ran blindly, weaving through the hallways and escaping out into the school courtyard with her eyes squeezed shut. The image of Isa and Leon kissing playing in her mind like it was on repeat. ' _How could you Leon! How could you!'_ She heard Holly call her name but didn't react, choosing to instead flee towards the woods and jump into a tree before bringing her knees to her chest and starting to cry, feeling remarkably hurt and heartbroken.

:( :( :(

Leon shoved Isa away, "Why'd you do that?! You know I like Cynthia!"

"What?" Isa asked innocently, "I didn't know, sorry."

"Whatever, just don't do it again," Leon muttered, going over to pick up his best friend's stuff.

"Okay," Isa smiled, fully intending to do it again.

:( :( :(

Cynthia blinked a few times, making sure she wasn't hallucinating and that Leon and Isa were kissing once again for the tenth time that week.-she'd been keeping track- Her heart plummeted to her feet and she didn't let them see the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, "Oh. Maybe another time Leon, you... seem busy." She then turned on her heel and started speed walking away, making up her mind, she needed something to distract her and get rid of the hurt she was feeling. Pulling out her phone she took a deep breath and pressed call on one of her contacts. "Haliah?" she called her sister, blue eyes glistening with restrained and hurt tears, "I'll sing for you in the fundraiser."

"What made you change your mind?" Haliah asked her sister from where she was walking home with Paige and Brendon, excitement and concern coloring her tone.

"Nothing, I'll write something for you and I'll sing it like you want me to," Cynthia's voice was clogged with her hurt.

:( :(

"Stop doing that!" Leon growled, shoving Isa away once again, "Stop kissing me! That's reserved for someone besides you!"

"Sorry," Isa apologized meekly, not really sorry. She wanted to have Leon if kissing him made Cynthia uncomfortable and hurt then she'd do it for two reasons, one, because she enjoyed it, and two, because it would get Cynthia out of the race for Leon's attention.

:( :(

Cynthia flinched violently when Leon tried to link their hands the next day when they were walking to school. She put both her hands into her coat pockets, rejecting his actions and refusing to get herself any deeper into the mess she was caught in.

"Cyn, what's wrong?" Leon asked her, hurt filling his tone. He didn't understand what was going on and why she flinched when he had touched her, they had been friends with benefits for a year now and he loved it more than anything. She never rejected the action of holding hands, usually she would lace her fingers with his and walk closer with him, sometimes putting her head on his shoulder.

"Nothing Leon." She replied quietly, "I'm not in the mood right now." She turned away from him and after spotting his sister Holly walking along the other side of the road murmured, "I'm going to walk with Holly. I'm going with Haliah and Paige after school, have a good day Leon, I won't be able to come to practice," and moved to go walk with his sister.

"What? Cyn, please tell me what's wrong!" Leon carefully grasped her upper arm and turned her towards him, hurt and confusion glimmering in his amber eyes. He was alarmed, being around him usually made her relax and be funny and laid back. If she wasn't in the mood something had to be bothering her.

"It's nothing, Leon."

"Oh really?" He leaned closer to her and Cynthia leaned back, not allowing him to close the distance even an inch. "You're never like this, every time I touch you-you flinch like I hit you, you aren't coming to practices anymore, and I know your grades are slipping, Holly told me they are." He searched her face for any clue of why she was acting this way. "I don't understand…"

"I'm not feeling too great okay? I'll be ok. I promise." Despite how much she seriously didn't want to do it right now, she leaned forward and closed the gap between them, her heart breaking even more at the usually warm and loving contact, now tainted and dirty. She broke it a second later and shrugged off his hand, taking a few steps back, blue eyes glimmering with many hidden emotions. "I haven't spent much time with Holly nor my sisters, and I really need to spend time with them."

"But you promised you'd tutor me in English today!" Leon told her and Cynthia didn't even twitch.

"It never happens Leon." She said flatly, "We're always interrupted and I leave being second best. When you actually want me to help you and not be a witness of your kissing, give me a call alright? I have other responsibilities besides being at your side twenty-four seven. Goodbye, Leon." With those hurtful and dismissive words she turned on her heel and ran over to Holly, who slowed down as she approached, not asking what was wrong, knowing she would tell her when she was good and ready.

"But!-" Leon cut himself off and watched her go, slowing to a stop, amber eyes clouding over with hurt and concern.

:( :( :(

Staring blankly ahead of her Cynthia focused on mixing the beat for the song she would write, her fingers pressing the different small keys at a funny speed before stopping completely as a spark lit in her mind. Settling her fingers on the keys and closing her eyes she opened her mouth to breathe a slow breath before awkwardly singing potential lyrics to the chorus, "Cause we belong together now, yeah!" As she went on her voice grew confident, volume staying the same and her fingers pressed the DJ mixing pad's keys to the beat she wanted to go with the lyrics. "Forever united here somehow, yeah! You got a piece of me! and Honestly! My life, my life, would suck, would suck, without you!" And that's how it went for about an hour, playing with the lyrics and the beat until she was satisfied with it.

"Hey," Haliah made her sister jump and knock her mixing pad down to the carpeted floor. Cynthia looked at her wide eyed before she calmed down and picked up her mixing pad before getting to her feet and pushing things away from the front of her closet.

"Hey, did you need something?" Cynthia asked, moving further into the closet.

"Yeah, I know someone who has a guitar and a drum set, would you like me to ask them if I can borrow them?"

"No," Cynthia's voice was muffled as she walked further into the walk-in closet, "I have all the stuff I need."

"What? How?" Haliah curiously walked over to her sister's closet and her jaw dropped. With a lot of her stuff over at Holly's where she lived during the week and some weekends, Cynthia had a ton of room in the closet, meaning she had outfitted the back to be what looked like a music room with a randomly placed hanging basketball hoop near a trashcan with a lot of crumpled up paper inside.

"Welcome to my music plaza," Cynthia speaks dramatically, casually brushing off the foam padding on the walls.

"How long… have you been singing Cindy?" She asked in awe, the decently sized but cramped room was amazing to her standards. The walls were padded with thin sound absorbing different shades of blue foam, a silver, and blue drum set was tucked snugly into the back left, corner, an amp was tucked into the opposite corner with a light blue electric guitar resting in a guitar stand, looking shiny and brand new. There were a few other instruments, the bass guitar of the same color, and a gray and the white electric keyboard was near it all. There was a small flat screen that Haliah vaguely recognized on one wall with a thin table underneath it, a small wireless microphone headset lying on it with an ELMO next to it.

"Since I was six." Cynthia admitted with a light blush, "Only mom and dad know I like to sing, they're the ones who helped me put this together."

"I recognize some of this stuff…"

"Some of it's Miles'." Cynthia told her, blue eyes calm, "I wanted to keep a few things in a reminder of him. He loved my music and I cobbled up lullabies when we were little, I used to sing them to him and myself when I couldn't sleep. I created this with the promise I would keep making music for Miles. Every year I write something for him and put a copy into a stuffed animal that would sing it if you pressed one of the paws. After I put the toy on his grave I usually record an audio recording and post it on youtube."

"Wait, that's you?!" Haliah's blue eyes widened in surprise, with her sudden hunch that Cynthia was the famous YouTuber called MysterySinger who uploaded recordings of her own original songs and requests to sing other bands songs, she never revealed who she was and preferred to have a cover of the song in question instead of actually seeing her face. There were a few Q and A videos but Haliah never made the connection. MysterySinger was also one of Haliah's favorite YouTubers, definitely her top favorite in the music department.

Cynthia nodded sadly, "Yeah, I'm MysterySinger, you're favorite YouTuber." A smile pulled at the corners of her lips, "You have no idea how frustrated I was when you say you want to meet her when really she's been here the entire time, just underneath your nose."

"Prove it." Haliah challenged, eager to really see if it really was her sister.

"Okay, what do you want to hear?" Cynthia was calm and confident, knowing full well that she was the YouTuber.

"How about teenage Dream by MysterySinger."

"One of my originals? Alright then." Cynthia scooped up the mic headset and took a seat behind her electric keyboard, as she fiddled with the synthesizing settings on it, she spoke to Haliah, "There's a chair next to that table if you want to sit down." Haliah took the offered seat and waited for her sister who cleared her throat before turning on the mic and setting her fingers down on the keys and started playing, the keys synthesized and matching the audio recording perfectly, "You think I'm pretty, without any makeup on, you think I'm funny, when I tell the punchline wrong, I know you get me, so I'll let my walls come down, down." Cynthia sang in the high pitch, playing and singing with her eyes closed.

"Before you met me, I alright, but things were kinda heavy, you brought me to life, now every February, you'll be my valentine, valentine.

Let's go all the way tonight, no regrets, just love.

We can dance until we die, you and I, we'll be young forever!" Cynthia's volume rose as she reached the chorus.

"You make me, feel like I'm living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on, I can't, sleep, Let's runaway and don't ever look back, don't ever look back! My, heart, stops when you look at me, Just, one, touch, now baby I believe, this, is real, so take a chance and don't ever look back, don't ever look back!"

Haliah watched her sister in surprise and partial awe, she was definitely MysterySinger, she played and sung it exactly like her.

"We drove to Cali, and got drunk on the beach, got a motel and, built a fort out of sheets, I finally found you, my missing puzzle piece, I'm complete! Let's go all the way tonight, no regrets, just love, we can dance until we die, you and I, we'll be young forever!" Cynthia held the last note for a few moments.

"That's enough, I believe you, Cindy!" Haliah exclaimed, interrupting her and her sister opened her eyes and stopped both singing and playing. "That was amazing!" She squealed, emerald green eyes glimmering happily.

Cynthia smiled, "I'm glad you believe me." She got up and moved over to the drum set, picking up the drumsticks, "But I really need to get the instrumental for this song done if I'm going to get it done in time," her smile weakens, "Gotta get to work now Hals, I'm glad you like this place."

Haliah smiled as her sister before obediently leaving while Cynthia closed her eyes, a few tears dripping down onto her jeans as she played the song in her head, cross sticking for a few seconds before crashing the symbol and starting the song, keeping the vocals to herself and playing the drum part of the song, all the while remembering why she choose this in particular beat and set of lyrics.

:( :( :( :(

Haliah snuck into her sister's room and watched her sister tap the ends of her drumsticks together, blue eyes closed. Haliah's green eyes widened further as her sister opened her mouth and actually started singing the lyrics that Haliah hadn't heard at all just yet and started the drums, her voice a little hard to hear over the sound of the percussion instrument. "Guess this means you're sorry, you're standing at my door, guess this means you take back all you said before, like how much you wanted, anyone but me, said you'd never come back, but here you are again.." drumming on the closed high-hat for a few moments she then crashed two different cymbals and started what sounded like the chorus. Haliah caught the shimmering of tear tracks on her sister's cheeks as she sung, obviously pouring her heart into the music. Haliah went back to her room, more worried about her sister than ever.

:( :(

After a week of adding the finishing touches to the song, skipping every sport practice she had, basketball, swimming, soccer, and baseball, her heart being turned into a pile of broken shards, and dealing with seeing Leon and Isa kissing for the first half of the week after school, it was finally time for Cynthia to reveal her secret and sing for Haliah's fundraiser. Cynthia scribbled out a few things on a piece of paper before tucking it into her pocket.

"Cynthia, Haliah" Firen came and told her, green eyes gleaming cheerfully, "It's time to start." The two sisters made eye contact, saying they were both ready.

Haliah went up onto the stage first, "Hey everyone!" She smiled, speaking through a mic. "I got someone to sing for us!" The school cheered, "I tracked down MysterySinger, the famous YouTuber and got her to come sing to us!" The students roared, everyone excited. "Everyone! Meet the MysterySinger! , my sister Cynthia Lawson!"

Cynthia ran and jumped onto the stage with a backflip, landing perfectly and straightening up, "You think I'm pretty without my make-up on, you think I'm funny when I tell the punchline wrong," She sang before speaking normally, "Hello Warriors High!" She had a wireless mic, blue eyes gleaming happily.

"The MysterySinger is Cindy?!" Holly asked in shocked surprise.

"Yay! Cindy!" Bree cheered, believing it right away.

"What?" Leon stared at his best friend, shocked to the core.

"She has graciously agreed to sing to us, letting us get a first-hand viewing of her latest song, My Life Would Suck Without You! Written just for us!" Haliah grinned at the loud cheering and continued, "Without a further of a do, MysterySinger!" She took a step back and disappeared off the stage.

"Hey, guys!" Cynthia smiled, "I bet most of you are shocked right? Yeah well, I can say I'm definitely the Mystery Singer, nobody else can match that voice crack in the recording of Teenage Dream, definitely embarrassing. Anyway, thank you Haliah for letting me come sing to you all! I do hope you all pitch in to help these guys get to college! Let's get to the music, shall we? Here we go, I wrote this song this week and it's called, My Life Would Suck Without You!"

The intro music started and Cynthia took a deep breath and listened for her cue, blue eyes finding Leon and feeling a sharp sting in her heart as she started singing,

"Guess this means you're sorry,

You're standing at my door

Guess this means you take back

all you said before.

Like how much you wanted  
Anyone but me," ' _Such as liking Isa and Hannah.'_  
Said you'd never come back  
But here you are again."

She made eye contact with Leon before lifting her eyes towards the ceiling as the chorus started, singing with her shattered heart rather than her mind.

"'Cause we belong together now, yeah," She walked to one side as she sang,  
"Forever united here somehow, yeah." She gestured around the room before looking confused, "You got a piece of me," She pointed to herself  
"And honestly  
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you!" She held the last note out for a moment, signaling the chorus was over. ' _Now I can only hope this gets through Leon's hard head, I'm sorry Leon.'_ She thought as she threw herself into the second verse.  
"Maybe I was stupid  
For telling you goodbye," She didn't move besides locking eyes with Leon, blue eyes glittering with an apology only he could see, ' _I'm really sorry for being stupid,'_  
"Maybe I was wrong  
For tryin' to pick a fight," ' _and It's so tempting to deliver a good punch to Isa's nose,'_  
"I know that I've got issues  
But you're pretty messed up too," ' _but despite how screwed up our relationship is,_  
"Either way I found out I'm nothing without you," ' _I love you.'_  
"'Cause we belong together now, yeah  
Forever united here somehow, yeah  
You got a piece of me  
And honestly  
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you,"  
"Being with you is so dysfunctional," ' _Our relationship is so confusing,"_  
"I really shouldn't miss you," ' _and I really shouldn't keep trying,'_

"But I can't let you go," ' _But I can't let you go.'_

"Oh, yeah," As the music played Cynthia tried to show him what she was trying to say, ' _I can't let you go, but I can't try any harder or go any further, you have to meet me halfway Leon. Please, please meet me there.'_

"'Cause we belong together now, (yeah yeah)" Cynthia squeezed her eyes shut for the last repeat of the chorus, feeling like her heart was stabbing at her chest.

"Forever united here somehow, yeah

You got a piece of me

And honestly

My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you," Cynthia opened her eyes and pointed directly at Leon, who's amber eyes widened at the singling out,  
"'Cause we belong together now, yeah

Forever united here somehow, yeah

You got a piece of me

And honestly

My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you!"

She ended the song, ' _My life would suck without you, Leon.'_ While everyone cheered loudly and she took a few deep breaths, smiling, "Have a great weekend everyone!" The bell rang and the students started flooding out while she disappeared backstage and grabbed her water bottle, starting to rapidly drink it to get rid of the scratchiness of her throat. Leon slipped backstage and got behind her, quietly waiting till she finished before spinning her around and kissing her soundly. Cynthia's blue eyes widen before they slid closed and she temporarily relaxed into the contact, before stiffening and pushing him back, "Did you need something besides kissing me?"

"Yes actually." He leaned closer to her, his arms still looped around her waist, keeping her close to him, "My life would suck without you Cynthia," He breathed softly, amber eyes soft and gentle.

"What about Isa?" She asked in a soft whisper, blue eyes searching to find sincerity in his face.

"Isa? I fixed that on Monday." Leon told her, "I had no idea why she kept kissing me, I'm sorry." His amber eyes were gentle and glinted with love, "I love you too Cyn."

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear that," Cynthia breathed, blue eyes starting to sparkle.

"I've always loved you, it just took a while to get through my thick skull." He smiled gently, leaning closer and Cynthia titled her head up as a way to show her acceptance.


	38. Singing Talent, number 2 (Cynthia again)

_Singing Talent #2_

 _Cynthia Sing Cry~Kelly Clarkson (I really like having Cynthia sing Kelly Clarkson's songs)_

 **I do not own the song Cry, I sound like a dying cat when I sing XD**

 _Cynthia, Leon- 14_

 _Holly- 14 1/2_

Cynthia slipped out of her house into the large backyard, Leon's rejection earlier, pulling her down into a depressed and heartbroken mood, she had gathered her courage and asked him in front of all of their friends if he'd like to go to a movie with her, just the two of them just before school had started…

 _Cynthia could feel her cheeks burning with an invisible blush as she waited for a response, shuffling her feet slightly while everyone stared and her and Leon, some of them shocked, others amused, and few looked like they were hoping he was going to say yes. She and Leon usually went to a movie anyway but she didn't have time to ask after school and didn't want to chicken out on it. She enjoyed the time alone with him, with a major crush on him she would take anything she could get._

 _But Leon wasn't looking at her, instead, he was looking at someone else behind her._

" _Um… Leon?" She asked timidly, reaching to shake him slightly._

" _No." He said quickly and she recoiled, taking a few steps back as he continued, seemingly upset at the suggestion. "What made you think I like you that way?"_

" _W-What?" Cynthia stammered, "I wasn't thinking anything like that! I was just asking if you wanted to go like we always do-"_

" _Well no." He retorted, cutting her off, "I don't like you that way and I don't want to go to some stupid movie."_

" _Leon!" She interrupts him, blue eyes now flashing as she pushed him backward, "What the heck is wrong with you? I wasn't suggesting that you did feel that way, I was just asking you as a friend! A friend who was curious if you wanted to see a movie of your choice!"_

" _I said no!" He growls, pushing her back with enough force to make her lose her balance and crash to the floor, sending her stuff spilling from her backpack and arms. He looked at her and a small flash of apology flashed through his eyes before he turned and left, completely ignoring the fact that he had pushed a girl, his best friend of all people. "Stay away from me." He growled at her and stormed off, leaving everyone in shock, Cynthia was the worst. Moving so she was kneeling on the ground she scooped up her stuff, stuffing it into her bag while Holly called after her brother._

" _Leon! Get back here and apologize to her!" She called to him, green eyes flashing angrily._

" _It's okay Holly." Cynthia murmured to her friend, her teary blue eyes were hidden by her black hair, "I must've done something to make him mad. I deserve it, I embarrassed him. See you after school sometime today okay?" She turned and started towards her class, her voice shaking, bottom lip trembling as she took the push as a signal of, 'I don't want any of it, leave me alone. I hate you.' And it broke her heart, but she wouldn't let it show._

Cynthia took a deep breath, allowing the hurt and heartbreak to rise to the surface as she started to sing with what words popped into her head. _  
_ **" _If anyone asks  
_** _ **I'll tell them we both just moved on,"**_ Cynthia sang softly, her fingertips brushing over the delicate petals of her mother's different colored tulips in the flower garden of her backyard. The pain glittering in her blue eyes was raw and full of emotion. _  
_" _ **When people all stare  
I'll pretend that I don't hear them talk."**_She wandered through the garden, looking at the different colored flowers, pausing at the sight of a deep orange brown tulip that reminded her of Leon's eyes. _  
_" _ **Whenever I see you I'll swallow my pride and bite my tongue,  
Pretend I'm okay with it all,  
Act like there's nothing wrong,"**_ She touched the petals of the orange tulip as she sang, her touch cautious, careful, gentle, and wistful. Tears gathered in her eyes as she started singing the chorus, her head tilted down towards the small but proud flower, crystal-like tears glittering in the sapphire pools. _  
_" _ **Is it over yet?!  
Can I open my eyes?!  
Is this as hard as it gets?!  
Is this what it feels like to really cry?!**_ _  
_ _ **Cry!"**_ As she sang the last word she turned and started away from the orange flower nestled in the sprawling garden. _  
_" _ **If anyone asks  
I'll tell them we just grew apart,"**_ Cynthia sang, running her fingers along the white fence, tracing a swirling groove that traveled along the entire fence. _  
_" _ **Yeah what do I care, if they believe me or not.  
Whenever I feel, your memory is breaking my heart  
I'll pretend I'm okay with it all,**_ _  
_ _ **Act like there's nothing wrong,"**_ She turned back around towards the orange flower, the tears blurring her vision as she sang. She forced herself to turn back around and keep putting distance between her and the flower that reminded her too much of his eyes. _  
_" _ **Is it over yet?!  
Can I open my eyes?!  
Is this as hard as it gets?!  
Is this what it feels like to really cry?!  
Cry!"**_ As she sang she fell to her knees, hunching her shoulders, and clenching her hands around fistfuls of green grass, her vision swimming with tears, the crystal clear liquid rolling down her face in tear drops to splash down on her palms as her shoulders shook. _  
_" _ **I'm talking in circles  
I'm lying, they know it  
Why won't this just all go away?!"**_She cried, lifting her head to look at the cursed orange flower. Standing tall and proud in a sea of blue with one of a lighter shade at its side. _  
_" _ **Is it over yet  
Can I open my eyes?...  
Is this as hard as it gets?!  
Is this what it feels like to really cry!  
Cry! cry!"**_ She held the last note for a few more moments before leaning back against the light colored brick edges of the flower beds, bringing her knees up to her chest and sobbing heartbrokenly.


	39. Singing Talent, number 3 (Bree)

_Singing Spin-off number 3_

 _Bree sings "Flashlight"~Pitch Perfect two, Hailee Steinfield lyrics_

 _Bree, Jay- 16 1/2_

"I don't know Bree. It's just upsetting I guess." Jay grunted over the phone, Bree's heart swelled with empathy, she knew how it felt to like someone that either they don't return the feelings or have to move away. Mulling over an idea in her mind the bubbly teen sighed and reached over, grabbing her headphones and plugging it into her phone, adjusting the mic slightly before blocking it to clear her throat and cough a few times. She could only hope that being sick wouldn't screw this up.

" _ **When tomorrow comes  
I'll be on my own  
Feeling frightened of  
The things that I don't know  
When tomorrow comes  
Tomorrow comes  
When Tomorrow comes"**_ She sang into the mic, her voice a little scratchy but mostly decent, she started soft and increased her volume slightly as she went, attempting to convey her appreciation for him and how much he meant to her, she didn't want him to become a moping mess because Hadara left, she wanted her witty, curt, grumpy goof of a friend that he had always been to her. Jay already knew she could sing, after working together on one of Bree's originals that was a duet called "Rock Bottom," he was the featured male part of the song and because of that both of them knew that the other could sing.

" _ **And though the road is long  
I look up to the sky  
Darkness all around, no hope that I won't fly  
Then I sing along, I sing along, and I sing along,"**_She sang, settling more comfortably in her bean bag in her room, useless legs propped up on the ottoman next to the beanbag, hands behind her hand as she also attempted to relax and not go horse. Having a cold, she wasn't with Jay at medical training, which was why they were talking over the phone, she had felt guilty and taken it upon herself to make sure he was entertained. _  
_" _ **I got all I need when I got you and I,  
**_ ' _ **Cause I look around me, and see a sweet life!  
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight,  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night!  
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes  
Can't lie, it's a sweet life,  
Stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight!  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night!  
You're my flashlight!(flashlight)  
You're my flashlight! (flashlight),**_

 _ **You're my flashlight!  
Ooh…"**_ Her throat was starting to burn as was her chest as she struggled to swallow the coughs and keep up the singing. The poster one one of her walls had a large light blue flashlight with the words, 'give these power and they'll light the way forever.' It was what gave her the spark to even start singing these lyrics that she was randomly coming up with. _  
_" _ **I see the shadows long beneath the mountain top  
But I'm not afraid when the rain won't stop.  
'Cause you light the way,  
You light the way,  
You light the way,  
I got all I need when I got you and I  
I look around me, and see a sweet life  
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night  
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes,  
Can't lie, it's a sweet life!  
Stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight,  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night!  
(Light, light, light, you're my flashlight)  
Light, light, light and you can't deny**_

 _ **With you it's a sweet life, life, life  
Oh…"**_She nearly stopped right there, her voice was dying on her, her throat was burning like it was on fire, her chest was also burning, and she was feeling just a tad dizzy. But she had to finish the song, Jay hadn't spoken at all yet, she could hear his breathing and hear the other medics talking, reassuring her they were still connected and nothing had glitched on them. _  
_" _ **I got all I need when I got you and I  
I look around me and see a sweet life  
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight!  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night!  
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes  
Can't lie, it's a sweet life!  
Stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight!  
You're getting me, getting me through the night,  
You're my flashlight!  
You're my flashlight!  
You're my flashlight!**_

 _ **Ooh**_

 _ **You're my flashlight,  
You're my flashlight,  
You're my flashlight ooh."**_ She finished, blocked the mic and coughed violently, relieving the burn in her chest, reaching over and scooping up her water bottle she guzzled it and coughed again before listening as Jay spoke, his voice sounding touched and gentle.

"Thanks, Bree, why don't you get some water and maybe a tea or something? You sound like you're dying over there."

"Oh no!" She rasped horsely, her voice already starting to disappear, "I'm dying! Blegh!" She pretended to die and actually got a laugh from Jay.

"Don't really die alright? It's not good for your health… and I don't want to lose someone else."

"I'm just joking around," Bree reassured him, her voice getting raspier and more horse by the second. "I'm going to take your advice and get something warm to drink," She rasped, heaving herself into her wheelchair and starting out of her room and down the ramp that led to the first floor where the kitchen was.

"I'll come drop by later, don't talk too much till then alright? I want to hear about your blue bird's latest adventures."

"Can do Jay!" She rasped, pulling out a few things to make something to soothe her scratchy throat and hopefully return her dying voice.


	40. Singing Talent, number 4 (Leon)

Singing Spin-off number 4

Leon Sings "She only loves me when I'm there" ~Ball Park Music

Leon, Cynthia, Hannah- 15

Holly- 15 1/2

 **I don't own this song :) This one does swear once or twice, sorry younger readers :(**

" _ **Guildford, Guildford**_

 _ **Holy mother of hell and Jesus**_

 _ **In the architraves**_

 _ **Waiting, waiting**_

 _ **Comes to take all my misery away**_

 _ **At least for now…**_

 _ **Kelvin ghetto homie figure we can work it out…"**_ Leon sang, his tenor voice a bit rusty but in good shape. After the whole Hannah thing, he needed something help release his emotions, and singing was a good way of doing it.

" _ **It must be 5 years ago now**_

 _ **Skulking home one public holiday**_

 _ **Eighteen, eighteen, baby brains**_

 _ **I got the nervous twitching algorithms**_

 _ **Right beneath the trees**_

 _ **Yeah I half expect her knuckles now to bring me to my knees,"**_ He sulked, his face pinched into an annoyed frown, he had indeed met Hannah five years ago, but he didn't develop a crush on her until he was thirteen and a half, so two years for crushing on her. Had to be one of the worst decisions in his life.

" _ **Ah, If she wants this to be**_

 _ **She'll have to see the things that I have had to see**_

 _ **But maybe she would know**_

 _ **Maybe she would care!**_

 _ **She only loves me when I'm there!"**_ He was walking to school completely alone, his sister hadn't joined him yet and no doubt Cynthia was still miffed about him beating her in basketball yesterday. He rolled his eyes when he caught sight of the wind division girl who had tied a blind fold over his eyes that only Holly and Cynthia managed to get off him. Hannah had been partially using him, getting strategies for the soccer and basketball games so her team would win, only Cynthia's creativity saved the Thunder team from being utterly creamed by the wind team this season. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, still singing the lyrics in a soft tone under his breath.

" _ **It must be five years ago now**_

 _ **My trimester public holiday**_

 _ **Eighteen crack these oysters open,**_

 _ **She can be forgiven but she doesn't go away.**_

" _ **Yeah, I see her on the bus, man, see her every day,"**_ Leon spotted his sister jogging over to him, her green eyes gleaming with amusement, ' _something must've tickled her funny bone.'_ He thought miserably, his frown deepening at the thought, but he kept singing under his breath, barely audible.

" _ **Oh, if she wants this to be**_

 _ **She'll have to see the things that I have had to see!**_

 _ **And maybe she would know!**_

 _ **Maybe she would care!**_

 _ **She only loves me when I'm there!"**_ He nearly jumped when his friend Cynthia popped out from behind him after playfully pushing him forward, blue eyes twinkling with amusement and happiness. He couldn't resist it, his lips twitched into a smile and she moved to continue chatting with his sister. He studied her, still singing. He hadn't really been paying much attention to her lately, instead, preferring to sulk and be mad at himself. Now that he was actually taking the time to look at her he was surprised to see she was just as pretty as Hannah or his sister, of course, Holly was in her own little section where he as a protective brother was worried about how much attention she got because of how pretty she was, even he had to admit that at least.

But Cynthia had always been one of his friends who was extremely patient with his mistakes and had a major crush on him, she was good at hiding it most of the time, but there was the occasional slip up where he'd say something and she'd blush or she'd stare at him after a game while everyone was still in their uniforms. Overall though it was easy to forget and she didn't push anything on him, seemingly content being a close friend of his who was nearly always over at his house or got special treatment on a lot of things. Right now though he wasn't looking at that, he was curious why he hadn't noticed anything before hand, she was tall, probably just a hair under eye level with him while Holly only reached his nose. Thin, probably from all the sports, he knew she did, she did more than he did! She had a spray of partially faint freckles that went across her nose and cheekbones, wrinkling slightly as she grinned at Holly and bopped her playfully for something or other, and unlike both Hannah or Holly, she had a small amount of visible muscle, again, probably from all the sports she did. Affection for his friend pushed away his dreary attitude and an idea popped into his head.

" _ **I don't want to live like this anymore, kid,**_

 _ **I don't want to live like this anymore!" 'One, two, three, four.'**_ With a movement that surprised even himself, he looped one arm around his friend's waist, pulled her to him and kissed her. Lucky for them Holly was farther up ahead. He felt Cynthia freeze and stiffen before relaxing against the contact, allowing it with no questions asked. He saw Hannah out of the corner of his eye and finished the song in his head, closing his eyes and indulging in the warm kiss with his best friend, who he knew, had like Hannah, had a crush on him. But Cynthia was different, she didn't push him or ask for anything, she let him do what he wanted without him having to think about everything and be on his toes all the time.

" _ **She only loves me when I'm there!**_

 _ **She only loves me when I'm there!**_

 _ **Nervous twitching algorithms**_

 _ **Right beneath the trees,**_

 _ **Yeah, I half expect her knuckles now to bring me to my knees…'**_ Leon pulled away from Cynthia to find her blue eyes twinkling with shock and affection, he felt slight pride in the fact she seemed pleasantly dazed and giggly, a few giggles escaping her mouth. With a wide grin, he grasped her by the wrist and pulled her along towards Holly, an excited and happy spring in his step, "Holly! We're going to be late!" He laughed to his sister as he and Cynthia shot past her, Cynthia laughing with him as he pulled her along.

"What?!" Holly raced after them, "I knew I shouldn't have helped Jay this morning!"


	41. Singing Talent, number 5 (Cynthia)

Singing Spinoff number 5

Cynthia sings "I do not hook up" ~Kelly Clarkson

Cynthia, Leon- 15 1/2

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Yeah... I had forgotten to put the first one on this one when I put it on Briarfeather and Cinderblaze :)**_

 _ **Smileys! :) :)**_

 _ **They will :) I have those planned out :) Bree and Jay will be singing Rock Bottom by Hailee Steinfeld :) And Cynthia and Leon are singing "Go My Own Way" From highschool Musical 2 :)**_

 _ **I need options for Christmas themed stuff! :) Give me ideas! :) I'm starting to write a special chapter for the off chance that I'll reach fifty chapters and one-hundred reviews :)**_

" _ **I do not hook up." ~Cynthia**_

" _ **Oh, sweetheart, put the bottle down**_

 _ **You've got too much talent**_

 _ **I see you through those bloodshot eyes**_

 _ **There's a cure, you've found it,"**_

Cynthia sang softly, Leon was over at her house, right now it was just the two of them, Holly was supposed to be coming over later to have a movie night with the two of them and everything was already set up. The two fifteen and a half year old were currently sprawled on one of the couches, Leon was half asleep, his head in his friend's lap, he'd been having a rough day so far, Hannah shouting at him in front of the entire school, losing a basketball game because of how distracted he was, failing a test etc. Cynthia brushed her fingers through his golden blonde hair, blue eyes studying his face and half open amber eyes. Closing her eyes she relaxed back against the couch cushions, leaning her head back as she sang the lyrics in a drowsy mostly inaudible voice.

" _ **Slow motion, sparks, you've caught that chill**_

 _ **Now don't deny it, but boys will be boys, oh, yes, they will**_

 _ **They don't wanna define it**_

 _ **Just give up the game and get into me**_

 _ **If you're looking for thrills then get cold feet,'**_ _Cynthia felt her back hit a wall and she let out a muffled giggle, her arms were looped around Leon's neck, one of his arms were around her waist, the other was behind her head. Her shoulders were shaking from laughter and she felt Leon's mouth twitch into a smile through the kiss. Despite the activity she was participating in she still sung the lyrics, but mentally instead of out loud._

' _ **Oh, no, I do not hook up, up, I go slow**_

 _ **So if you want me, I don't come cheap**_

 _ **Keep your hand in my hand, your heart on your sleeve**_

 _ **Oh, no, I do not hook up, up, I fall deep**_

 _ **'Cause the more that you try the harder I'll fight to say goodnight'**_ _He drew back a few moments later, amber eyes gleaming with love. Cynthia giggled softly, her senses were a bit dazed and confused, she leaned forward and kissed him giddily._

Cynthia started awake, blue eyes slightly wide and disoriented. Sleepily rubbing her knuckles against her eyes she got her bearings and squinted at her watch, finding she had been asleep for about ten minutes. Clearing her throat she continued to sing.

" _ **I can't cook, no, but I can clean**_

 _ **Up the mess she left**_

 _ **Lay your head down and feel the beat**_

 _ **As I kiss your forehead**_

 _ **This may not last but this is now**_

 _ **So love the one you're with**_

 _ **You wanna chase but you're chasin' your tail**_

 _ **A quick fix won't ever get you well!"**_ She leaned over and briefly, kissed his forehead before playing with a loose thread on the armrest as she kept singing, her other hand playing with Leon's blonde hair.

" _ **Oh, no, I do not hook up, up, I go slow**_

 _ **So if you want me, I don't come cheap**_

 _ **Keep your hand in my hand, your heart on your sleeve**_

 _ **Oh, no, I do not hook up, up, I fall deep**_

 _ **'Cause the more that you try the harder I'll fight to say**_

 _ **'Cause I feel, the distance**_

 _ **Between us, could be over**_

 _ **With the snap of your finger, Oh, no!**_ " She sang softly with a lot of emotion, giving her something to help her stay away from daydreams that would never happen. For a few moments she managed to keep it away and stay awake, but she lost without much resistance, not particularly against dreaming of a fantasy.

' _ **Oh, no, I do not hook up, up, I go slow**_

 _ **So if you want me, I don't come cheap**_

 _ **Keep your hand in my hand, your heart on your sleeve**_

 _ **Oh, no, I do not hook up, up, I fall deep**_

 _ **'Cause the more that you try the harder I'll fight**_

 _ **To say, 'cause the more that you try the harder I'll fight, to say goodnight**_

 _ **Oh, sweetheart put the bottle down**_

 _ **'Cause you don't wanna miss out…'**_ " _I love you, Leon," She murmured shyly, black hair hiding her shy blush._

" _I love you too Cyn," Leon smiled, a light blush spreading across his cheeks as he reached over and gently grasped her hand, lacing their fingers together before dipping his head while she leaned up on her toes and he shyly kissed her, both teens faces lit with a shy blush._ Little did she know Leon was doing that same thing, dreaming about a relationship that wouldn't ever happen between them… or so they both thought. That's how Holly found them, both of them asleep, Leon's head in Cynthia's lap, the girl's fingers resting motionless in his golden blonde hair.


	42. Important Cars And A Confrontation

**_Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- :D I don't sleep at night! ^-^ I write most of my stuff at night and because of that, I'm usually up till three or four in the morning ^-^ So there's a lot of stuff to post! XD_**

 _Important Cars And A Confrontation_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree- 19 ½_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 19_

"Are we there yet?" Leon whined sleepily and immaturely to his sister, he was squished in the backseat with Cynthia and Jay, the other two teens both asleep, Jay's cheek pressing against the window while Cynthia was asleep on Leon, her head resting on his shoulder a bit awkwardly. Brad was in the seat in front of them snoring slightly, with Bree in her seat next to him, propping her arm up against the car door, amber eyes drooping closed.

Holly shifted slightly in her seat keeping herself wide awake and aware, "No Leon, we aren't almost there. Just go to sleep already." She'd been dealing with his whining for the past two hours and it was grating on her nerves. Despite the begging and pleading each one of the teens did -Holly, Leon, and Cynthia- Skylar had refused to let them each drive separately to the college campus and Holly was chosen to drive a good chunk of it before she switched with Skylar. Bree's mom Miley had asked them to take her daughter because of the ramp Jay and Holly had built and rigged a few years back onto the van.

"I'm tired of being in a car!" Leon whined not noticing his friend asleep on his shoulder, "It's boring!"

"If you'd stop complaining you'd see that your girlfriend is asleep on you and your noise is waking her up," Holly tells him, glancing at the rear view mirror as she commented, noticing the slight furrowing of her best friend's eyebrows and the frown forming on her previously peaceful face. That managed to shut Leon up for the time being as he glared at his sister before wrapping his left arm around Cynthia's waist and resting his cheek on her head. Minutes later Holly breathed a relieved sigh as her brother dropped off asleep, the car was mercifully silent for the first time since they had started the whole trip. She drove for about half an hour longer before Skylar switched with her and Holly took out a book in the passenger seat, using the still existing silence for a quiet reading session.

It didn't last too long when Leon woke up again and started bugging his girlfriend bored, poking, prodding, and tickling her trying to wake her up so she'd entertain him. The sleeping girl didn't react to anything besides the Wet Willy he gave her, and that was just an annoyed twitch.

"Leave me alone," She mumbled as he nipped her ear, "I'm sleeping." She pushed his face away from her ear and returned to her previous position.

"But I'm bored!" The nineteen-year-old boy whined to her, nuzzling her nose and bumping his nose against her cheek.

"You're being a pain, let me sleep," Cynthia groaned burying her face further into his shoulder, hiding her face as an attempt to sleep. Leon tickled her neck and she swatted his hand away, "Stop it!" She whined to him, not removing her face from her warm and poke free spot. "I'm not playing with you, no matter how much I love you you're not ruining my nap." She grunted as he tried tickling her sides.

"Please!" He begged, feeling like he was going insane from sitting in a car for so long.

"No.

"Please!"

"No."

"Please!"

"Shut it, Leo."

"Please!-"

"Leon!" Holly growls, "Shut up!-"

"Leonardo Landan Bramble." Skylar interrupted, looking at her golden blonde son through the rearview mirror, "Go to sleep or I will make you walk the rest of the way." Leon meekly listened to his mother despite being old enough to pull the "I'm an adult now" excuse. Taking his hoodie he draped it over Cynthia's shoulders before putting his head against the window and reluctantly closing his eyes again.

Holly settled back into her seat and continued reading content in the silence. Even the sound of Bree's head smacking into the window didn't bother her, too content in the silence of her annoying brother sleeping. Bree lifted her head, looking confused on how she woke herself up.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

"Ugh," Cynthia grumbled as they finally got out of the car, she stretched her stiff muscles, "Sitting still for that long isn't my style."

"Well you're pretty tall Cindy," Holly said, she was leaning against the car, finishing her book. "That's probably why you're uncomfortable."

"What about me?" Leon complained he was rolling his shoulders and neck, trying to remove the kinks there. "I'm taller than all of you!"

"By only half a foot," Cynthia retorted, moving over to help him by massaging his shoulders and lower neck.

"If you guys are complaining about sitting in a chair for three hours try sitting in one every day," Bree said gruffly, her attitude temporarily matching Jay's, she was rubbing the side of her head that had smacked into the window and grumpy from being woken up like that.

"Bree wins that one," Jay commented curtly, he was stretching his arms over his head, being almost a foot shorter than his brother he didn't have issues being cramped in a car.

Holly closed her book with a gentle snap before tucking it into her bag, "Let's get going, mom said our cars are already here." Leon and Cynthia both froze, staring at her in worried shock.

"Somebody drove our Honda's?" Leon asked. Both he and Cynthia had gotten cars for their birthdays about six months ago courtesy of Bracken Lawson Cynthia's father. Cynthia had a light blue painted Honda Civic with white rims with a white leather interior while Leon had a dark silver Honda Civic Ridgeline with black rims and a black leather interior.

"Maybe, I have no idea how they got here." Holly shrugged, amused at the horrified looks on both their faces, she knew very well that those cars meant a lot to both of them, they didn't let anyone drive them and sometimes refused to let others go with them, it was probably the only thing Leon kept clean on a daily basis while it was the only thing Cynthia had from her family, even her sisters had stopped doing anything for her on her birthday. -Holly suspected Sarah influenced that-

"I swear," Cynthia growls, "If I have to spend an entire afternoon cleaning out my car because of the idiot who drove it here I'm going to strangle your mom." She grumbles frowning.

"Same here." Leon agrees, scowling with his blonde eyebrows furrowed adding to the scowl forming on his face.

"I'd probably do the same thing," Holly agreed, she had gotten a Civic Sedan by her aunt handed down from her cousin Tyler because he never used it. But she wasn't as paranoid about her vehicle, hers was plain silver with normal rims and a black leather interior, while she did take good care of it and had it organized in her own quirky way she wasn't as crazy as her brother and her best friend.

"Well, my wheels are attached to me." Bree shrugs, still grumpy, but unintentionally being witty and outwitting all three of the other teens.

Leon laughed as Cynthia mumbled under her breath, "Ouch. She smoked us again."

"Bring out the barbecue Holly, Bree's providing the fire, We're providing the smoke, and Jay's bringing the food." He laughed.

"I'm not being your fire, you already have your fire. It's called being hot headed." Bree matters and the entire group starts laughing as they walked into the main building.

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia and Leon went to check on their cars after they were given their timetables, dorm card key, and a campus map. "What's going on here?" Cynthia asked, noticing the crowd gathered around the parking lot.

"Have no idea-" He stopped mid-sentence hearing the sound of a familiar car engine revving.

"That better not be," Cynthia spoke in trepidation coloring her tone, "My car." Sure enough, as they pushed through the crowd her blue Honda was one of the cars having the engine revved. Who was in the driver seat? "Isa." She gritted her teeth, shoving past the crowd and going to her car, pulling open the driver's door and snatching the key, blue eyes gleaming with anger. Her car's usual purr died down and came to a halt without the key in the ignition.

Leon hurried over to help avoid bloodshed between the two girls. "Woah you two, we just got here, there's no need to get off on the wrong foot." Cynthia didn't listen to him, instead glowering at Isa.

"Get out of my car." she hissed fiercely, "You know it's mine Isa."

Isa sighed but got out of the vehicle, looking reluctant. "Sorry Cynthia, couldn't resist it after driving it up here to the campus." Cynthia's eyes narrow, Isa was the last person she wanted in her car. "It's really comfortable, I mean it's pretty decked out, did you get modifications for it or something? As far as I know it normally doesn't have a hidden cooler with a temperature regulator." Isa asked in a bit of curiosity. "Or a hatch under the seats with a multitude of different supplies like blankets."

"Yes, I've modified it," Cynthia said coolly, blue eyes narrowing as Isa kept describing her car, other college students were getting excited, curious about the car and wanting to get inside and check it out for themselves.

"But I have to ask, why's there a duffel bag of Leon's stuff in one of the back?"

Cynthia's cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink but she spoke in a cool tone, "Because he's lazy and forgets things at Holly and I's apartment all the time. Why were you digging through my car? You drove it up here, you weren't supposed to search it."

"I was looking for something I brought but couldn't find it." Isa shrugs, "Why? You hiding something?"

"Illegal? Course not, but I'd rather you didn't go through my personal belongings and the belongings of my friends."

"Belongings of your friends?"

"I have what Leon and Holly couldn't fit in their vehicles or forgot in Leon's case."

"What about the weird panels at the passenger's feet?"

"It's for Leon," Cynthia jerked her thumb in his direction, "He's too tall and his legs are too long for him to be moderately comfortable so the panels fold back for more leg room." She pushed past Isa and moved inside her car, inwardly seething at the huge mess left inside it, wrappers were everywhere, A few things of Isa's was lying on the seats. Getting out-out of and shutting and locking the driver's door she scowled at Isa before whipping around and leaving, growling under her breath.


	43. Singing Talent, number 6 (Briarfeather)

_Singing Spin-off number 6_

 _Bree and Jay sing "Rock Bottom" ~ Hailee Steinfeld_

 _Bree, Jay- 16_

Bree fiddled with a few buttons, having some issues with the whole live stream thing, lots of people had been asking her to do a Q & A and she had finally agreed to it, under the condition of no camera. Instead, emojis of all kinds of shapes, expressions, and colors who bounce around, preserving her identity.

"Is this thing working?" She asked, looking over at the chat for people to tell her that it was in fact working. Seeing lots of yes's she grinned, "Finally! Anyway, so everyone's been wondering what my real voice is like so here it is! Start asking me questions and I'll try to answer as many of them as I can!" She blinked as the chat started jumping. Managing to catch one she laughed, "How do I sing alto when my voice is at the soprano level? I have no idea! I guess it's because my voice is already high pitched maybe? I have no clue!" Finding another one she giggled, "My age? Well, that's a bit confidential, but I am a teenager! Smack dab in the center of the older and younger teenage ages!" She grinned at another one, "How come I'm perfect? Well, I'm definitely not perfect! Being in a wheelchair just gives me another fun little flaw!" She squinted, trying to catch a few of the questions. "Tell you about myself? Well, I like to sing obviously, um… I like medical stuff, I enjoy reading, climbing trees, running over arrogant people's feet, talking to my friends and cheering people up!" Another question made her think for a moment. "Am I willing to write and perform a duet? I don't see why not, it might take a while to write and set up, but sure! Any suggestions on the guy to do the second part? Oh! And what kind of song should I write?"

Scrolling through the chat she saw a lot of 'A love and hate relationship' and 'The PerfectGrumpyTone.'

' _PerfectGrumpyTone? Huh, sounds interesting.'_ "If you guys can convince him to sing in it I'll perform it live and record it!" Bree chirped, amber eyes twinkling, "Now more questions! Do I like jokes? Of course, I do! Jokes are the next best thing to singing and cheering people up!"

:) :) :) :)

Bree let out a startled yell and nearly fell out of her chair when her laptop suddenly lit up and went off, announcing a google call. Leaning over and picking her headphones up off the floor she answered the call, putting the headphones on and adjusting the mic slightly, "Hello? CheerfulCuriousity here!" She chirped, a little annoyed by her interrupted nap.

"Hey," A curt and grumpy voice said, "It's PerfectGrumpyTone. I've been getting spammed with requests to sing a duet with you, I'll sing it."

"Really?!" Bree was wide awake now, hopeful and excited.

"Yes. Your music is pretty good and you don't seem to be really annoying."

"Awesome! Thank you, soo much! I'll send you the lyrics when I finish them and we can run through them, I'll listen to your music and try to find lyrics that'll keep you in your comfort zone!"

"That's appreciated, with the lyrics send me a recording of you singing your part so I can listen to it as I sing my part."

"Cool! I'll have the lyrics done this week! Do you play any instrument in particular?"

"I can play most instruments needed for a song."

"Ok cool! Do you want me to play the drums? Or you?"

"You can, it's your song."

"Kay, thanks again!"

"No problem, maybe I can actually get something done. Oh, please send the lyrics as a sound recording, I have issues reading things."

"Understandable! Bye!" She chirped as he hung up the call and she grinned widely, spinning around her chair and rummaging through a set of drawers for her lyric notebook. ' _Where is it? I want to get started right away!'_

:) :) :)

Jay was sitting quietly in his room, sitting at his desk, listening to the lyrics that the youtube singer had sent him. He had to admit that she did a really good job, the lyrics he had to sing were right up his alley, ' _You get under my skin, more than anyone's ever been, but when we lay in bed, you hold me harder till I forget. Not bad, I can work with these, the chorus is pretty catchy… She doesn't have a title yet. Maybe I can suggest the title Rock Bottom, the chorus says it quite a lot.'_

He played the recording of the singer actually singing her part of the lyrics and listened to the different tones in the singer's voice which felt strangely familiar to him. Her youtube name was CheerfulCuriousity and she was actually really good. Her songs were relatively catchy and held real emotion, unlike some singers that had asked him to do a duet with him. He wouldn't mind revealing his identity for a song like this, that was for sure.

:) :) :) :)

Bree finished the lyrics on Wednesday and scheduled a voice meeting with the youtube singer on Friday after the movie she was going with Cynthia and Haliah to at three. She pushed open the door to her bedroom and rolled over to her desk, picking up her headphones and adjusting the mic before answering the call. "Sorry, I'm late!" She chirped cheerfully, "Got held up with some friends!"

"It's okay, I haven't been here for long."

"Do you like the lyrics? I hope they don't take you too far out of your comfort zone!"

"They don't, in fact, they sound perfect."

"Yes! Do you want to do a recording next week? I was asked to perform this one live by the end of the month but I didn't know if you wanted to do it with me!"

"Sure, why not. I'm open on Monday around seven, and about the live concert. I don't really care, I'll show up if you'd prefer."

"Yes, please! And I'm open then too, sounds good!"

:) :) :)

Bree pulled a face as someone tried to put stuff on her face, she rolled backward and heard a yelp and something get under her left wheel. Quickly moving forward she spun around and apologized, "Sorry!" She squeaked, "I didn't know you were there!"

"It's ok," Jay grunted and Bree's amber eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the sight of her best friend before her brain put the pieces together and burst out laughing.

"Oh my star clan, how did I not notice this before?" She laughed, nearly howling in her laughter.

"Notice what?" Jay grunted, swatting at the person trying to get in his face. "Go away Charlie, you're more clingy than a squid." He pushed him away and took the ear piece microphone from another person, putting it in before taking the sunglasses off his head to put over his eyes.

"That it's you, Jay! You're The PerfectGrumpyTone!" She laughed, the laughter dying down to giggles as she looked at her best friend, a microphone like Jay's already in one ear, brown hair up in a messy bun, her bangs free and swept to one side behind her ear, a couple pencils keeping the bun in place, amber eyes twinkling with happiness.

"Wait, Bree?!" Jay asked, surprise lighting his features and he held one arm out in front of him at Bree's level, "You're CheerfulCuriousity?!"

"Yup!" Bree grinned, rolling forwards towards him so his palm was against her forehead and bridge of her nose, her eyelashes tickling his skin. "It's me, Jay! Who knew we both like to sing?"

"Breanna, there's only a minute left before the show starts." A lady told Bree, "Are you ready to go up there?"

"Of course! I'm always ready!" Bree grinned, spinning around to be facing the lady, "I love singing for people!"

"Of course you would." Jay snorts, rolling his blind blue eyes and putting his arms at his sides.

"Then you should probably get up there." The lady said patiently.

"Thanks, Casi!" Bree smiled, pushing herself up the ramp and onto the stage, blinking a few times at the change in light. "Hey, everyone! I am CheerfulCuriousity! And I love to sing! We have a guest today! His name is The Perfect GrumpyTone, or in my case, my best friend Jay!"

Jay strode up onto the stage, black and gray speckled hair brushed forward so the front near his face was spiked up. He was wearing black denim jeans, a collared light blue long sleeve rolled up at the elbows, black converse, and a unzipped black leather vest, his hands in the pockets. "Hey everyone, I am indeed The PerfectGrumpyTone." He said grumpily and part of the audience laughed at his grumpiness.

"Believe it or not, I actually know Jay away from YouTube!" Bree grinned widely, "We've been friends for years! Right Jay?!"

"That's right Bree." He grunted.

"Anyway! Here's the duet everyone's been asking for! It's called rock bottom!" Bree smiled. She was in her wheelchair, refusing to use the crutches, wearing black denim jeans, a white collared short-sleeve shirt under a light blue hoodie with the words, 'CheerfulCuriousity' on the front and back, with black ankle boots, and a silver bracelet on one wrist.

Together she and Jay waited for their cues, Bree starting a few seconds into the music with the spotlight directly on her, " _ **What are we fighting for?  
Seems like we do it just for fun  
In this, this stupid war  
We play hard with our plastic guns**_ _  
_ _ **Breathe deep, bottle it up  
So deep until it's all we got  
Don't speak, just use your touch  
Don't speak before we say too much."**_ Bree sang, her voice lowering to be more alto than her usual half alto half higher pitched soprano. _  
_" _ **You hate me now and I feel the same way!  
You love me now and I feel the same way!  
Scream and we shout  
And make up the same day, same day!**_ _  
_ _ **Oh! we're on the right side of rock bottom  
And I hope that we keep falling!  
We're on the good side of bad karma  
'Cause we keep on coming back for more!  
We're on the right side of rock bottom  
And to you, I just keep crawling  
You're the best kind of bad something  
'Cause we keep on coming back for more!"**_ She finished temporarily, giving the spotlight to Jay who got his cue a half a second later and started his part of the lyrics, his voice a mellow tenor, not as high as his brother's, instead, his singing voice was relatively low. _  
_" _ **You get under my skin  
More than anyone's ever been  
But when we lay in bed  
You hold me harder till I forget"**_ Jay sang before he was joined with Bree a hair softer than him, making it so his deeper voice was the easier voice to hear. _  
_" _ **You hate me now and I feel the same way  
You love me now and I feel the same way  
Scream and we shout  
And make up the same day, same day**_ _  
_ _ **Oh! we're on the right side of rock bottom  
And I hope that we keep falling  
We're on the good side of bad karma  
'Cause we keep on coming back for more!  
We're on the right side of rock bottom  
And to you I just keep crawling  
You're the best kind of bad something  
'Cause we keep on coming back for more!  
Keep on coming back for more!  
'Cause we keep on coming back for more!"**_ They sang together, their voices working together to create the song that Bree was written. _  
_" _ **What are we fighting for?"**_ Bree sang alone, taking the first line. _  
_" _ **Seems like we do it just for fun**_ _,"_ Jay took over, as they switched again, switching off lines. _  
_" _ **In this, this stupid war"**_ Bree switched him again, before they both sung together, starting the chorus once again. _  
_" _ **We play hard with our plastic guns  
Oh, we're on the right side of rock bottom  
And I hope that we keep falling  
We're on the good side of bad karma  
'Cause we keep on coming back for more!  
We're on the right side of rock bottom  
And to you I just keep crawling  
You're the best kind of bad something  
'Cause we keep on coming back for more!  
Keep on coming back for more!  
'Cause we keep on coming back for more!  
Keep on coming back for more!  
'Cause we keep on coming back for more!"**_

They finished, smiling happily at each other, glad that it was their best friend that they were each singing with.


	44. Swimming For A Reason

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I know right? It seems that everyone likes it! ^-^ I find it completely hilarious but fitting for the grumpy boy :D**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- Don't go insane! XD, I'm glad you like it! :) You must give the marshmallow to Cynthia! She loves them! XD**_

 _ **Echo In The Whispering Wind- It is really confusing :) But I'm too lazy to scrap it and rewrite it so here's a brief explanation: A long time ago when they were about toddlers an infection broke out, causing people who caught it to basically become zombies. Cynthia, Jay, Leon, and Bree are one of the last groups of humans surviving the infection, Cynthia, being the stubborn girl she is, didn't want a supply drop they had found go to waste and jumped into the barely above freezing lake the previous day and caught herself a common cold. Jay and Cynthia have been creating the immunity cure for years, it's a cure that can cure the infection and most sicknesses, it also gives the person who takes it on a regular basis an immunity to the infection, which is why all of them already have a lot of it in their system. The dream Jay had was a past memory of when he, Leon, and Holly met Cynthia, Haliah, and Hadara. There is a reason you don't see Holly, Hadara or Haliah, and no, they are not dead. :) The last part they were just doing their normal everyday things, making sure everything was in order, fixing up Bree's wheelchair, and being their normal selves :) The whole Bree and Leon conversation does have a hidden meaning but it might be a little hard to pick up on what Bree's referring to and what she found. I hope that helps just a little bit, it does seem a bit scattered but I'm too lazy to rewrite it :) I actually wrote that one for English class so it's a bit different than all my other ones and more descriptive on what the characters look like :)**_

 _ **Yeah, I have training in martial arts, street fighting, and knife-wielding :) I hope you had fun looking up those fighting tips! :) Ah, Tigerstar is a pretty cool character:) He's a bit insane but that's okay :) yay! Ivypool is your third favorite! XD Ivory's my third favorite female character in warriors :) Halffeather is pretty cute too :) I'm just weird and like Brairfeather better :) I will check it out! :) Briarfeather and Cinderblaze are my top favorite Warriors couples! :D Yay! That story's nearing twenty chapters! Am I a supporter of the evil side? I'm not sure what you're asking XD Do I like the evil characters? Of course, I do! :D They're what makes the plot the plot! Some of them I like better, though, like Hawkfrost, Breezepelt, Ivypool, Tigerstar, and Scourge for example :) But Ivypool's not really evil, though… oh well!**_

 _ **I'm glad you like the song fanfictions! They take forever! XD**_

 _ **Since I wrote that particular one (Bree singing Flashlight) I've actually been thinking about rewriting it so it's more like this: "Bree gets a call from Leon or Holly that Jay hasn't come back home from being over at her house and tells them she'd find him for them and find out what's wrong. The first place she goes is the thunder woods, and sure enough, Jay is there, seemings to be almost sulking, leaning back against a tree with his arms crossed grumpily in front of him. They have a conversation and Bree notices that the sky starting to change color from blue to the normal pink, red, and yellows of a sunset, and that gives her an idea. So she sings "Flashlight" to lift his spirits and tell him in her own way that even though he is being a grumpy pain in the butt, more than normal, she isn't judging him and cares a lot about him as his best friend." Sound cool?**_

 _ **This one's one of my favorite ones as well :) Leon's a funny character :P I just stumble upon these songs and turn them into stories! :D**_

 _ **It's soo cute! XD That's why I like it so much! :) Writing that one was pretty fun :)**_

 _ **Oh my Starclan, that's my favorite part in the whole short story XD Bree was so confused! XD Her unintentional wit was hilarious as well XD**_

 _ **I'm glad you like his YouTube name! It makes me crack up every time I think about it! :D XD :P :)**_

 _ **Really?! Wow! Now I have to a special chapter! XD Any opinions?**_

 _ **We have reached one-hundred reviews guys! What should the chapter be about? I do have a hilarious idea, though, here's a sneak peek.**_

" **Why are we doing this again?" Cynthia asked, looking over at Leon who looked just as lost as she was, "And why are we trying to break the fourth wall a million times?"**

" **Why are you asking me?" Leon shrugged, "I was asleep when Holly was reading that letter."**

" **Are you serious?!" She exclaimed and cuffed him over the head, "Now how are we supposed to know what to do?!"**

" **Ow! I don't know!" Leon yelped, rubbing the top of his head and looking at her with a pout on his face, "That hurt!"**

" **Good, it was supposed to!" Cynthia grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, not looking too pleased with the situation they were in.**

" **Guys!" Bree came rolling over, amber eyes gleaming with happiness, "Stop hitting each other and get along!" She smiled cheerfully, "We're supposed to be thanking the people who reviewed the story!"**

" **What?" Leon and Cynthia asked her in sync, more confused than before.**

" **We're thanking-"**

" **Bree, just give them the letter," Jay grunted, striding over as grumpy as ever, blind eyes hidden behind his black sunglasses.**

" **But it's more fun telling them!"**

" **Just give them the letter before Holly and Caylee get here," Jay growls, not particularly fond of the thought of his sister freaking out when Cynthia and Leon had absolutely no idea what to do.**

" **Fine…" Bree huffs and hands them the letter as Ivory walks in with Atol and Braxton, green eyes frustrated and slightly annoyed. Cynthia and Leon took the letter and started speed reading through it**

" **When are they going to get here?" Ivory asked, raising her voice over the two boys arguing next to her, "and will you two shut up!" She snarled, whirling on the two and glaring at them fiercely. Braxton closed his mouth right away, meeting her eyes but quieting down. "I can do what I want, neither of you are in charge of what I do so shut up and quit arguing about who is right in running my life."**

" **Sorry," Braxton muttered, giving in and letting Ivory be in control.**

" **What're we doing here?" Atol asked her, scowling, "Why aren't we at the dark forest?"**

" **Because I said so." Another voice spoke and two people entered the room, one was Holly who looked a bit frazzled, the other was a wavy haired brunette with chocolate brown eyes. "You are here because I decided I wanted you here with everyone else." The brunette was the speaker, probably around Leon and Cynthia's age but closer to Bree's height, standing at about five feet eight inches, thin and lean like Ivory, dressed in light gray skinny jeans, a light blue t-shirt under a white hoodie with the words, "Nocturnal Writer" on the back, light gray converse, and a dark blue-gray laptop bag slung over one shoulder.**

 ** _Who is the speaker?_**

_Swimming For A Reason_

Leon yelped as Seth pushed him into the lake before the older teen jumped on top of him, keeping him under the water.

:( :( :(

Holly burst into the cabin, green eyes wide and worried, "Have you guys seen Cindy?!" She asked, her voice full of panic and worry.

"Uh no," Paige answered, looking up from where she was braiding Diana's long blonde hair, "I haven't seen her in a few hours."

"Did something happen?" Diana asked, worry present in her tone, "I think she's on the basketball court, she mentioned something about being bored of sitting in the cabin all day."

Holly paled and rushed out of the cabin and towards the basketball court. ' _Come on! Why the basketball court of all places?! It's so far from the lake!'_ Her feet kept slipping on the loose gravel of the pathways as she ran, but she didn't take notice, too worried about her brother's safety to care about tripping and falling. "Cindy?!" She yelled, "Cindy! Where are you?!"

"I'm right here Holly," Cynthia emerged, swinging down from a branch in a tree and dropping to the ground, "What happened?" She asked, studying her best friend's face, eyebrows pinching in worry, "Who's hurt, what's going on?"

Holly spoke between pants, "Seth has Leon… pinned under… the lake, none of us can reach him cause we can't swim!"

Cynthia didn't hear the last part of Holly's sentence as she started racing towards the lake, "What are we waiting for?!" She yelled to Holly and kept sprinting towards the lake.

:) :) :)

Cynthia's mind was blank, the only thing she was thinking about was getting to the lake and saving Leon from drowning. Of course, she had the full intent of roughening Seth up a bit after her friend was safe. Running through the Wind cabins short meadow she could see the lake's clear water glittering at the end of the meadow. She vaguely noticed that a few of the thunder cabin counselors were wading into the water but that didn't reassure her, they wouldn't be able to swim to him, only she could. She sprinted out of the meadow, jumping over a log in the process, her feet hit the wooden deck and she heard Skylar yelling at her to stop.

"Cynthia! Stop!"

"I can swim!" Cynthia shouted back as her feet hit the edge of the dock and she jumped into the clear water, disappearing under the surface with a large splash.

"Cynthia! Get back here!" Skylar shouted, running to the edge of the dock and looking into the water worriedly.

"Where's Cindy?!" Holly came to a skidding halt next to her mother, "Is she in the water?"

"Yes, she's going to drown!"

"No, Cindy can swim really well Mom!" Holly reassured her mother, her breathing labored.

:) :) :)

Underneath the water Cynthia was reaching Seth and Leon, the two boys were struggling under the water, Leon thrashing violently, bubbles streaming from his mouth, Seth's fingers around his throat. Kicking her legs she swam strongly forward and crashed into Seth from behind, making her see stars and making him release Leon. Pushing Seth away from Leon she put both arms around Leon's middle and kicked upwards towards the surface. when she was yanked back down she looked down to find Seth pulling on her ankle, green eyes gleaming with pure anger and hatred directed at Leon. Using her free foot she kicked Seth right in the jaw, sending him reeling and allowing her to break the surface with Leon.

Floating on her back she coughed a few times and looked for the dock before directing herself that way so she could swim over there.

Leon coughed, he was coughing, using Cynthia as a buoyancy device, his arms across her stomach, keeping himself afloat. "Thanks, Cyn," He said through a multitude of coughs.

"Try not to drown again alright?" Cynthia said gently, starting to kick her legs so they started moving toward the dock.

"Why?" He said cheekily, interrupted by a few coughs, "Don't you like to swim?"

"Yes, but saving your butt shouldn't become a daily occurrence."

"I didn't mean to nearly drown Cyn." Leon coughed as they nearly reached the dock.

Cynthia sighed, keeping her eyes on the dock behind her, close enough she could bump her head against it. "I knew I learned how to swim for a reason, to save your sorry behind a million times."

"That and for when you want to kick Riverkids' butts in swimming competitions."

"Eh, that too." She said as they were both pulled up onto the dock.


	45. Singing Talent, number 7 (Holly)

_Singing Spinoff number 7_

 _Holly Sings "I Wouldn't Mind It" ~He Is We_

 _Holly- 17 ½_

 _Finli- 18 ½_

 _ **It's Holly's turn to sing! This one is a bit of a different :) The stuff in normal italics is what happened that made her write and sing this song, the normal stuff is what she's doing as she's singing! :)**_

 __ _ **"I Wouldn't Mind" ~Holly**_ _  
_" _Finli move!" Holly broke free of the person pinning her to the wall and pushed Finli out of the way as a gunshot rang out. She collapsed to her knees as the black clothed men ran off and scattered at the sound of faint police sirens. Holly let out a groan and keeled forward, her shirt getting soaked with blood._

" _Holly!" Finli rushed over, catching her before she hit the ground and lowering her to the ground, her head in his lap. "Holly! Stay awake!" The usually quiet and calm teen was starting to panic, there was a lot of blood and there wasn't much he could do about it. Pressing hard against the injury he rambled, "I'm sorry, I didn't know they were here, stay awake!"_

" _ **Merrily we fall  
Out of line, out of line  
I'd fall anywhere with you  
I'm by your side," **_Holly opened her green eyes and moved out of the stage's shadows as she sang, her body language calm and sincere, her alto voice quite and soft. _  
_" _ **Swinging in the rain  
Humming melodies  
We're not going anywhere until we freeze"**_ " _I'm awake," She groaned, "I'm still here." She forced her green eyes open to look at Finli, the green pools glazed over with pain, blood smeared on her cheek and lower lip, "I'm okay," She grunted, "I'm okay." She sounded like she was trying to reassure him and herself.  
_ " _ **I'm not afraid, anymore  
I'm not afraid,  
Forever is a long time  
But I, wouldn't mind spending it by your side…" **_She sang, memories flashing across her green eyes at the lyrics and the scary moments that were associated with them. Her black bangs were partially covering one of her eyes, making her seem a little withdrawn from the audience. _  
_" _ **Carefully we're placed for our destiny  
You came and you took this heart, and set it free  
Every word you write or sing is so warm to me, so warm to me  
I'm torn, I'm torn to be right where you are,  
I'm not afraid, anymore  
I'm not afraid." **_

" _I'm so sorry Holly, I had no idea that they were here." Finli told her, jade green eyes a bit watery, "I really had no idea."_

" _It's okay Finli," She managed, her body felt heavy and full of pain from the wound she had sustained. "I'm not afraid," She coughed, "I'll be okay."_

" _But you're hurt," He said in an almost whisper, "And I did to you." 'I hurt my only friend.'_

" _You didn't hold the gun, you weren't wearing black clothing, and you aren't that person Finli," She coughed, "It wasn't your fault."_

" _But-"_

" _Nothing, It wasn't your fault." Holly insisted, managing to grab his collar and shake him slightly as if she could shake some sense into him._

" _But you're still hurt-"_

" _And that's okay," She managed to say in a mostly clear voice, "You know I'd rather be hurt than you."  
_ " _ **Forever is a long time  
But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side  
Tell me everyday I get to wake up to that smile  
I wouldn't mind it at all  
I wouldn't mind it at all" **_Holly sang clearly, singing the chorus, her gaze wandering to find a certain person.

" _Holly…"_

" _It's okay," She coughed, "Come here." She tugged on his shirt and Finli leaned down, obeying her request. Holly took that moment and did something impulsive for the first time in her life. She kissed him.  
_ " _ **You so know me  
Pinch me gently  
I can hardly breathe,"**_ Holly sang, and she spotted a head of ginger and blonde who was looking back at her, jade green eyes conflicted and understanding. _  
_" _ **Forever is a long, long time  
But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side  
Tell me everyday I get to wake up to that smile  
I wouldn't mind it at all  
I wouldn't mind it at all"**_

 _Holly's grip on his shirt slackened as he leaned back, jade green eyes wide with shock and fear as her emerald green eyes slid shut._

" _What's going on?" They both heard the voices of Ashton and Brad, both police officers._

" _She's hurt!" Finli yelled to them as Holly's world faded to black._

Holly finished the song and smiled at the cheering, "I hope you guys have a good day and an interesting holiday!" She then disappeared backstage, as calm and collected as always. She was putting stuff away when she heard the curtain rustle and someone slipped backstage, looking a little awkward. "Hey Finli," She said without turning around, after finishing the steps to put away her computer and microphone she turned around to face the other teen.

"Hi," Finli said a bit awkwardly, hands tucked into his pockets. "So… you're not mad about the whole thing?'

Holly smiled, swinging her bag up onto her shoulder, "no, I never was. Like I said when it happened, I'd rather being the one hurt."

"So… will you walk with me?" Finli asked her, offering his arm with nervousness playing in his green eyes.

"I was hoping you'd ask." Holly's smile widened slightly as she loops her arm through his and the two started walking away from the school to Holly's house, talking about all kinds of random things, just like they used to.


	46. Singing Talent, number 8 REWRITE of 3

**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I will write them don't worry! But I'm hoping they'll be in the actual story!  
Hollyleaves! XD**

 _Singing Spinoff number 8_

 _Bree sings Flashlight (Hailee Steinfield lyrics Pitch perfect 2)_

 _REWRITE_

 _Bree, Jay, Holly- 17 ½_

Bree's pencil stilled as she reached across her desk for her phone, barely managing to reach the bottom of the device with her fingertips. "Come on! Get over here!" She reached farther and slipped, pressing the answer button on her phone and crashing to the floor. "Ow! Ugh, Hello?!" It took her a few tries before she managed to heave herself back onto her chair and groan with dismay, seeing the large streak across her perfect set of lyrics. Quickly setting the phone on speaker she got to work erasing the streak without ruining her lyrics.

"Hey Bree," Holly's voice filtered through the device, "Is Jay there?"

"Nope! He left over an hour ago, something wrong?" Bree asked, rewriting the ruined lines and ruining them again as her pencil clattered out of her hand at Holly's next words.

"He's not here," Holly said, worry lacing her tone, "He isn't answering his phone either."

"Are you sure? Never mind, I'm sure you're sure. I'll go look for him, he can't be too far away. Gotta go Holly, I'll bring Jay with me." Bree said, ending the call and heaving herself into her wheelchair before taking off out of her room, down the hall, and speeding down the ramp covered stairs. ' _Are you still upset Jay?'_ She wondered as she darted out of her house, pushing the wheels of her chair as fast as she could, ' _I bet you're still upset about Hadara and Jackson… where would you be?… I'm an idiot.'_ She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, starting towards the woods, ' _You always go into the woods where nobody would follow you. Or so you thought.'_

:) :) :)

After struggling through the rough terrain and low hanging branches Bree reached a clearing where she found her best friend sitting stiffly on the green grass, fingers plucking the thin blades, shoulders hunched. ' _Oh Jay…'_ She thought, feeling an overwhelming amount of concern and empathy for her friend as she looked at his defeated looking form. ' _Everyone forgets you have feelings behind that grumpy wall, they forget your just like we are…'_ Quietly rolling over to him she eased herself out of the chair and to the ground, managing to sit next to him with her legs stretched out in front of her, "Jay? Are you okay?" She quietly asked him, amber eyes concerned and worried.

"Course I'm okay." He grunted, "I'm fine."

"Please don't lie to me," She pleaded with him, "I don't want to fight, I just want my friend happy again." She cautiously put one hand on his upper arm, "Tell me what's wrong Jay."

"I'm fine Bree." He grunted, shrugging off her hand, "What makes you think I'm not okay?"

"Your defeated body language, miserable attitude, and it shows in your eyes, you look tormented and miserable." She replied with gentle bluntness, making sure not to sugar coat it for her temperamental friend.

He stiffened and looked about to lash out at her before the teen sighed and hunched his shoulders some more, "Alright fine, you're right. As usual. I'm not okay." He relented, blind blue eyes gazing blankly in front of him.

"Are you still upset about Hadara and Jackson?" She asked carefully, leaning forward on her arms so she could see his face, "it wasn't your fault it fell apart."

Jay's hands clenched around fistfuls of the green grass, "yes it was, if I had paid more attention to her then she wouldn't have left me for the guy who supposedly could be my identical twin and even acts similar to I do."

"You don't look like Jackson," Bree told him quietly, speaking like she always did, speaking what she believed was true. "Jackson looks almost stretched height wise, he looks a bit disproportionate, the gray in his hair is a lot less and is darker, almost like he dyed it, his eyes are a different shade of blue than your clear sky blue ones, his doesn't have the faint light gray flecks your eyes have, he has a boxy jaw, more like your brother and isn't built like the twig my best friend is." She smiled, affectionately bumping her shoulder against his. "Jackson's less sarcastic and more boring and obnoxious, you aren't like Jackson."

"I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing." He grunted bitterly, "Those differences everyone else seems to prefer."

"I don't." Bree admitted and Jay stiffened in surprise, but the amber eyed girl wasn't looking at him, she was gazing quietly at the trees in front of them, "I like your grumpy attitude, it's different from everyone else's, your sarcasm is hilarious, always makes me laugh, the gray in your hair is probably from sticking around me all the time so I don't mind it, it makes you more unique and special. Just because you can't look in a mirror and see yourself doesn't mean I can't see you. I see a guy who's sometimes really lonely with issues of being bullied and has beautiful blue eyes that express his annoyance or amusement at either my attitude or Brendon's arrogance. He's the perfect height for my sorry butt being stuck in a wheelchair all the time and I don't have to look up awkwardly to see his face; he's grumpy like a storm cloud with a wit like lightning to defend himself and make everyone else laugh themselves silly. I see someone who may be skinny but is stronger than he looks and has black hair that repeatedly gets in his eyes every day and because of that I have an excuse to push it out of the way so I can see see the freckles lining his nose and under his blue eyes."

She looked over at him with a gentle smile that she knew he couldn't see, "I can see you Jay, and that's what really matters if Hadara can't see who you really are then it's her fault, not yours. You shouldn't have to change to make someone else happy, they should be happy with the person you are." She reached over and placed one hand against where his heart was, "If I'm the only one who can see the secretly lonely and cuddly teddy bear with many defenses then so be it, I'll help the rest of the world see the real person you are." Her amber eyes searched his blue ones, "The relationship falling apart wasn't your fault, it never was and it never will be. Hadara couldn't see what I can see in you, that's why it failed, not because you weren't good enough but because she couldn't completely see you."

Jay turned his head towards her direction, feeling shocked and surprised at the way she described him to himself, but in the way she saw him. "That's really how you see… me?" He asked quietly, unsure if that's really what she saw or she was joking with him.

"Yes, that's exactly how I see you." Bree smiled at him. She looked up at the sky, noticing the sky starting to change colors. "The sun's setting." She commented, moving her arm back to her side.

"Really? I can totally see that." He drawled, rolling his blue eyes and making her giggle before she softly cleared her throat and started singing as inspiration hit her, using the tiny bit of non-ruined lyrics from earlier she started throwing other parts in to create a song.

" _ **When tomorrow comes  
I'll be on my own  
Feeling frightened of  
The things that I don't know  
When tomorrow comes  
Tomorrow comes  
When Tomorrow comes**_

 _ **And though the road is long  
I look up to the sky  
Darkness all around, no hope that I could fly  
Then I sing along, I sing along, then I sing along,"**_ She sang strongly, leaning back on her arms, closing her eyes and tilting her head up slightly. Jay listened to her song, keeping completely quiet as she sang, looking for the hidden meaning inside.

" _ **I got all I need when I got you and I**_

' _ **Cause I look around me, and see a sweet life!  
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight,  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night!  
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes  
Can't lie, it's a sweet life,  
Stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight!  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night!  
You're my flashlight!  
You're my flashlight!**_

 _ **You're my flashlight!  
Ooh…"**_ She sang, not noticing Jay's intent listening as he leaned back on his arms as well, blind blue eyes focused on her face, even if he couldn't see her.

" _ **I see the shadows long beneath the mountain top  
But I'm not afraid when the rain won't stop.**_

 _ **'Cause you light the way,  
You light the way,  
You light the way,**_

 _ **I got all I need when I got you and I  
I look around me, and see a sweet life  
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night  
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes,  
Can't lie, it's a sweet life!**_

 _ **Stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight,  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night!  
Light, light, light, you're my flashlight  
Light, light, light and you can't deny**_

 _ **With you it's a sweet life, life, life"**_ Bree sang, opening her eyes with a start when Jay moved closer to her, silently offering her his shoulder. With a smile he couldn't see, she kept singing but turned slightly and shifted closer to him.

" _ **I got all I need when I got you and I  
I look around me, and see a sweet life  
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight!  
You're getting me, getting me, through the night!  
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes  
Can't lie, it's a sweet life!  
Stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight!  
You're getting me, getting me through the night,  
You're my flashlight!  
You're my flashlight!  
You're my flashlight!**_

 _ **Ooh"**_ As she started singing the last part she laid her head on his shoulder, amber eyes fixed on the orange, yellows, and pinks of the setting sun peeking through the many trees.

" _ **You're my flashlight,  
You're my flashlight,  
You're my flashlight ooh."**_ She finished and Jay discreetly tilted his head to be resting on top of hers. Remembering about Holly being worried about her brother she silently texted the other girl. _*Jay's with me, I'll bring him home after he feels better.*_ She then turned off the device and tucked it back into her pocket, content to stay in the position she was in forever. Her amber eyes slid half way closed from contentment and she could feel Jay's vocal cords vibrating as he spoke.

"Thank you." He murmured quietly.

"I'm always there for you Jay." She promised in a quiet voice, looking up at him.

"I know," He responded, surprising her by taking one of her hands and lacing their fingers in a thankful sort of way. Bree returned the gentle grip, wishing she could stay like this forever, Jay showing affection for her alone and quietly sitting there temporarily dis attached from all the crazy drama they went through.

 _ **Can I just say I love this one?! *Squeal!* I love it! :)**_


	47. A Cat Chapter

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- It's so cute! XD**_

 _ **The Willow Of Ancient Souls- Caylee is me :) I reply to every review so that's probably was took you so long to read :)**_

 _ **I'm glad you like them! :)**_

 _ **That one's so cute! :)**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- The speaker is me :) Cynthia appreciates the marshmallows!**_

 _ **Hollyleaves is my third favorite :) They are really cute :)**_

 _ **I'm glad you like that chapter so much! I've reread it way too many times! XD**_

 _ **So this is a bit different, I was bored and wrote this. It's cats so they have their normal names :) I love the book Dark River but I've never liked it with Lionpaw/blaze and Heatherpaw/tail meeting in the tunnels. I can handle the field, but the tunnels no :P So I rewrote it! :) For those who want to know where this is in the book its Dark River Chapter five, first two or so pages. This has actual parts from the book, it's not completely made up and yes, Lionpaw and Cinderpaw are very close friends in this one :) this is part of my Power Of Three Rewritten (That I don't have posted :) ) a scene I've been meaning to rewrite for a while :)**_

 _Apprentice Love_

 _No Tunnels, No More Meetings (Cinderblaze)_

Lionpaw felt weariness weighing his paws. Why should he have to prove himself to Hollypaw? _I haven't done anything wrong!_ Cinderpaw trotted over to him and greeted him with a purr, banishing his moody thoughts by rubbing her cheek against his, a purr rumbling through her body.

:) :) :) :)

Lionpaw settled down in his nest, feeling Cinderpaw twist and lap at his golden pelt with soothing sleepy strokes, obviously worn out from the battle training she had been busy with earlier. He rasped his tongue along her spine and the gray tabby stretched until she shivered before curling up with her head on her paws, tail entwined with his, one paw over her nose. Lionpaw put his head down across her shoulders and half closed his amber eyes, feeling sleepy and worn out. "Night Cinderpaw." He meowed softly and got a purr as a reply before his amber eyes slid completely closed and he dreamt of chasing a large plump mouse.

:) :) :)

Crack!

A stone clattered against the wall of the camp and thumped onto the ground outside the apprentice's den.

Lionpaw lifted his head from Cinderpaw's shoulders and blinked in the darkness. Was a rabbit foraging near the top of the hollow?

Crack!

Couldn't be a rabbit. The first clatter would have sent it fleeing into the forest.

Curious, Lionpaw got quietly to his paws, carefully avoiding waking up his gray tabby not quite mate. He glanced at Hollypaw. She was sound asleep. _Thank you Brackenfur!_ Hollypaw's mentor had taken her hunting deep into the forest. She had come back exhausted, her paws sore, but happily carrying three mice. Lionpaw slipped past her nest and froze, looking behind him to see Cinderpaw stirring slightly, blue eyes cracking open, black nose twitching slightly, stretching her spine as if she had woken up by his absence. He waited until she stopped moving and curled back up into a ball before he ducked out of the den.

Crack!

Thump!

A pebble landed near his paws. He skittered backward and looked up cautiously. Two round eyes shone at him from the top of the cliff, then blinked.

Someone was spying on the camp! Should he tell someone? He glanced around the empty moonlit clearing. No cat stirred. He didn't want to wake anyone until he was sure there was danger. He would look foolish if he called the alarm because some inquisitive fawn had discovered the hollow. He would investigate first and call the alarm if there really was any danger.

Whitewing's pelt glowed at the camp entrance. She must be on guard. If there was trouble he could call to her.

Lionpaw slipped around the edge of the clearing and pushed his way among the brambles beside the medicine den. He knew he could climb the cliff behind them. Reaching up through the prickly branches he felt the first ledge with his paws and hauled himself up. Then, moving carefully so as not to send grit showering down, he scrabbled up from ledge to ledge until finally, he pulled himself onto the grass at the top. Panting a little, he began to creep around the edge of the hollow.

"Lionpaw!" A soft mew hissed from beneath the ferns ahead. He froze as Heatherpaw slipped out from beneath the arching fronds. "Thank Starclan it's you."

"Did you drop those pebbles?" Lionpaw stared at her in alarm. What if she were caught here? What was she doing there? "Is everything okay?" He couldn't resist asking, worried about his friend.

"I had to see you!"

He felt a spark of worry, guilt, and annoyance flare up in his chest. She was more stubborn and brave than he thought. He briefly wondered if he should call Whitewing so he could return to his warm nest but decided against it, he would find out what she wanted. But he had to get her away from the camp. "Follow me," he hissed. He hared off lakeward down the slope. But Heatherpaw didn't follow.

Come on!" Lionpaw hissed, skidding around and looking back.

Her eyes were shining. "Don't go that way! I've got something to show you!" She turned and ducked away under the ferns.

Lionpaw hurried after her, not wanting her to run into any trouble. "Where are we going?"

"Wait and see!"

She seemed to be heading toward the old fox den. Lionpaw slowed down. "Be careful!" he warned, heart pounding at the thought of foxes.

"It's okay," she told him. "There aren't any foxes." She paused in front of the thick brambles that crowded the bottom of a steep slope. "Wait here."

She dived beneath them, and Lionpaw watched her tail disappear into the dense foliage, making the bushes tremble. What was she doing? An owl called in the branches above his head. Lionpaw fluffed out his fur and glanced around nervously. The chilly night air was making him want to return to camp and curl up in his nest with Cinderpaw, the smaller and shorter furred she-cat was probably feeling the chilly air now that he had left. The image of going back to his nest was a pleasant one, warm in the apprentice's den, in his comfortable nest, with Cinderpaw's sweet herb and forest scent filling his nose...

"Here!" Heatherpaw's voice startled him.

Lionpaw looked up the steep slope and saw her blinking at him from the entrance to a small tunnel. "What are you doing in there?" It looked like a rabbit burrow.

"You'll never believe what's inside! Come on!" Heatherpaw scooted backward into the darkness.

Paws pricking Lionpaw squirmed under the brambles, wincing as their barbs tugged his fur. He heaved himself up the slope, out of the thorny tangle, and paused at the burrow entrance. "Heatherpaw?" he called, his heart pounding.

Come inside!" Her mew echoed strangely from the shadows.

Lionpaw squeezed in after her.

The tunnel was pitch-black. Crouching, he wriggled forward, damp earth pressing against his pelt. What was Heatherpaw up to? This place was hardly big enough for a rabbit, let alone a cat. Suddenly he felt space around him, cold air washing over his fur. The tunnel had widened.

Relieved, he straightened up and padded forward until he felt Heatherpaw's breath on his cheek and took a few paw steps back. The chilly air made the idea of going back to camp even more appealing. He was starting to feel guilty as well after Cinderpaw and Hollypaw had caught him and Heatherpaw, he and Cinderpaw had ironed out their differences and the pretty gray tabby had admitted that she had feelings for him that were as strong as his were for her. Since then the two of them had become really close and were often seen together around camp or on patrol with their mentors. He hadn't seen Heatherpaw since that night and wasn't eager to explain things to her.

"It leads to a cave!" She mewed. "There are loads of tunnels under this part of the hill, and one of them leads right to Windclan territory."

"How in Starclan's name did you find it?"

"Breezepaw sent me to catch mice between the rocks just over the top of the moor, not far from camp. I chased one down into a crack and realized that the crack opened into a tunnel. When I went inside I found that there were tunnels leading everywhere."

"Weren't you frightened of getting lost?"

"I exploded slowly at first, making sure I got to know each route really well before trying another. And the I found one that led to a cave. It's amazing. There's a hole in the roof where the light comes in. Then I found a way into your territory!" Her mew was triumphant. "Isn't it wonderful?"

Lionpaw could hardly believe his ears. "A tunnel from our territory to yours!" he gasped. "That's fantastic! If there was an attack or a fire, Thunderclan could use it to escape-"

"No!" Heatherpaw's mew was sharp with frustration. "We mustn't tell anyone else. Don't you see? This can be our place!"

"Our place?" He questioned, the thought hadn't even occurred to him. Now that it had he knew he couldn't agree to this, the image of being curled up with Cinderpaw in the apprentice den flashed in his mind once again, making the guilt worse and his resolve strengthen.

"We can meet here without anyone ever finding us! Even Hollypaw won't guess where you're going."

"Heatherpaw," He mewed, trying to be as gentle as possible, "Hollypaw is right, I can't be a faithful warrior to Thunderclan if I'm breaking the warrior code every night. If I'm going to be the warrior I want to be I can't keep being distracted by these nightly meetings."

"But, Lionpaw-"

"No, Heatherpaw," Lionpaw mewed firmly, "I have to focus on my training to become who I want to be. A loyal Thunderclan warrior."

"Does this have to do anything with your sister and that gray tabby discovering us?" Heatherpaw asked him, her mew was sad and upset.

"Only partially," Lionpaw kept his mew calm, "my sister was worried that I won't become a warrior and Cinderpaw was just protecting her."

"What changed?" Heatherpaw's mew was almost a whisper.

"I decided to stop being a mouse-brain and be done with all the lies." Lionpaw mewed in return, "I'm sorry Heatherpaw."

"You know what? Fine! It doesn't matter anyway!"

Lionpaw felt Heatherpaw's tail tip brush his nose as she turned and fled, leaving him feeling a little more light-hearted and free.

:) :) :)

"Lionpaw?"

Lionpaw heard Cinderpaw's drowsy mew when he entered the den and carefully avoided his sleeping sister's nest.

"Where'd you go?" The groggy apprentice asked, lifting her head with her blue eyes half open and drowsy.

"Nowhere Cinderpaw." He mewed back, settling back into his nest, the gray tabby's fur brushing his. "I needed to fix a few things, that's all."

"Why do you smell like Heatherpaw?" The tabby's mew was drowsy and she obviously wasn't completely awake.

"Because I had to talk to her." He licked the gray tabby's head between the ears as she pressed closer to him, putting her head back down and closing her blue eyes.

"You're not meeting with her anymore are you?"

"No, not since you and Hollypaw caught us."

"Good, night Lionpaw."

"Goodnight Cinderpaw." Lionpaw's mew was also drowsy, his head laying across the smaller she-cat's shoulders, amber eyes closed.


	48. Bundle of Energy

_**Echo in the Whispering Wind- I'm glad you like this! :) I like that chapter better that way too :) I might post another one, I have a few others I've written recently :)**_

 _ **XD After I posted that chapter my computer literally died a few moments later XD**_

 _ **I need to do another Sandheart one :) That's really short :)**_

 _ **Wow what? *Looks confused and curious***_

 _ **:D**_

 _ **That's why Bree's so special, she loves everyone! XD**_

 _ **Yay! Another Ivybreeze shipper! XD**_

 _ **Be careful with the pocket knife :) They're dangerous is misused :) It takes a lot of patience and trial and error to fight at all like her, I can't balance on wires but I can backflip off a wall like she does and it takes a lot of time to learn and do correctly :)**_

 _ **Cuteness! XD**_

 _ ***gasp* You like sad endings?! Are you crazy?! Just kidding! I like happy and sad endings :)**_

 _ **Everyone likes the Victory kiss I've noticed :) It seems to be the popular favorite :D**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I know right?! :D**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- :D :) :P XD :D**_

 _ **Featherflight123- Cinderblaze is my favorite too! :D I like Halfmoon too :) She's a pretty cool character, I just don't like pairing her with Jayfeather :) That's Briarlight's turf :)**_

 _ **I apologize for the delay :) I've been flooded with stuff! XD My semester of school is ending so lots of tests and studying XD That and I've been working on some art that's been giving me technical issues -_- Anyway, here's the chapter!**_

 _A Bundle of Hyper Energy_

Sarah was woken from her nap by a small tug on her blanket; opening her eyes and looking down she found the blue eyes of her youngest daughter Cynthia on hers, the three-year-old messily holding an armful of blocks, "Play with me, mommy!" She chirped loudly, annoying her other sisters who were curled up on the couch next to Sarah and watching a movie on the handheld.

"Cindy," She called her daughter by her middle name knowing she responded better to that then her first name, "why don't you go play by yourself?"

"I don't want to." The child pouted, "Pashe left me alone to watch thingy." She explained moodily, dropping the blocks onto the floor and pouting, frowning with her arms crossed over her chest.

' _Again?'_ "Cindy I'm trying to sleep," Sarah explained gently, looking at her four-year-old daughter out of the corner of her eye, Paige avoided her gaze, watching whatever her twin sister Haliah was watching. Probably something that wouldn't interest their younger sister.

Cynthia seemed to think for a moment before brightening up, "I go to Leo's?" Sarah nearly laughed, ever since she and Skylar had introduced their kids to each other Cynthia and Leon hit it right off the bat, being the same age with unusual strength and constantly hyper and energetic they got along extremely well.

"I'd have to ask Skylar," She replied watching as Cynthia looked for the house phone and found it, climbing up onto a counter the child grabbed the device and dropped back to the floor before bringing it to her mother, blue eyes twinkling innocently. Sarah took the phone and dialed Skylar's house number, maybe she'd get a nap over there… Probably not, not with her daughter and Leon's mischievous nature. "Hey Skylar, Cynthia would like to come over is that ok? Ok great, hey Cindy, Leon wants to talk to you." Cynthia eagerly took the device

"Hi Leo!"

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

When Sarah had another daughter she had figured she'd be just like her sisters, interested in pink and purple, generally being calm and quiet, and a love for dolls. But she was completely off. From when Cynthia figured out she could make noise she made lots of them, whether it was squealing, whining, blabbering, or even wailing without tears; when she got old enough to play and walk she was very different from her siblings, loving to play, move around, listening to people talk, and building things. At three the child once managed to climb up to the top of the counters and eat everything available on the counter itself. So Sarah had her hands full keeping her sisters from getting angry with the younger child while making sure the child in question didn't get into too much mischief. After Miles died Cynthia's mischievous side vanished and she matured quite a bit. It still broke Sarah's heart remembering the panic her daughter had at realizing he wasn't breathing.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Sarah was pleading with Miles to get off the street when his older sister barreled into him as a car went by, clipping her shoulder and causing her body to violently turn and hit the grass on her knees. She could only watch, the traffic heavy.

"Mom?" Cynthia voice carried back, panic in her tone, "He isn't breathing, He's not breathing!"

The moment the traffic cleared for a moment Sarah sprinted across the street, fear tingling throughout her entire body. When she arrived she froze, Miles was lying on the grass, his head at a funny angle, her daughter was kneeling next to him, blue eyes wider than saucers. Sarah covered her mouth with a hand to cover her trembling lip before throwing herself down next to her son and starting to cry. "What?!" Cynthia asked worried, "What happened…" She cut herself off and stared down at her hands, the ten year old's mind clicking on what happened. Blake rushed over and knelt next to his wife, holding her in his arms and staring in shock and slight horror at his daughter. Cynthia got to her feet and stumbled back, blue eyes horrified at what she had done, "I-I didn't mean to," She stammered staring at her family in fear, as if thinking she'd hurt all of them as well, "I didn't do anything… I-I" She turned and ran off into the thunder woods, the young girl fleeing the scene.  
"Cynthia!" Blake barked, worried about his daughter but slightly angry at her."

"Cynthia!" Sarah cried shoving Blake away and chasing after her daughter. She heard a crashing sound and rushed over to find Cynthia standing in front of a thin now fallen tree, standing in a stance she'd learned from wrestling, blue eyes horrified at the damage, tears streaked her face, her knuckles were cut open from the tree's bark. Sarah rushed over and enveloped her daughter in a sobbing hug, "It's ok Cynthia, it's ok."

"I'm sorry!" Cynthia cried, letting her tears fall, "I didn't mean to! I didn't want him to get hit by the car!" She sobbed keeping her arms at her sides, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's ok," Sarah hushed her, her grief from losing her son mingling in the fear that her daughter wouldn't ever recover from this experience, "It's ok, it was an accident, Cindy, shhh." Cynthia sobbed in her mother's shirt, only leaning forward, keeping her arms away from her mother, too scared to even touch her.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Sarah watched as she daughters grew into teenagers, two of them concerned about looks, guys, and other popular things going on while one of them didn't care about any of that, she told Sarah herself that she knew her style and who she was, what Cynthia didn't tell her but she knew, she was still shadowed by Miles's death and she'd deliberately think about every choice. With the differences in temperaments and priorities it often caused an issue between the twins and their younger sister.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

"Don't you have any opinions?!" Haliah snapped at her sister, she, Paige and their friend Isa had been discussing the topic of guys when Isa innocently asked Cynthia's opinion, starting an argument

"Yes, I do have opinions Haliah." Cynthia replied coolly, her annoyance clear by the use of her sister's first name, "I'm not blind to the world, I know how 'hot' the guys are," She moved from leaning back on the couch cushions to be leaning forward on her knees, "but I also happen to know how much of a jerk they can be." She finished, "Such as a certain annoying blonde."

"You mean Leon?" Haliah asked a little spitefully, looking for a reaction from her sister. Insulting her best friend was all it took and Cynthia got to her feet, standing a few inches taller than her older sister her blue eyes gleamed like the blue of a fire,

"Leave my friend out of this," She hissed, "He's none of your concern, he's more than just a handsome guy with gorgeous amber eyes, and soft golden blonde hair. He's my best friend and," She angrily but softly jabbed her sister in the ribs, "he's not on the market for your competition, I don't just see their looks, I also see their personality," her phone went off and the black haired girl answered it, stepping away from her siblings as she went. " Oh hey, Leon… ok, I'll be over in a sec, what do you want me to bring?" Her voice faded as she started walking up the stairs.

Sarah shook her head in exasperation as Haliah fumed, sitting back down and scowling while both Paige and Isa had grins on their faces.

"What's the smiley smiley?" Haliah asked gruffly, "We argued again. Thanks Paige for totally not backing me up."

"Hey it wasn't that bad, besides," The lighter brown haired girl smiled, "We got Cindy to admit she crushed on Leon!"

"What? When did that slip?" Haliah asked looking eagerly at her twin, green eyes sparkling at the idea confirmation of her sister's crush.

"He's more than just a handsome guy with gorgeous amber eyes and soft golden blonde hair" Paige replied, relaying the words Cynthia had said.

"Ha! We knew it!"

"You knew what?" Cynthia asked in confusion as she came back down the stairs with a backpack over her shoulder and dressed in comfortable sweatpants and a t-shirt. She walked into the kitchen and pulled a few things out of the cupboard that was labeled as hers, stuffing them into the backpack.

"Just that Brendon is the most popular guy at school!" Paige squealed.

"Hmm… well good for him I guess," Cynthia rolled her eyes, zipping up the backpack, fetching her keys from Haliah and walking out the front door, she paused in the doorway, "No he's not, isn't he tied with Leon?" Then she left.

Haliah grinned, the argument was already forgotten, "I told you guys! She totally has a crush on him!"

"Oh! Did I tell you she slipped up and told me she kissed him before?"

"Really?!" Haliah exclaimed, "Tell me!"

Sarah rolled her eyes at her twin seventeen-year-olds and listened to them talk as she texted Skylar a plan she just had for their two kids.


	49. Fighting For Love and Hope Moments 4-8

_Fighting for Love and Hope Random Moments 4-8_

 _An Obsession With Metal Bones?_

Thunder division was known for their strength and bravery, but they were also known for something else. Being obsessed with Metal bones. Nearly all of their warriors had some kind of metal replacement or plating over certain bones and or joints.

:) :) :)

"Wait, so all of you have some kind of metal in your bodies?" Hadara asked in confusion, none of them looked abnormal.

"Yup," Leon laughed, "Some of us more than others."

"The bones in my nose are metal," Bree chirped happily, "Got my nose badly broken and didn't want it to look weird for the rest of my life, my knuckles and fingers are also plated with metal."

"Why?"

"Because I threw a punch when I first got here and broke every bone in my hand from the amount of force I hit the thing with!" She grinned, "I can hit with three hundred pounds of force, so I needed some reinforcement!"

Jay rolled his eyes, "I've had the bones in my ear replaced to heighten my hearing as a replacement for my blindness."

"I have a sort of interface for computers in my finger tips." Holly shrugged, her fingers flying across the keyboard of her laptop

Ivory shrugged, "both my wrists are metal."

"Okay?"

Ivory sighs, "I landed funny off a building and broke both wrists, it wasn't healing so I had the screwed up bones replaced."

"Messed up my ankle and got it replaced," Haliah smiled.

"Broke my nose." Paige shrugged, slightly uncomfortable.

"Let's see…" Leon thought for a moment, "All my front ribs are metal, so is my ankle, and my upper arm. Cyndy accidently broke most of my ribs, landed funny and shattered my ankle, fell on my upper arm and broke it badly." He looked over at Cynthia who sighed.

"Is it my turn? Oh Starclan, let's see if I can even remember everything." Hadara looked concerned but Cynthia ignored her. "Okay, so my nose is partially metal, I have special implants that are metal in my ears, one of my vertebrae are metal, so is my sternum, a few ribs, the bones in my lower left arm, the back of my hands are plated with metal, my right leg is half metal, so is that ankle and hip, and the bones in my right upper arm is also metal." She says, counting on her fingers before restarting the count and explaining what happened, "had my nose smashed into a window, the implants are to block echoes so I don't hear them for hours and give me a headache, nearly got blown up by a chemical bomb, got crushed by a falling tree and was nearly killed, got shot in the arm and it never healed, needed reinforcement so I didn't shatter my hand like Bree, was interrogated and lost most of the stuff inside my right leg, the ankle was also shattered, my hip joint had the same fate, and had a metal bat against my upper arm." Hadara gaped at her. Cynthia shrugs, "Which is why I'm so weak to electricity." She rolls her eyes at Hadara's gaping, "Yes, yes, we all know I'm screwed up."

:) :) :) :)

 _Hiding in the snow_

"Where are we going to hide?" Cynthia hissed to Leon and Bree from where all three of them were attempting to hide on the roof of a building.  
"I don't know," Leon hisses back, the thirteen-year-old boy was looking around for a place to hide, "I can't tell what's safe and what's not." He growled, unable to see any good places to hide over the deep sheet of snow that was at least a five feet deep. Only the roads were clear and snowless at the moment.

Bree blinked as something wet fell on her nose and she went cross-eyed to see the tiny snowflake that was now melting on her nose. The white snowflake gave her an idea. Moving along towards the edge of the roof she jumped onto the ledge and crouched, waiting for the coast to be clear.  
"What are you doing?!" Cynthia hissed as she and Leon followed her lead, crouching beside her.

"The snow! There's so much of it that we can hide in it!"

"What?"

"Trust me!" Bree whispered back before jumping off the roof and landing in a deep snowdrift, disappearing underneath the white powder with a small flurry of snowflakes.  
"She's crazy!" Cynthia hissed to her partner, "Completely crazy!"

"Maybe so, but I trust her," Leon told her and pushed her off the roof, jumping after her.

The duo landed in the snow with a flurry of snowflakes, the snow settling down over top of them and hiding the three warriors from the Slashing Blades members trying to get them.

Bree popped her head up a few moments later and shook the snow from her dark brown hair. "All clear!" She smiled, looking at the other two warriors who both emerged moments later, snow dusting their hair as well. Leon shook his head like a wet dog, scattering snowflakes everywhere, while his partner spat out the snowflakes he got both in her mouth and all over the rest of her.  
"Leon, I am not your snow machine and we are not having a snowball fight." Cynthia glared at her partner.

"Come on guys!" Bree scrambled out of the snow, "We need to get back to base and report our findings!"

:) :) :) :)

 _Broken Noses_

"You'll be fine Diana, you didn't break it," Ivory rolled her eyes at her sister's complaining and fretting over her nose which was red and slightly swollen from falling down the stairs.

"But it hurts!"

"You can't have broken your nose!" Bree grinned, "Your nose isn't out of the ordinary! Mine was screwed up when I broke mine!"

"Same here," Cynthia commented, "At least from what I could see through the blood." Leon laughed at her,

"Your nose was seriously messed up Cyn, getting smashed into a window does things to you." He laughed and Cynthia elbowed him as she rolled her eyes.

"You got smashed into a window?" Diana echoed, staring at the black haired girl who seemed nonchalant about the whole thing.

"Yeah," Cynthia shrugged, "Leon and I were on a field mission when we were ambushed and smack!" She punches her palm in a gesture of getting hit with something, "I got my head smashed into a car windshield." Diana's blue eyes widened and got wider as Bree spoke up, telling her story of breaking her nose.

"I was out on the field a few months before my accident and was startled by Paige's phone going off and fell out of a tree! Twenty feet from the ground and face planted onto the concrete!"

"Then how come you guys look normal?"

"Cause we had the bones replaced with metal!" Bree chirped happily, "although I also got part of my forehead plated over! So I can headbutt people!"

"The only metal in my face is my nose, nothing more." Cynthia shrugged, "Unlike the rest of my body."

"So your nose is perfectly fine!" Bree grinned while Diana just looked at the two of them oddly, trying to find something out of the ordinary about the way their noses are positioned.

:) :) :) :)

 _Spiked Drinks_

"Cindy!" Holly hissed, shaking her friend by the shoulder who was passed out on the floor like most of the other Thunder Division teenagers. Holly's head was pounding and she gritted her teeth, shaking her friend harder. "Wake up! Firen needs us!"

"Ugh, leave me alone," Cynthia grunted from her position sprawled on the floor in an eagle position, face down on her stomach, partially hidden beneath a table.

"Cindy get up!" Holly hissed, shaking her friend once again.

"Holly?" Ivory asked as she heaved herself up into a kneeling position, blonde hair swinging down in front of her face and hiding one of her leaf green eyes, "What in the name of Starclan happened?" She grunted in a low voice, "My ears are ringing."

"Not sure yet, but I think someone spiked-"

"I'm going to kill them." Ivory interrupted her and growled, cradling her head in her hands.

"What happened?" Bree's head popped up from behind a table, amber eyes confused, "woah!" She squealed before crashing back to the floor as her vision spun slightly.

"You okay Bree?" Holly asked worriedly as she paused trying to wake up her brother and best friend to look over where the paralyzed girl had vanished with a crash.

"Yeah!" Bree giggled, "Just dizzy!"

"You act like that's a good thing." Ivory scowled in the brunette's direction, annoyed at the volume of her voice and her hyper attitude.

"That's because she's hyper off all the sugar." Jay's gruff voice was heard as the blind boy picked himself up off the ground and stumbled to his feet, blind eyes narrowed, "and keep it down Bree, you're giving me a headache."

"I'm giving myself a headache!" Bree complained and lowered her voice like he asked as he managed to go over to her without tripping over anyone and hauled her up under the arms before dropping her into her wheelchair.

"Cindy wake up!" Holly huffed, frustrated. She shoved her friend who jerked upright and whacked her head against the table above her, sending anything on the table to the floor and making everyone cringe at the loud noise.

"Ow…" Cynthia groaned, dropping back down to her stomach with her arms over her head, "That hurt a lot."

"Well get up! Firen's been trying to get our attention for the past hour!" Holly told her friend briskly in a low voice, trying to keep her voice down.

"What?!" Cynthia shot upright and apparently hadn't learned her lesson beforehand because she hit her head once again. "Ow! Starclan above!" She ducked out from under the table, rubbing the top of her head with a grouchy expression. She prodded Leon who was passed out on his stomach, his face buried in Cynthia's jacket. "Leon, get up." She grunted and Leon just drooled. "Eww! Leon! Get off my jacket, you're drooling on it!" She complained as she attempted to tug her fleece lined black windbreaker from under her partner's head.

The other girls giggled while Holly was the exception, sighing and trying to help push her brother off the beloved jacket. "Leon wake up!" She shook her brother while Cynthia struggled to push him off the jacket.

"Gross," Cynthia complained once she had tugged the jacket free, "That's disgusting!"

Paige, who had woken up a few moments earlier, and was now sitting up, spoke, "How?" She giggled, "don't you two kiss all the time?"

"What?" Cynthia's attention snapped to her sister, "No! And if I did it wouldn't matter cause this is different! He's drooling all over my only jacket!" She snapped irritably and lowered her voice about half way through, as her ears started to ring.

"We're in so much trouble." Holly breathed as she noticed Firen, Sarah, Gunner, and Bracken all entering the room, shock, and disapproval on their faces.

:) :) :) :)


	50. Fighting For Love and Hope Song Fic

_**Echo in the Whispering Wind- Yay! I'm glad you like it! Obsession With Metal Bones is your favorite? Cool! My favorite is the last one with Cynthia's comment, "Ew! Leon! Get off my jacket, you're drooling on it!" XD**_

 _ **Dawnshade49- Ivory is amazing :) I'm glad you like it! The first one seems to be the popular favorite! XD**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- YAY! *Throws marshmallows into the air* You got an account! XD Good for you! You can write cool stories now! :D :D :D :D**_

 _ **So I stumbled upon this song today, "Battle Scars" by Paradise Fears and thought, "Oh! I should totally write a Fighting For Love And Hope Song fic!" So I did!**_

 _ **P.S- Leon is singing the entire song :)**_

 _ **This Fanfic is a bit different, there's a lot of flashbacks and two scenes in the future! :D**_

Leon sat behind to his partner on her bed as she played with a few of the many things she had received for her birthday this year, one of them was a card he had written explaining he had another surprise for her. Leaning towards her he started singing, causing her to jump slightly and shiver at the funny sensation of his breath on her ear.

 _ **Oh-ohhhh-oh-ohhhh  
Oh-ohhhh-oh-ohhhh  
Oh-ohhhh-oh-ohhhh-ohhhhh  
Oh-ohhhh-oh-ohhhh  
Oh-ohhhh-oh-ohhhh  
Oh-ohhhh-oh-ohhhh-ohhhhh**_

 _Leon caught Cynthia's eyes, smirking slightly, the female half of their partnership pouted and discreetly dropped the dollar coin into his palm for winning the bet. Bree had beat Brad in a sparring match, the paralyzed girl pinning the older man down beneath her wheelchair. Leon grinned and closed his hand before she could move hers away, interlacing their fingers and sticking his tongue out at her, making her sigh and decide to ignore him._

 _ **This is an anthem for the homesick, for the beaten,  
The lost, the broke, the defeated.**_

 _Cynthia watched her partner grin at Hannah's joke, blue eyes disappointed. Coming to the group where Leon was, she hoped that his feelings hadn't changed over the past year but it was obvious to her that he liked that other girl Hannah a lot more than her. "Hey…" She mumbled as she passed him, not feeling like talking to him while he was happy and laughing with Hannah._

" _Hey Cindy, what's up?" Leon asked, watching Cynthia as she passed him._

" _Nothing, don't stop your conversation cause I'm here," Cynthia shrugged his hand off and continued on her way to the cafeteria before coming to a sudden halt as Leon caught her wrist and pulled her back to him._

" _What's wrong?" He asked, searching her violent blue eyes for the reason she was being so quiet and defeated._

" _Nothing, just thinking." Cynthia shrugged, avoiding his eyes and noticing Hannah's disgruntled expression, "Sorry Hannah, I'll leave." She got free of Leon's grasp, apologized to the wind division girl one more time before she strode off._

 _Leon sighed, at times like this he wished he could read his friend's mind, while he loved her to death, she was also one of the most confusing girls he knew._

 _ **A song for the heartsick, for the standbys,  
Living life in the shadow of a goodbye.**_

" _Wait… you're jealous of Hannah!" Leon exclaimed, his brain finally putting the pieces together._

 _Cynthia's blue eyes welled with restrained tears, "Of course I'm jealous of Hannah!" She shouted, looking as miserable as she had been since she noticed Hannah's crush on her best and only friend, "I'm gone for a year and you've moved on! You told me you wanted me to stay there so I did! Miles was kidnapped and I lost you as well!"_

" _You never lost me-"_

" _Yeah, you're right." Cynthia sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat and disappointment, "I never had you in the first place." She looked down at her feet miserably, "I apologize for thinking what you said back home was real."_

" _My apartment is your home?" Leon asked in slight surprise, looking at her with his eyebrows raised._

" _Of course it is," She looked up at him, blue eyes defeated and miserable, "It's where I fell in love with you."_

 _ **Do you remember when we learned how to fly?  
We'd play make-believe; we were young and had time on our side.**_

 _Cynthia laughed as Leon went cross-eyed to see the whip cream she had just smeared all over his face, the nine-year-old boy had whip cream all over his face and hair. While he was annoyed by the whipcream she had gotten all over both of them, he couldn't help but smile as the wary and nervous girl laughed and giggled, one whip cream covered hand over her mouth, blue eyes twinkling with bright laughter, her posture relaxed and youthful._

 _ **You're stuck on the ground,  
Got lost, can't be found.  
Just remember that you're still alive.**_

Leon sang softly in Cynthia's ear, reaching around her and taking the pistol from her hands before tracing a few of the faded scars marring her hands and forearms, his voice soft as he sang in his partner's ear. Cynthia turned around so she was facing him, listening to his singing, blue eyes a little shocked.

" _Promise me Leon." Cynthia's blue eyes flashed dangerously, "Promise." The the eleven-year-old girl demanded before the other eleven-year-old went out on the field in a solo mission._

" _I promise." Leon smiled at her, "I promise I'll come back and I won't leave you again."_

 _Cynthia's blue eyes softened and she hugged him, burying her face into his neck, "I'll miss you." She mumbled, having never been in the base without him before._

" _Me too," Leon murmured, returning the warm hug and ignoring Brendon in the background who was mumbling about how hugging girls were gross and Leon was disgusting._

 _ **I'll carry you home.**_

" _It's okay Cyn." Leon sniffled, amber eyes bright with restrained tears as he cradled his unconscious partner in his arms, not noticing the many bumps in the road as Holly and Brendon drove them as fast as possible back to base, his attention on his partner's pale and blood smeared face._

 _ **No, you're not alone.  
Keep marching on,**_

" _Move it!" Leon grabbed Cynthia by the wrist and kept running away from the fireball about to erupt behind him, "I set it up but some idiot shot it!"_

" _Well we better high-tail it out of here!" Cynthia yelped and ran faster, the two turning corners and running down long hallways._

 _ **This is worth fighting for,  
You know we've all got battle scars.**_

Leon cupped the left side of Cynthia's face, gently tracing the noticeable scar that crossed her face, ear, and neck with his thumb, amber eyes soft and affectionate. Cynthia opened her blue eyes, leaning into his touch and watching him as she listened to the song he was singing to her, her expression fond, blue eyes gleaming with love.

 _ **You've had enough,**_

" _I'm sick of it!" Cynthia snapped, slamming her fists down on her desk, blue eyes glittering with tears, the struggle to make the metal vertebrae for her neck to save her life, was overwhelming her, making her emotions high to the surface and stressing the twelve-year-old out._

" _You can do it Cyn," Leon soothed, carefully hugging her with one arm around her waist, carefully avoiding putting any pressure on her shoulders and neck, his hair damp and messy, sticking up in every direction. "I believe in you."_

" _What it I can't?! What then? I'm going to die Leon," Cynthia mumbled, tears trickling down her face._

 _ **But just don't give up.  
Stick to your guns,  
You are worth fighting for.**_

 _Leon grinned as he reached the cafeteria first, "I win! You-" He got cut off by Cynthia grinning mischievously and pressing her lips to his in a first kiss where both fourteen year olds had their eyes open. Leon wrapped his arms around her waist while she looped her arms around his neck, melting into the contact._

 _ **You know we've all got battle scars.  
Keep marching on.**_  
He sang in a whisper, resting his forehead against hers, close enough that he could feel her eyelashes tickling his skin.  
 _ **This is a call to the soldiers, the fighters,  
The young, the innocent, and righteous.  
We've got a little room to grow.  
Better days are near,  
Hope is so much stronger than fear.**_

" _Some day I'll give you the other ring." Leon told himself as he studied his half asleep partner who was curled up on the couch next to him, drowsy and sleep ridden, blue eyes mostly closed. "When I get the courage I will tell you what I really want it to mean." The seventeen year old teen thought as he pressed a kiss to Cynthia's temple and fiddled with the other ring he was currently cleaning. A thin silver band with tiny light blue diamonds spelling out, 'partners in every way.'_

 _ **So if you jump, kid, don't be scared to fall.  
We'll be kings and queens in this dream, all for one, one for all.  
You can light up the dark,  
There's a fire in your heart,  
Burning brighter than ever before.  
**_Cynthia covered Leon's hand with her own, watching him, her blue eyes bright, gentle, and warm.  
 _ **I'll carry you home.  
No, you're not alone.  
Keep marching on,  
This is worth fighting for,  
You know we've all got battle scars.**_

 _Leon covered the deep gash in Cynthia's left forearm with one hand, "What happened?" The fifteen year old boy asked gently, noticing his partner's loss of stamina._

" _I haven't been out here for so long that I guess I'm not up to my usual standard." Cynthia shrugged, looking disappointedly at the injury that was going to scar, "And there's another scar." She sighed, silently wondering why she had so many._

" _Hey, it's a battle scar, it means you're brave Cyn, that's all, it doesn't ruin anything about you." Leon said, removing his hand from her arm revealing a thin already fading scar where the bloody gash had been._

 _Cynthia snorted, "I could pass off as a Viking shield maiden with this many scars."_

" _How is that a problem? It just means you're brave and beautiful Cyn." He murmurs, keeping his voice down to avoid Brendon yelling at him to shut up._

" _Whatever floats your boat Leo." Cynthia rolled her eyes and checked her pistol for knockout bullets._

" _You float my boat." He grins, finally out witting her with the comment and kissing her forehead._

" _Leon!" Brendan barked, "Quit kissing your partner and get over here!"_

" _I'm not kissing her!" Leon shouted back, looking over at the other teen who was a year older than him._

" _Then get over here!"_

" _Fine!" Leon huffed, before cheekily giving Cynthia an actual kiss while Brendan was looking, doing it on purpose._

" _Get over here! Enough PDA You rebel." Haliah sighed exasperatedly, secretly amused by her sister's best friend._

 _ **You've had enough,  
But just don't give up.  
Stick to your guns,  
You are worth fighting for.  
You know we've all got battle scars.  
Keep marching on.**_

Leon continued to sing, smiling as Cynthia closed her eyes in contentment, leaning farther into his touch.  
 _ **On and on, like we're living on a broken record.  
Hope is strong, but misery's a little quicker.  
Sit, and we wait, and we drown there,  
Thinking, "Why bother playing when it's unfair?"  
They say life's a waste, I say they lack belief.  
They tell me luck will travel, I tell 'em that's why I've got feet.  
Left, right, left, right,  
Moving along to the pulse of a heartbeat.  
This could be the last chance you have to fly.  
Do you like the ground? Want it to pass you by?  
Man, you had it all when you were just a kid.  
Do you even remember who you were back then?  
What do you want in life? Will you be twice as strong?  
What would you sacrifice? What are you waiting on?  
Don't stop, march on.**_

" _Cyn," Leon murmured softly, looking over at his partner who was swinging her legs over the roof's ledge, humming something under her breath._

" _Yeah?" She replied, pausing both her humming and the swinging of her legs to look at him._

" _I promised you five years ago that we'd be partners in our group forever." Leon said softly, scooting closer to her so their thighs were touching, "but I want to be partners outside of the group as well. Forever. Will you give me that honor?"_

" _Of course," Cynthia said, looking at him with bright blue eyes, feeling immensely grateful that she had met him ten years ago. "I'd love to be partners in and out of the group Leo." She smiled, "I've always hoped you'd ask." She admitted and Leon grinned widely, digging in pocket for a moment before pulling out the new ring in a small box identical to the one that had contained the first silver band he had given her those long five years ago._

" _Well I figured I'd make another ring for the occasion, hopefully you won't lose this one." He grinned, sliding the new one onto his partner's right ring finger and sharing a tender kiss with his partner in everything._

 _ **I'll carry you home.  
No, you're not alone.  
Keep marching on,  
This is worth fighting for,  
You know we've all got battle scars.  
You've had enough,  
But just don't give up.  
Stick to your guns,  
You are worth fighting for.  
You know we've all got battle scars.  
Keep marching on…**_

As Leon trailed off Cynthia smiled, speaking in a soft voice as if she didn't want to break the moment, "Best birthday present ever." She cracked a grin as Leon started laughing and moved his hand away from her face so she could tackle him in both a hug and a kiss as return for the song.


	51. Singing Talent, number 9 (Girls)

_Singing Spinoff # 9_

 _Cynthia sings All I ever Wanted (Kelly Clarkson) with the rest of the group! Bree, Leon, Holly and Jay are all included!_

 _Featherflight123- I'm glad you like it! :) It is really cute! :)_

 _Snowcrystal of THunderclan- SMILEY! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D_

 _Unicorn brownies- Yay! Another awesomeness compliment for my story! :D_

 _Echo in the Whispering Wind- Cuteness! XD_

Cynthia's blue eyes snapped open and she shot up so fast that she toppled off the bed and crashed to the floor with a decently long string of cursing that was unusual for the alto youtube singer.

"What's wrong?" Leon asked his girlfriend, she had been asleep a few moments earlier while he researched the team his team was playing, trying to come up with a good strategy against them.

"I forgot about Hannah's birthday party," Cynthia groaned in reply after she jumped to her feet and raced down the stairs, "It totally slipped my mind!" The nineteen-year-old then proceeded to trip about half way down the stairs and roll down the last half, grunting and complaining as she did so.

"I hate it when this happens." Leon sighed and rushed after his scatterbrained girlfriend, running into Holly who stormed from her room looking a little ticked off.

"Why is Cindy falling down the stairs, and you two ruined my lyrics writing."

"Sorry Holly," Leon apologized to his sister as he jumped onto the banister, "She forgot that Hannah's birthday party is tomorrow!"He called back as he slid down to catch Cynthia around the waist before she could tumble down the next flight.

"Thanks, Leon," Cynthia said breathlessly before slipping out of his grip and racing down a hallway and vanishing from sight once again.

"Oh dear." Holly sighed and ran down the stairs after her brother.

"Oh dear, what?" Bree poked her head out of her room, a pencil held between her teeth muffling her words.

"Stop making noise," Jay grunted, appearing in the doorway of his room, his wireless DJ mixing pad tucked under one arm.

"Cindy forgot about the song she was supposed to write for Hannah's birthday!" Holly yelled up to them as she ran after her younger brother, her laptop held under one arm.

"Oh no!" Bree grabbed her drumsticks from her desk and shot down the stairs, bouncing in her wheelchair as she did so, by passing Holly and performing a flawless tight left turn to dart down the hallway where Cynthia had disappeared.

"For the love of Starclan," Jay groans but runs after them, knowing it was going to be a riot if Cynthia couldn't come up with a song within twenty-four hours.

:) :) :)

"Ideas, ideas, ideas…" Cynthia said as she paced around her music studio which was a lot larger now that she actually used the money she had been getting from her music on youtube.

"Cindy," Holly attempted to calm her down, "You're going to step on your keyboard."

Cynthia screeched to a halt inches from the silver and blue musical device, "Come on guys, give me words! Just random words!" She pleaded, "I have to think of something!"

"Um… day?" Leon said, the comment more of a question than a statement.

"Photographs," Jay grunted curtly.

"Yesterday!" Bree grinned, not fazed by Cynthia's almost panic.

"Alone," Holly said, watching her friend with worried green eyes as her friend picked up and moved the expensive keyboard to its correct spot before continuing to pace.

Cynthia mumbled under her breath for a moment before shaking her head, "I need a theme." She blurted while continuing to pace, blue eyes narrowed with concentration.

"Ooh! I heard Isa saying something about Hannah's still upset about you and Leon being back together!"

"For Starclan's sake, that was two years ago," Cynthia grumbled before she mumbled a few more words under her breath, sounding like she was starting to develop a tune and lyrics.

"Hannah is still pining for my brother?" Holly looked surprised and kind of grossed out.

"Oh Starclan, I did not need to hear about that." Leon groaned, his cheeks flaming, the whole thing between him and Hannah had been a mistake, Hannah had been Leon's rebound after he pissed off Cynthia and offended her to major proportions two years ago, leading to a temporary break-up between the two love-sick, more stubborn than mules, teenagers. Hannah didn't mean anything to him and luckily she didn't try to break him and Cynthia apart, but he did not want to hear about how she had feelings for him.

Cynthia suddenly stiffened and she stopped moving, her only movements were the tapping her fingers on her arm in a steady rhythm, apparently, she had found the beat and lyrics, or some of them at least. "This is perfect." Turning around her face her friends, blue eyes determined, "I need all or you guys' help to finish this on time and perform it, will you help?"

"Of course!"

"Fine."

"Definitely."

"You're never alone Cyn." Leon grinned at her, stealing a phrase from one of his songs, "Of course we'll help you."

"Thanks, guys!" Cynthia grinned before getting into her music mode, determined and focused. "Okay, Jay, I need your help with the mixer, Leon you're on guitar with me, Holly you've got synthesizing and keyboard, Bree, you're got drums and backup vocals. Let's pull off the impossible eh?"

:) :) :)

"Oh my Starclan," Holly groaned, "I'm going to fall asleep over this keyboard." She was sitting at Cynthia's keyboard, looking dead tired, green eyes slightly dull and tired.

"I agree," Jay grunted, his head on Cynthia's desk, cheek squished beneath him as his blind blue eyes closed.

"I can't wait!" Bree squealed with a yawn, looking just a tad sleepy, not at all exhausted like the other two.

"You have limitless energy," Jay grunted and Bree grinned at him from her position behind the drums, one of her wheels balanced on the base pedal with the special attachment attached to the other wheel so she could use the high-hat.

"Is it finished?" Leon mumbled from his position slumped in one of the beanbags, golden blonde hair a wreck from both running his hands through it when he was stressed out and falling asleep a few times.

"Yes, it's finished!" Cynthia grins, walking into the room from the recording studio, holding up a small disc for later and a folder with both the sheet music and lyrics to her, Bree, and Holly's parts.

:) :) :)

Cynthia grumbled as she was nearly flocked with the other seniors trying to get her attention, "It's Hannah's party! Leave me be!" She snapped, uneasy with the large crowd. She felt someone slip their arm around her waist and she quickly looked over to see it was only Leon, with sunglasses and a baseball cap on, hiding his still messy golden blonde hair and amber eyes, his key features.

Slipping something into her across body bag Leon leaned closer to murmured in her ear, "I figured you'd forget again."

"Thank Starclan that you're here with me," Cynthia laughed, "what would I do without you?" She pulled out the sunglasses and put them on, darkening her vision but decreasing the chance of being recognized. Pulling the hat out of her bag she inwardly laughed, it was one of Leon's baseball caps, a black and dark blue one. Pulling her hair up into a ponytail she then put the hat on and they made their way towards the birthday girl herself. "Hey Hannah," Cynthia smiled, having gotten over her annoyance at the light brunette a while ago.

"Hi?" Hannah asked with a bit of confusion, then it dawned on her as Cynthia pulled down the sunglasses to look at her with amusement. "Hi! You came!" She then proceeded to hug Cynthia and Leon, keeping the second hug short and friendly.

"Wouldn't miss it." Cynthia grinned, "I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sing for one of my friends, not to mention I managed to convince a few other people to perform as well."

"I can't wait!" Hannah squealed, hugging her again, "You're music is amazing!"

"I'm glad you like it," Cynthia chuckled, "It's fun to write… most of the time."

"I bet it is, come on, you have to meet Sage!" Hannah grasped Cynthia's wrist and dragged the taller girl with her to her friend Sage.

:) :) :)

"Hey everyone!" Cynthia smiled as she stood on the stage with Leon, Bree, Holly, and Jay in the back behind the curtains working a few things. "So I heard that Hannah was going to miss out on the concert supposed to be happening her that a canceled so I agreed to come and I brought a few people along with me! Here we have me, MysterySinger, we also have CheerfulCuriousity singing back up and playing the drums," She walked over to Bree where the other singer was fiddling with her drum set and her mic, checking everything was working, "IntelligentLeaf also singing backup and playing on the keyboard," Cynthia said walking up to the front and gesturing to Holly who was also doing some last checks, "PerfectGrumpyTone is behind the stage helping out in the technology department, and we also have FireAthlete lending me his assistance on the guitar! Most of you don't know FireAthlete but he is the creator of a few of the songs on my channel with a male voice, that's usually him. You guys all know him as FireAthlete from the Thunderbolts professional basketball team, right?" Cheering answered her words. Looking back at everyone she mouthed, "Everything ready?" She received nods from the other four and grinned facing forward, "So this song was created for the birthday girl Hannah herself, so enjoy!" Looking at Leon she discreetly counted out the beat, waiting for him to start. A moment later he did, starting the song with his guitar

" _Tear up the photographs,"_ Cynthia sang when she reached her cue. _  
But yesterday won't let go,  
Every day, every day, every minute,  
Here comes the emptiness  
Just can't leave lonely alone.  
Every day, every day... hey hey  
This second chancin's really getting me down  
You givin' takin' everything I dreamed about.  
It's time you let me know, let me know just let go..."_ Bree joined in as Cynthia started the chorus.

" _All I ever wanted!  
All I ever wanted,  
Was a simple way to get over you!  
All I ever wanted!  
All I ever wanted,  
Was an in-between to escape this desperate scene!  
Where every lie reveals the truth,  
Baby 'cause all I ever wanted!  
All I ever wanted was you!" _Cynthia poked Leon in the chest and the boy rolled his eyes as he kept playing his guitar, amber eyes warm and amused,

Bree went silent, playing on the drums as Cynthia sang the next verse. _  
_" _I'd rather walk alone  
Don't wanna chase you around,  
Every day, every day, every minute." _Cynthia rolled her eyes as she sang the line. _  
I'd fall a thousand times  
'fore I let you drag me down.  
Every day, every day... hey hey  
Your new beginning was a perfect ending,  
But I keep feeling we've already been here before  
It's time you let me know let me know just let go…!"_

Bree joined in again, amber eyes bright and cheerful, " _All I ever wanted!  
_ " _All I ever wanted,  
Was a simple way to get over you!  
All I ever wanted!  
All I ever wanted,  
Was an in-between to escape this desperate scene!  
Where every lie reveals the truth,  
Baby 'cause all I ever wanted,  
All I ever wanted was you…" _Cynthia sang.

" _Was you,"_ Holly sang her part very softly, green eyes gleaming with confidence. _  
_" _Tell me with so many out there why I always turn to you."_ Cynthia continued singing.

" _To you, to you,"_ Holly's voice was heard once again for the echoed line _.  
_ " _Your goodbyes tear me down every time  
And it's so easy to see  
That the blame is on me!" _Cynthia sang, standing beside Leon.

Holly joined Bree and Cynthia in the chorus, " _All I ever wanted!  
All I ever wanted.  
Was a simple way-"_

" _Simple way!"_

" _\- get over you!  
All I ever wanted!  
All I ever wanted,  
_" _Was an in-between to escape this desperate scene!"_ Cynthia sang and Bree joined in about half way through the line as Holly dropped out. _  
All I ever wanted! All I ever wanted-_

" _All, I ever wanted!" Bree echoed.  
_ " _-Was a simple way to get over you!"_ Cynthia sang. _  
All I ever wanted-!" Bree echoed again_

" _All I ever wanted was you!"_ Cynthia sang with a smile, looking at Hannah who was looking surprised and shocked.

" _-All I ever wanted,  
Was an in-between to escape this desperate scene!  
Where every lie reveals the truth,  
Baby 'cause I all ever wanted, all I ever wanted was you..."_ Cynthia trailed off, the song ending a few heartbeats later.

:) :) :)

"That was amazing!"

"I'm still surprised Bree could get those high notes without murdering her voice." Jay grumbled, "Her singing voice is quite a bit lower usually."

"Well, my normal voice is that high!" Bree chirped happily, "Plus Holly couldn't reach them for the life of her!"

"Don't remind me," Holly groaned, "I did not enjoy going hoarse for those three hours." She looked around, "Where's Leon and Cindy?"

Bree peered around the darker backstage, and giggled when she spotted them, "No wonder Leon's hair is so much of a spiky wreck!" She giggled, "Come on! They'll find us later!"

"Ugh, gross Bree, I did not need that mental image," Jay grunted, following the amber-eyed brunette.

"Relax," Bree laughed, "They're just being Cindy and Leon!"

"That's what I'm worried about," Jay grunted and Holly spun on her heel, following the other two and leaving the other two to their choice of activity.

"Lighten up Jay! Come on! Let's go find something to eat! I can hear your stomach rumbling!"

"What?!" Jay asked indignantly, "My stomach is not rumbling you cheeky girl."

"It totally is!"

Holly sighed as she listened to their playful banter, rolling her eyes at the situation she had gotten herself stuck in.

"Hey Holly, want to escape your brother?" A playful voice spoke behind her and Holly whirled around to see it was her boyfriend Finli who had been away in a different country for an exchange student thing.

"Finli!" She exclaimed, hugging him tightly.


	52. Singing Spinoff number 10

_Singing Spinoff #10_

 _Leon and Cynthia sing "Sad Song" (We The Kings)_

 _ **Echo In The Whispering Wind-Cuteness! XD**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Well you can't just throw your normal name out there right? :D I'm debating on changing Cynthia's youtube name, what do you think it should be? Jay's youtube name is still perfect! :D Yes, Finli is back! I'm working on a fighting for Love and Hope thing that involves Finli! :)**_

 _ **Dawnshade49- Glad you think so!**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- Back to guest reviews are we? XD I'm glad you liked it!**_

 _ **Featherflight123- Cynthia and Leon are dorks XD Cynthia sings most of the songs from that Album actually XD It just fits her :) I'm glad you like the ending! I like it too! :D**_

 _ **:)**_

 _ **This one's got a bit of implied stuff, very very very vague though so you might not notice it if you aren't looking for it :) An example for why this story is rated T XD**_

 _ **Oh yeah, this one is relatively sad, but don't give up on it, there's a funny scene towards the bottom!**_

 _ **:)**_

Leon sighed as he waited for the audience to quiet down, his head still feeling heavy with guilt and remorse. A week ago he had drastically offended Cynthia and she had severed their relationship the same day, leaving Leon confused, guilt-ridden and hurt. So, being a guy he decided to try and do something about it, leaving Cynthia alone and trying to find someone else to temporarily fill the gap. It ended up going too far and now his relationship with Cynthia was worse, even his siblings were mad at him.

'" _Where were you?!" Holly thundered as her brother finally stepped into the house, at a few minutes before midnight. She apparently had forced Cynthia and Jay to stay awake with her, Jay was looking grumpier than he usually did, while Cynthia was still pacing the living room, mumbling under her breath, blue eyes distant and guilty._

" _Out," Leon grunted, kicking off his shoes and yawning._

" _Leon answer me!" Holly growled at her younger brother, green eyes flashing._

" _At a friend's house." He grunted, "Hannah invited me over."_

" _It's midnight Leon!"_

" _So?"_

" _Stop fighting." Jay interrupted but was ignored._

" _So?! It's ridiculously late Leon!" Holly looked mad enough to explode, but Cynthia was the one to both break the fight and the sliver of pride Leon had left._

" _You didn't… did you?" Cynthia asked, her voice shocked, she looked like she was begging him to say he hadn't._

" _I can do what I want." He growled at her, amber eyes flashing fiercely, covering up his hurt with anger. "But if you must know I did."_

 _Cynthia's face drained of color and the blue eyed girl stared at him for a moment as her heart broke with splinters before she jerked her gaze to the floor as her blue eyes filled with tears, "Right. I'm sorry, I'll… uh, stay out of your business then." She looked up at him and Holly, blue eyes glassy with the restrained tears, "good luck with Hannah Leon, um… I hope she makes you happy." Her voice was strangled like something was choking her, "I'll meet you upstairs Holly, I'm going to go to bed, goodnight you three." She had to bite her tongue to keep from telling Leon she loved him like she did every night, before she turned and fled up the stairs three at a time._

 _Leon watched her leave, waiting to feel some kind of pleasure at her hurt but instead felt more guilt.'_

Leon shook his head before starting, the instruments recorded and playing over the sound system." _ **You and I,  
We're like fireworks and symphonies exploding in the sky.  
With you, I'm alive  
Like all the missing pieces of my heart, they finally collide."**_ Leon's amber eyes gazed around as he sang, looking for a certain black-haired girl who he had seriously offended and hurt both her pride and her feelings.

" _ **So stop time right here in the moonlight,  
'Cause I don't ever wanna close my eyes."**_ Leon's heart sunk, he didn't see Cynthia, ' _She didn't come.'_ He thought feeling worse than ever. ' _I lost her.'_ He closed his eyes as he continued to sing the chorus, his hands shoved into his hoodie pockets. " _ **Without you, I feel broke.**_

 _ **Like I'm half of a whole.  
Without you, I've got no hand to hold.  
Without you, I feel torn.  
Like a sail in a storm.  
Without you, I'm just a sad song….  
I'm just a sad song…."  
**_" _ **With you, I fall,"**_ Leon's head shot up as Cynthia's voice came over the sound system to accompany his as she tentatively stepped out of the curtains of the backstage, her bangs hiding one of her timid blue eyes. " _ **It's like I'm leaving all my past in silhouettes upon the wall.**_

 _ **With you I'm a beautiful mess,  
it's like we're standing hand in hand with all our fears upon the edge."**_

She sang without the usual upbeat in her voice, standing near the back curtains like she was ready to bolt away from him if he hurt her again.

" _ **So stop time right here in the moonlight,  
'Cause I don't ever wanna close my eyes…"**_ She sang softly, still hurt and feeling slightly skittish around him.

Leon got over his shock of her arrival just in time for the chorus, he didn't think he had any chance of her coming to help him, but here she was, dressed up in the ankle length royal blue dress she had bought when he was around -having bought it because he tripped over thin air and crashed to the floor the first time he had seen her in it- and softly singing her part of the song.

" _ **Without you, I feel broke  
Like I'm half of a whole.  
Without you, I've got no hand to hold.  
Without you, I feel torn.  
Like a sail in a storm.  
Without you, I'm just a sad song…"**_ He sang, amber eyes locked on his friend's face, ' _I'm so sorry Cyndy,'_ He tried to communicate, ' _I never wanted this to happen.'_ Cynthia steadily avoided his eyes, preferring to face the audience and wait for her cue to join him.

" _ **You're the perfect melody,  
The only harmony  
I wanna hear!  
You're my favorite part of me,  
With you standing next to me,  
I've got nothing to fear."**_

They sang together, Leon striding over to her. _ **  
**_" _ **Without you, I feel broke.  
Like I'm half of a whole."  
**_" _ **Without you, I've got no hand to hold."  
**_ " _ **Without you, I feel torn.  
Like a sail in a storm.  
Without you, I'm just a sad song."**_

Cynthia finally met his eyes, her blue eyes glittering with hurt tears, ' _I can't forgive you.'_ Her expression told him, ' _You hurt me too many times already.'_

" _ **Without you, I feel broke.  
Like I'm half of a whole.  
Without you, I've got no hand to hold.  
Without you, I feel torn.  
Like a sail in a storm...  
Without you, I'm just a sad song.  
I'm just a sad song."**_

After the last word and the music trailed off Cynthia vanished as everyone else cheered, her disappearance taking only a few seconds leaving the curtains gently swishing. Leon managed to take a decent bow before running backstage as well, running after his friend and grabbing her by the wrist as she tried to leave and return to the gym where he wouldn't find her. "Cindy-"

"Let me go, Leon," Cynthia pleaded, interrupting him, "I don't want you touching me," She whimpered, pulling at his fingers which were gently wrapped around her wrist.

"Let me explain-"

"Please let me go," Cynthia pleaded, cutting him off again, trying to keep together any parts of her heart that weren't in shattered pieces at her feet, her blue eyes swam with tears threatening to break free.

"Cindy, please listen-"

"Let me go, Leon, please," She breathed, "I don't want you to break my heart again." The partially messy bun her black hair was in was falling down in small tendrils, falling in front of her ears and threatening to get in her face.

"Let me explain and I'll let you go run away from me again," Leon said in a soft tone, amber eyes gleaming with regret and sadness.

"Leon please!" Cynthia pulled harder, "Let me go!" the tears broke free and turned the last plead into a heaving sob, "Let me go, Leon!" She sobbed pulling against his grip with all of her available strength, "Please let go!"

Leon broke at the sight of her tears, breaking his resolve to keep at a safe distance he enveloped her in his arms, listening to her sob and cry, giving up her fight against him to grip his shirt with her hands and bury her face in his chest, her entire body shaking from the strength of her emotions. His heart was in his throat as he felt his shirt getting damp and tightened his arms around her, nestling his nose into her hair and breathing in the vanilla scent for a few moments before speaking up. "I didn't mean what I said before, singing is your life and I shouldn't have shot down your dreams like that; I'm sorry Cindy. Then you broke up with me and I was upset and hurt so I tried to get over it… Which is why I was with Hannah."

Cynthia cried harder at his confession, "I loved you!" She cried, her voice muffled from her face buried in his chest, "I loved you with everything I had, but you just walked away from me!"

Leon's heart stuttered in fear at the past tense but he tried not to give a reaction, "I know you did," He murmured, "and I loved you just as much, Hannah was an accident, I was upset, she's just a friend."

"I can't forgive you again Leon," Cynthia sobbed, pushing him away from her, red-rimmed blue eyes heartbroken, "I can't do it again, I did last time but it just happened again," She sobbed, shaking her head slightly, "I can't let you keep breaking my heart, it hurts too much!"

"Cindy please," He begged her, amber eyes fogging with his own restrained tears, "Give me another chance! I promise it won't happen again, what you do is completely your own decision and I still love you!" Cynthia looked at him, wavering slightly, unsure if she should put her heart on the line for the third time. "Please, Cyn, just one more chance!" He begged, kneeling in front of her and pushing his head against her stomach, "Please give me another chance, I love you so much!"

Cynthia didn't move, continuing to stand there with tears still trickling down her cheeks, unsure, the hole like feeling in her chest reminded her of her still shattered to tiny pieces of a heart. "I-I can't!" She exclaimed, "there's nothing for you to love anymore, I can't fix my heart this time Leon, I can't fix it to love you anymore!"

"Then let me help you pick up the pieces! Give me another chance, please!"

"O-Okay, y-you can help me p-pick up the p-pieces." Cynthia stammered, doubting her decision, the doubt showing in her eyes as Leon hugged her, almost starting to cry with relief and love. The two of them received many weird looks for their position from the other competitors for the talent Exhibition, but they didn't move, Cynthia still trembling while wiping her eyes and attempting to stop crying, Leon still on his knees, his arms wrapped around her midriff.

:) :( :) :( :) :( :) :( :)

 _ **Man, that was depressing -_- Can you tell I had a rough day yesterday? (Which is when I wrote this?) family problems suck, school is obnoxious, and I got a very loud yelling at for writing so much -_- Well I don't like sad endings so let's throw in a random scene like where Cynthia bought the dress, shall we? Leon! Fall flat on your face!**_

 _ **:)**_

"This is your stupid idea Haliah!" Cynthia snapped at her sister as she stormed over to the two boys arguing with each other and pushed them apart, "Bring Brendan and Leon why don't we," She droned, "Sure! Bring along two boys who can't stand each other!"

"I'm sorry!" Haliah said a bit frazzled, "I forgot they hated each other!"

"Yeah, yeah." Cynthia waved off the comment and glowered at the athlete that was her boyfriend, "Leon, stop arguing with Brendan."

"He's a guy!" Leon retorted, "I don't want him coming with us!"

"Tough," Cynthia rolled her eyes, "he's also my sister's boyfriend. Now I hate shopping just as much as you do so can we please get along and hurry?!"

"Brendan's a player!" Leon exclaimed, arguing his point, "I don't want to hear him say anything about you or I'll deck him!"

"Okay fine, you can punch him if anything weird comes out of his mouth, good enough? Good." She was dragged away by her sister into a dress shop for the talent exhibition where everyone had to wear formal clothing. While Cynthia had plenty to choose from at home, Haliah had insisted.

:) :) :)

"Oh Starclan no." Cynthia took a few steps back from her sister who was smiling widely and holding up a dress for her sister to try, "You are not making me wear that."

"What's wrong with it?" Haliah huffed, getting annoyed at her sister's stubborn nature and pickiness. "It's royal blue! It goes with your eyes!"

"Haliah are you insane?! I'm not wearing anything strapless!"

As the two sisters argued Leon messed around with his phone, zoning out while Brendan listened to the girl's conversation, the playboy highly amused at the whole thing but keeping it to himself in fear of Leon beating the crap out of him for a single word involving his black haired girlfriend.

"Cyndy! Just try it!"

"Why?!"

"Cause we can leave if you do!" Haliah snapped back, finally put up with her sister's stubbornness.

"Fine." Cynthia took the dress and vanished into one of the changing rooms, probably relieved to get out of there. But, she had no idea that she would end up buying it, from Leon's hilarious reaction to it.

Haliah waited for her sister next to Brendan and Leon, giggling as Brendan whispered something in her ear

"Haliah, I am going to strangle you." Cynthia fumed as she strode over a few minutes later, looking highly irritated. Haliah's green eyes widened and she squealed.

"It looks so good on you! You're so pretty!" Haliah squealed before pulling on Leon's arm, "Doesn't she Leon?!"

"Hey!" Cynthia squealed, not wanting Leon to notice her. But the spiky blonde did. Right away his amber eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he looked his girlfriend up and down a few times, speechless and almost drooling. The dress she had on was the same one Haliah had been arguing with her about, strapless, formfitting down to the skirt which was more flowing and billowy with a thin slightly darker blue belt at the waist, the dress was made out of a soft and smooth material. Brendan snickered and pushed him slightly, Leon recovered but managed to trip on air and fell face first to the floor, sending his device clattering out of his hand and his nose to meet the floor. "Leon!" Cynthia looked worriedly at the boy sprawled on the ground at her feet, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Leon managed, the impact jolting his brain, and rolling onto his back while Cynthia took a few steps back, "You're gorgeous." He slurred, vision spinning before he passed out. Cynthia knelt next to him and worriedly shook him by the shoulder while Brendan roared with laughter and Haliah giggled her heart out.

 _ **Ha ha ha ha! Much better XD Poor Leon! XD Tripped on air and made himself pass out! XD XD XD XD XD**_


	53. Guilt Ridden and Broken AU

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- The feels right?! I can't reread that one without being sad… besides the end! XD What about ASingersHeart or ForeverASinger as Cynthia's youtube name? I think I'm going to change Bree's too, but hers is probably going to be GoldenHearted, what do you think? Finli is back :) I'm trying to write some Hollyleaves ones, but they're a really hard couple to write for me :(**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- Happy ending :) With Bree and Jay bickering, Holly says hello to Finli, and Cynthia and Leon's current activity is "unknown" XD**_

 _ **I know right? I had to write it and explain what went on with Leon and Hannah. :( Leon falling on his face and passing out because Cynthia's in a dress is hilarious! XD XD XD XD XD XD**_

 _ **Dawnshade49- Lots of raging XD laughing and crying balance it out, though! XD**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I read your review and it made my day! :D Cynthia fainting? Hilarious! Usually, she doesn't faint, she falls out of trees and off things! XD But just for you, I'll quickly write a small thing that's a cliche faint catch with a twist! Cynthia's going to fall down some stairs then pass out!**_

 _Cynthia staggered slightly, literally so exhausted that her vision was blurring slightly around the edges. Shaking her head briefly to clear it she reluctantly pulled out her glasses and put them on, her vision still blurring around the edges, but now the colors were partially blinding. 'Okay, ow. Do not do that when you have a headache.' She thought as she put the glasses away, the colors dimming down behind the blue that overpowered all the other colors. Lucky for her classes were already over and she only had to make her way to Leon, Holly, Jay, and Bree before going home and taking a nap. The reason she was so tired? Staying up literally all night writing a song. Cautiously she made her way down the stairs to the school's ground floor, attempting not to trip, fall on her face, and make a fool of herself. Using the guard rail she got to about the last three stairs before misplacing her foot and jerking forward. Squeezing her eyes shut she waited to hit the floor but was surprised when rather than hitting the ground someone caught her. Opening her eyes she wasn't too surprised to see it was her boyfriend Leon looking down at her, amber eyes gentle and slightly amused._

" _No sleep last night?" He asked the obvious question._

" _No," Cynthia grumbled a reply as Leon helped her to her feet and made sure she went down the rest of the stairs without any problems before deciding to pick her up bridal style and start walking out of the school, his and Cynthia's backpacks over his shoulders._

" _You're amazing," Cynthia mumbled to him, closing her eyes with a small yawn._

" _Go to sleep you crazy person," He laughed, kissing her forehead and ignoring the teacher yelling at him about no PDA._

" _Leon!" Firen called to the blonde boy, "Put your girlfriend down young man!" Inwardly he was highly amused at the spectacle and didn't particularly care.  
_ " _Sorry, Gramps! But she's already sleeping and can't sleep walk!" He grinned, calling over his shoulder while looking down at Cynthia who was indeed already asleep, lulled to sleep by his consistent rhythmic strides._

 _ **A cliche with a twist :) But this one is the falling down the stairs and being caught cliche :) I hope that satisfies your curiosity :) I'm thinking about writing a chapter called Random Cliches and Funny moments where I get a list of cliches and random things that happen to some of the couples in this story! So if you have any ideas let me know! :) Yikes! Two hours of homework?! The horror! :O 0-o**_

 _ **Unicorn brownies- quite literally XD**_

 _ **I need a list of cliches and random things that you want each of these couples to do! I need at least five total, three cliches, and two random things! The cliches and random things will be reused for each one so they're all the same! But with different twists depending on the characters involved!**_

 _ **Cinderblaze**_

 _ **Briarfeather**_

 _ **Hollyleaves**_

 _ **Ivybreeze**_

 _ **Honeynose**_

 _ **DoveStripe or Doveheart**_

 ** _I almost forgot! The Chapter I will be writing for the 50 milestone, is the Great Battle Humanized!_**

 _ **Guilt and No Trace AU**_

Cynthia's black hair whipped into her face as she spun on the spot to kick the closest object which happened to be a desk. ' _I was there! I could've saved them! What was I thinking?!'_ The fourteen-year old's heart sunk further to her stomach as she gazed outside of the room, blue eyes misty and distant. ' _The woods, why did we have to go out there? Now all three of them are kidnapped!'_

"Cindy," Haliah spoke meekly from where she was perched on her lower bunk, well away from her sister's self-anger. "There wasn't anything you could do, it wasn't your-"

"I could've done something!" Cynthia snarled, whirling around on her sister, blue eyes still misty and not from tears. "I could've prevented it from happening! I could've prevented them from being kidnapped!" She looked at her sister, angry and herself, weighed down with her guilt and looking tired and heartbroken, "My friend's were kidnapped Haliah! Right in front of me! And what did I do?! I did nothing! Nothing at all! They're gone Haliah!" She took a few short heaving breaths, "I could've done something! My friends are gone Haliah!" Her blue eyes brimmed with tears, "Gone." She dropped to her knees and stared blankly at the floor. "I'll never see them again."

Haliah hurried over and enveloped her younger sister in a hug as she burst into sobbing tears, the fifteen-year-old feeling miserable and worried about her sister, "Ssh, Cindy, it'll be okay," She lied, trying to comfort her sister.

"It'll never, be okay again!" Cynthia cried, burying her face in her sister's shirt, "My friends are gone!"

"Sshh," Haliah comforted hopelessly, knowing her sister wasn't going to be convinced everything was going to be okay with three of the four people she had known since they were all little kids, kidnapped.

:( :( :( :(

Cynthia watched the entrance to the woods from her position on the large boulder that gave a perfect viewpoint. Her blue eyes were currently shaded by white rimmed, black tinted lenses sunglasses, with the sun beating down on top of her the sunglasses allowed her to actually see what was going on. Her peaceful silence was broken by someone stirring up rocks of the gravel path toward her position accompanied by the sound of wheels rolling across the earth. Taking off the sunglasses and rubbing at her eyes slightly she let the duo approach, knowing exactly who it was. "Hey Bree, Haliah."  
"Hi!"

"Hey Cindy, you okay? We brought you lunch-"

"Not hungry."

"-if you wanted it. You can save it and eat it later it won't spoil." Haliah finished quietly, putting down the lunch box and sitting next to her sister, green eyes worried about her.

"Is the mistiness clearing up?" Cynthia asked her with a sigh, looking up at her sister.

Like it had been since Jay Holly and Leon had been kidnapped two years ago, Cynthia's blue eyes were fogged over with a distant mistiness that Leah had pulled Haliah aside to tell her that the mistiness was caused by the constant and intense guilt Cynthia dealt with combined with the constant keeping guard over the woods to make sure nobody else gets lost or kidnapped as well. Basically her eyes with seriously tired, but the solution wasn't to sleep, the mistiness would only go away when and if Leon, Holly, and Jay returned.

"Yeah-"

"Don't lie Haliah." Cynthia said to her sister bluntly, "people still think I've gone crazy and am the crazy person who guards the forest. Why? Because of the stupid mistiness." She propped her head up on her palms, elbows on her knees.

"You aren't crazy Cynthia!" Bree looked at her friend, splitting a small sandwich and offering it to her, "but you are really stubborn!"

"Thanks for the compliment Bree," Cynthia laughed, rolling her eyes and accepting the sandwich half despite her earlier insistence on not being hungry.

"No problem!" Bree grinned, "You'd never guess what I saw today!" She exclaimed enthusiastically. So the three girls chatted with each other, Bree doing most of the chatting.

It was peaceful for a few minutes until Cynthia noticed something out of the corner of her eye and she sprang to her feet, "Someone's going into the woods." Springing off her boulder she sprinted towards the person going towards the dreary woods, "Hey! Stay out of there!" She shouted, Haliah and Bree on her heels.

The girl paused, looking over at Cynthia with curiosity. "Oh! You must be the girl who guards this place!"

Cynthia exchanged confused glances with her sister, ' _What? Someone who doesn't know about the incident?'_ "Yes, I am. Are you new here?"

"Yeah! My family's visiting the Bramble family!" The girl chirped and the three natives looked even more worried, the Bramble family was the family that Holly, Leon, and Jay belonged to, the only kids. "I could totally tell you're the one who guards here!"

"Let me guess, my eyes." Cynthia deadpanned, hiding her worry. "Why don't we take you back to the villa?" the villa was the fancy name for the neighborhood they lived in, an entire neighborhood centered around a giant tree that had been struck by lightning many years ago. Or at least that's what Packer and Mei, the community elders said.

"Okay! I was just curious about this place!"

:) :) :)

"My word," Cynthia sighed as she and Haliah entered their family's house, "That girl can talk! Even more than Bree, and that's saying something!"

"She's very…"

"Chatty? Annoying? Obnoxious?" Cynthia supplied as together they went up the stairs to their bedroom, their younger sibling's making a whole ton of noise from inside their room.

Haliah chose a nicer approach, "Energetic, like Bree." She decided, entering their room and wandering over to her twin sister Paige who was doing a craft of some sort. "Whatcha doing Paige?" She asked, looking over her twin's shoulder.

"Yikes!" Paige jumped and nearly smacked her sister in the face with her hot glue gun. Cynthia was less lucky and received a container of glitter to the face as she got closer to the desk.

Surprised and Startled, Cynthia staggered backward and lost her balance. Crashing to the ground with a violent sneeze, the thing that had upset her balance. "Glitter is not something you want to inhale," She sneezed again before letting her head drop back to the floor, "Starclan above that burns!"

Haliah and Paige burst out laughing at the brief moment where their sister's normal personality shone through her depressed state. "You're not supposed to breathe it in Cindy!" Haliah giggled, grabbing a towel and disappearing to get it wet, the glitter Paige was using was dissolvable when in contact with skin and would dissolve under water.

"You're supposed to use it!" Paige laughed, putting out her glue gun to swivel around and face her younger sister, green eyes twinkling merrily.

Haliah came back with the soaking wet towel and dropped it on her sister's face with a splat. "Here you go!" She chirped cheerfully before laughing harder as her sister let out a shriek from the cold temperature of the water and scrambling up to her knees, taking the towel away from her face, revealing her face painted many different colors from the glitter.

"Gah!" Cynthia grumbled, now thoroughly waterlogged, her blue eyes gleamed as she came up with a plan for revenge, rubbing her face clean she then got to her feet and chased after her sisters, who both shrieked and sprinted away from her, running down the stairs and around the house, trying to avoid their sister who was chasing after them in an attempt to make their faces tie-dye from the dissolved glitter on the towel in her hands.

:) :) :)

"Dad!" Haliah ran behind her father, hiding behind him as Paige sprinted by, Cynthia laughing madly, right on her heels. "Cindy's going to paint us tie-dye!"

"Help me! Haliah!" Paige pleaded as she ran back through the room, Cynthia close enough to her that the latter could throw the towel and hit the back of her head, "She's going to get me!"

"Gotcha!" Cynthia tackled her sister and pressed the wet towel to her face, cackling, "Revenge!" she grinned and burst into laughter along with Haliah at both the stunned expression on Paige's face, and the tie-dye all over her face, she looked like someone had exploded a bunch of pink, purple, blue, and red paint balloon on her face.

"You three!" Sarah came into the room from the kitchen, "I hope you three remember that we are going to the Bramble's house in an hour!" She was frazzled, with three teenagers, two eight-year-olds, and a preteen she had a lot to deal with. The moment she said that she covered her mouth, amber eyes widening just slightly. Talking about the Brambles had an unspoken rule of it not happening while Cynthia was home, even just mentioning them was enough for the teenager to stop short of whatever she was doing and go hide somewhere in the house, somewhere quiet enough she could go cry or sneak off to the boulder to take her post by the woods.

Haliah and Paige's smiles fell as they looked at their younger sister who's expression dropped to be depressed and miserable once again. ' _Uh oh.'_ Haliah thought, ' _there goes the cheer.'_ "Cindy…" she said, trying to find something to say to cheer her up again.

"It's fine. Let's go see my missing friends' parents, they're probably really lonely." Cynthia said, her voice miserable, blue eyes haunted, "I'll go wash the glitter out of this towel." She darted off up the stairs and out of sight.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said in a partial whisper,

"It's okay, Mom," Paige smiled weakly at her mother, "You didn't mean too, Cindy knows that."

' _I haven't seen that mischievous side for a while,'_ Haliah reflected, her gaze resting on the empty stairwell, ' _We need to find them, it's not fair that Cindy has to deal with her friend's missing and kidnapped, especially when she's been in love with one of them for years.'_ She took a deep breath, "I'll go find her, you get everything prepared Paige," She told her twin and jogged up the stairs, looking for her younger sister, she found her up in the attic, sitting quietly in front of the small circular window. ' _She's really upset if she's up here.'_ The large attic had originally Cynthia's room which had somehow morphed into a place where all three of the Bramble kids came over and the six of them with the edition of Bree and Finli hung out, playing random games, having sleepovers, all the normal kid stuff. But after the woods incident Cynthia had stepped into the room only a handful of times, and never to sit by herself, usually to grab something of hers that she really needed and nobody else had.

"Leon liked it here," Cynthia spoke, apparently noticing her older sister's presence.

' _Oh, Cindy…'_ Haliah thought, her heart heavy as she walked over to the window seat and took a seat next to her sister, looking at her and studying her face, noticing the distance in her eyes and the way she was holding herself, tired, worn out, dejected. She let her talk, it was unusual for Cynthia to say anything about her friends when she did, it was never Leon, keeping her feelings about that particular person under lock and key.

"He liked looking through the window and watching the sun rise or fall over the woods. He never admitted it, though, saying watching the sun was a girl thing when the others were around. But he didn't say anything like that when it was just the two of us. He often said he liked being high up, able to see everything from here to the lake past the woods and even the edge of River pond sometimes. Not that you can see it from here." Cynthia said quietly, gazing unseeingly out of the window. "I wonder sometimes…" She trailed off, blinking so her blue eyes focused on the window and the outside world.

"I'm sure he thinks about you too," Haliah softly told her sister, "You're just as important as his siblings are to him, Cindy."

:( :( :(

(Cynthia's View)

I knew I was important to him, it's always been that way, even when we were innocent little kids playing in our backyards or up here. But there was always the heart-wrenching feeling that he wasn't coming back and I couldn't do a single thing about it. Two years. Two long years since I've heard Leon whispering in my ear, two years since I've had Holly tutoring me in science and literature, two years since I had Jay give me advice on the many injuries I sustained on a weekly basis.

It hurt being alone like this, my sister's are amazing, and they try their hardest to make me happy, but there wasn't anything they could do or say to replace my friends. They can't be Leon, who would wrap his arms around me and whisper how much I meant to him in my ear as we sat here quietly watching whatever was going on outside; they can't be Holly, who would freak out at the idea of missing two years of school work, staining her perfect academic record; they can't be Jay who would roll his eyes at Bree's happy chatter and comment that she speaks faster than a cheetah runs.

Bree's the only one who knows where I'm coming from. She was there too, a tree fell on top of her while we were in the forest running after the man who had kidnapped our friends. She was paralyzed and broken physically while I was ruined emotionally, and I'm sure she is too, she's just a better person, able to help others and keep cheerful while hurting on the inside. But I know for a fact that she was used to not having Jay show a whole lot of affection for her, I'm not used to that, I probably never will be. I'm used to having Leon wearing his heart on his sleeve, everyone knew we liked each other more than friends, but nobody knew the whole extent. Leon and I had many stolen moments, of which makes it painful to remember at the moment. I closed my eyes, tired of looking out the window and instead held the first two fingers of my right hand against my lips, ignoring Haliah for the moment. The worst part about their disappearance was the fact that I had literally kissed Leon for the first time barely ten minutes before they were kidnapped. I ended up frightening Leon and he ran off into the woods, Holly and Jay chased after him and Bree and I chased after them.

"This entire thing is my fault." I sighed, letting my arm drop, my knuckles briefly rapping against the window in front of me as I did so and opened my eyes again. "The day they disappeared I ended up frightening Leon and he ran off into the woods, his siblings ran after him and Bree and I followed a few moments later." It was strange, Leon had kissed me many times before that moment, either on the cheek, forehead, nose, or an actual kiss, but the moment I tried taking some initiative he got scared. I rested my head on my knees, feeling more drained than I usually did.

"If I hadn't frightened him he wouldn't have run into the woods." ' _And I wouldn't be alone, feeling like part of myself has gone missing with each of them.'_

"That doesn't seem like Leon Cindy," Haliah told me softly, "He wouldn't run from you, no matter what you did."

"Maybe so, but this theory points the blame at me, so I'll take it," I replied quietly. ' _I'd rather feel like this is my fault than some random person.'_ reluctantly I gazed out the slightly dusty window once again, looking at the smaller house across the street. "We should get going before mom kills us both," I said with a small amount of forced humor, tearing my eyes away from the other house and getting to my feet, staring down at the floor as I walked down the stairs to the room I shared with my older sisters. ' _Where ever you are Leon, Holly, Jay, I hope you're all safe. I love you, Leon.'_

:( :( :( :( :(

(normal)

Leon's breathing grew heavy as he twitched, dreaming, his amber eyes tightly closed. Holly and Jay were asleep as well, trying to get some decent sleep through the chilly no heating or cooling cabin. Leon twitched, turning his head slightly, and rolling onto his side, obviously uncomfortable, something in the dream disturbing him.

" _Cindy! Help!" Leon struggled against his captor, struggling to get free._

" _Fang! Get the girl!" his captor snarled and a large white wolf dog burst from the undergrowth to tackle Cynthia, knocking her to the ground and dragging her away by the ankle, snarling, it's strong jaws locked around her ankle. Cynthia shrieked, trying to grab onto the grass or anything that could stop her from being dragged away, struggling to reach her friends._

" _Leon! No!"_

 _Leon had to watch as she was dragged out of the small clearing into the undergrowth, disappearing from view, a moment later a high pitched, frightened, and pain filled scream rang through the woods._

"No! Cindy!" He yelled, jerking awake in the process, jolting upright, forehead clammy with cold sweat as he breathed heavily, his siblings jerking awake as well. "It was a dream, just a dream." He tried to reassure himself as the dream played out in his mind once again.

"Are you okay Leon?" Holly asked, rubbing her green eyes and looking at her younger brother, "Did something scare you?"

"N-no, but my imagination running wild," Leon replied, stuttering a little at the beginning, his amber eyes wide and scared. ' _Cyn's not here, she's fine, we're all okay.'_

"Are you sure? You look really pale."

"I'm fine, Holly, just gotta catch my breath," Leon replied, laying back down on his side away from her to hide the fear in his eyes. ' _But that wasn't a dream, that was a memory… I have to check on her.'_ He waited until his sister was asleep before slipping out the window and heaving himself up into a tree before running precariously along the branches and stopping once he reached the edge of the woods. ' _Is she here? Starclan let her be here!'_ He looked around and soon enough he caught sight of a figure sitting quietly on a large boulder, looking at the woods with a longing expression on her face, like she longed to go out there and search for something. ' _Thank you Starclan!'_ He drank in the sight of his best friend, the one he loved. Sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest Cynthia was sitting quietly, currently bathed in moonlight, the only person awake at the late hours of the night besides Leon himself. ' _She's perfectly fine, she's safe. I've got to do something to tell her I'm alive.'_ He looked around and searched his pockets, finding a small pen and a piece of paper he wrote four simple words on the paper. Before turning the paper into a paper airplane and throwing it so it landed in her lap. ' _Please understand, please!'_

He knew it had worked when Cynthia's gaze shot up to be staring in his general direction and he saw another airplane fly past him. With no knowledge of where he was, she did a pretty good job. Unfolding the airplane he read what she had written underneath his words. With a small smile, he replied, deciding to use the nickname he only used when he was being fully sincere. He got a reply a moment later and cracked a grin at her response before scribbling down a reply and throwing it once again, watching her intently for her reaction. She snorted and rolled her eyes before scribbling down a reply and hurtling it back in his direction. Leon pulled his open and his amber eyes softened, writing down a reply before he glanced back at the cabin to check if Ashton was back, cause if he was he had to hurry back. The paper airplane hit him in the face this time and he opened it, looking at the reply sadly before replying and waiting impatiently for her response as one of the lights in the cabin turned on. A moment later he got a reply. He glanced down at it, smiled wistfully before starting to run back the way he came. ' _I love you too, Cyn, more than you'd believe.'_ He thought as he snuck back into the cabin and laid back down, pretending to sleep as Ashton stomped around.

Meanwhile, a small piece of paper fluttered to the ground from the trees, revealing the conversation between the two lonely teens crammed onto the small paper.

 _I love you, Cyn._

 _I love you too, Leo, I know you're out there somewhere._

 _I'm close enough I can see you, and you're beautiful, My Sunshine._

 _While I can not say the same because I can't see you and you aren't a girl, I can say that I'm sure you're as handsome as you always are and have been._

 _How can you attack and boost my ego at the same time?_

 _It's a skill I've gained over the years… I miss you, Leo._

 _I miss you too, Cyn, I wish I could reveal myself to you and go hug you._

 _But you can't, you're being held, prisoner._

 _I have to leave, Cyn, don't miss me too much okay?_

 _I can never miss you too much, Sabersword, I can't really do this in person, so instead I'll do it the old fashioned way. Xoxo_

 _I love you with all my heart, Leo._

:) :) :) :)

 _ **Let me know, should I continue and finish this? I felt like this was a good ending so I ended it here :) Should I finish this? Well, I'm going to finish it anyway, but should I post it for everyone? Should I make it a happy ending? (It's going to anyway XD) Let me know if you want a sequel! :D**_


	54. Short Q & A With Characters

**_Echo in the Whispering Wind- I'm glad you like it, I like the messages too :) :)_**

 ** _Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Okay, we'll kick off the dovestripe part :) Hollyleaves will be there too :) If you have any ideas let me now and I'll incorporate them!_**

 ** _Featherflight123- I will write the second part and post it :D Glad you liked her falling down the stairs! She does that a lot XD_**

 ** _Guest- Sure! :) I can do more Brighttail and Briarfeather! I actually have a story focused on Briarfeather and Cinderblaze if you like fluff and those two couples as well :) I'll cobble up a Brighttail one!_**

 ** _Unicorn Brownies- :D :D :) Do you want a sequel too?_**

 _Q & A With The Characters_

 _ **I'm having some issues coming up with things to write about so I figured it's time for some random writing to help my fried brain :D XD I posted it because I wanted to give you guys a little bit of a better understanding of some of the characters and their random quirks :D**_

 _ **If anyone wants another chapter like this chapter, go ahead and ask the characters questions in your reviews :)**_

" _Holly, did you have fun hiding Finli from Leon? After all, we all know you were with him longer than you told your younger brother you were."_

"It was… interesting. I was only hiding him because Leon would've had a fit despite himself already having a girlfriend, being the overprotective younger brother he is. But luckily I had my friends helping me, Cynthia the most, being both his girlfriend and my best friend at the same time."

:) :) :)

" _Cynthia, what's your favorite sleeping position? We see a lot of different positions, ranging from lying on your side to taking up as much space as possible."_

"Why do I get the embarrassing question?! I don't know! It's random!"

"…"

"Sprawled out, I guess… more times than not I'm taking up as much space as possible as Holly can tell you when she's forced to share the lower bunk with me if she wasn't curled up in a ball all the time I wouldn't be taking up that much space."

:) :) :)

" _Jay, are you blind? Not literally you smart alec, we're talking in a people perspective."_

"Yes, I am blind, all I can see is black. Thanks for noticing. No, I am not blind in a people perspective as you put it."

" _Sure… what about the whole situation with Bree?"_

"Have you met her? She could hide any negative emotion she was feeling at any particular moment, she has enough hyper energy to power a city and still have some left to power a large town."

" _Either you are blinder than a bat or you are denser than a brick."_

"I will repeat myself once. I. Am. Blind. There's nothing for me to see, wave your hand in my face and I won't see it. I'll slap you if you do so but I won't be able to see anything more than pitch black. Leon is the definition of dense. Not me."

" _Oh really? Then how come he got a girlfriend before you, and figured out his feelings when he was thirteen while you have no idea about Bree's feelings for at least five years while you were busy with the whole Hadara drama."_

"One, he's not a medic. Two, I was busy with my relationship with Hadara to be focusing on my friend being anything more than my friend. Three, Breanna was very subtle and careful not to show anything till after I had gotten over Hadara."

" _Your brother is less dense Jay, admit it."_

"At least I'm not stupid enough to have to stop college to deal with becoming a father early."

" _Touche."_

:) :) :)

" _Bree, what do you think about Hadara? It's a bit strange seeing no hostility between you two throughout those five years."_

"Hadara's an amazing person! She's really nice, kind, and really pretty! There wasn't ever a reason to be angry at her while she was with Jay, she made him happy and that's what I cared about! Plus he ended up loosening up a little more while they were together, being a little less grumpy and more sarcastic! He's still as grumpy as a wet housecat at times but it's gotten a lot better over the years!"

" _What about when she broke it off to be with Jackson?_

"Yeah… that ticked me off just a little… but I was too busy making sure Jay would be okay to worry about being mad at her! If anything, the whole messy breakup helped out all three of us! Jay was upset about being blind and mistaken for someone else, Hadara was guilty and didn't want to keep pulling him along, and I was there for support for both of them! I think Jay learned that he didn't want to be with someone that calm, and I'm probably one of the most energetic people he's met! The whole thing gave him a big nudge in my direction, after all, soon after he figured out what I have been hinting at for a year and a half!"

" _What about right now?"_

"About Hadara? I think she's an amazing person and Jackson is the perfect person for her! We're pretty good friends now that she's not with Jay and the whole awkwardness has disappeared!"

:) :) :) :)

(First Question special to the Singing Spinoff Universe)

" _Leon, what were you thinking?! Hannah, seriously?! We thought you were finally done offending Cynthia!"_

"I knew you were going to ask me this question! I just knew it! To answer the question I have no idea why I did it. I really don't. But it sure screwed everything up for months afterward, after the both of us managed to smooth it over a few weeks later Cyn was furious. Like a raging tigress. Yeah… I pissed her off pretty badly… "

" _What do you mean "like a raging tigress?""_

"She gave me both a mouthful of the cold shoulder and hair trigger short temper at the same time, dealing with her annoyed is bad enough, ticking her off? You better run for your life. I got hit upside the head so many times my ears were ringing for a week after she got over it all. "

" _Upside the head… isn't that a British thing?"_

"Yeah, it's typical in brits, it means using the back of your hand to essentially smack the other person on the back of the head above the ears, and when the person dealing the swatting is mad at you, plays basketball and is on a swim team, it's pretty painful. Cyn's British by birth and she grew up in London until she turned three I think, but her parents still used British customs up till she was disowned, that's why when she's upset a British accent overpowers the American in her voice. Personally, I find it adorable when she's embarrassed and tells me to shut up in her British accent, or calls me a prat. Which is essentially an idiot."

:) :) :) :)

" _Cynthia, your British are you…?"_

"Yes, a brit raised American. So I still use some of the different words, sometimes have difficulty with all the slang, and I still have the accent, it's useful when you're giving a presentation in college or trying to sound like you know what you're doing.

" _If you had to choose one word from your English background that would be the only one you could say besides normal American language, what would it be?"_

"That's an interesting one… I'd go with prat, just so I can hit Leon and say it."

 _Hit him upside the head?_

"Probably. Although I am told it's funny when I'm embarrassed, my face is red, and I try to say shut up in normal American but instead say it with my native accent."

" _I can see why that could be funny."_

"Then my face goes redder. Because saying shut up with a polite kind of trill in your voice doesn't help when you've trying to tell people to stop laughing at you."

" _Nope, it definitely would not."_

:) :) :)

" _Haliah, I, the author have just remembered a small detail with you and your sisters. Let's get Paige and Cynthia to answer this one as well why don't we. So… Haliah and Paige, you two used to persuade your younger sister to allow you two to put it up so you could see if people would like it right?"_

Cynthia buried her face in her hands,"Worse year of my life. It sucked being a human guinea pig while they wondered if Brendan and Leon would like it."

Haliah glared at her indignantly, "It wasn't that bad!"

"You weren't the test subject!" Cynthia snapped back, obviously, the subject was a bit sensitive for the two of them.

Paige sighed, deciding to answer the question while her sisters argued. "Yeah, the idea was to see if Leon, the sports captain of pretty much everything; would like it and what kind of reaction we could find out, Brendon hadn't gotten decked in the face quite yet and we were looking for a reaction from him as well."

 _How come you stopped? Quite abruptly I might say_

"No comment!" Cynthia exclaimed, shaking her head violently, "We are not answering that!" Her face was going pink, her accent already leaking into her voice.

"Because the one day we didn't do anything with it and let her do what she wanted, a simple ponytail," Haliah grinned mischievously, "Leon tripped over something and sent them both to the floor-"

"Haliah!"

"-and kissed her." Haliah finished and her younger sister buried her red face in her hands. "Apparently he liked it better when she didn't do anything crazy or complicated and was her usual self, so we let her be, choosing to be our usual selves instead."  
"I hate you," Cynthia mumbled her voice normal American now.  
"Love you too Cindy." Haliah beamed at her.

:) :) :)

 _ **Ha ha ha ha ha ha! XD That last one though XD**_


	55. Fighting For Love and Hope 9, 10

_**Snowcrystal of thunderclan- I'm glad you like it! :) Random tangent, but the next chapter for Fighting For Love and Hope is taking forever! It's already thirteen pages and it's not even close to being done XD  
Featherflight123- I'll have to look into that song :) Cynthia's actually going to help Holly out and sing a song that Holly wrote but can't sing high enough, so Cynthia's going to do it with Finli for her :)  
Dawnshade49- Yay! Laughter!**_

 _ **Unicornbrownies- I'll figure out some more questions :) Maybe they'll include their kids next time :)**_ __

 _ **Hey everyone, this chapter might -I didn't say will- be the last one till after the 10th, my birthday's in between today and the tenth, it's not a fun time and it affects my writing, so to save you all from my sadness I will post this chapter and maybe work on a few others, but there probably won't be any uploads till after the tenth. I'm sorry, please don't flame me or get upset…**_

 _Fighting for Love and Hope moments 9 and 10_

Holly kicked and struggled against her captor, biting the person's hand and trying to get free. Her foot made contact with the alarm button on the underside of her desk, hoping to set it off. As her command room was lit with bright flashes of blue light and the blaring of an alarm she could only hope.

Cynthia and Leon were the first ones to react; Cynthia jumping to her feet and grabbing the closest weapon she could reach, ears starting to ring from the loud alarm. Sprinting out of the flat with Leon on her heels the duo skidded around hallway corners, dodging members of the other divisions and ignoring the funny looks they were getting. Ivory met up with them a moment later, taking a running jump over another agent's head to front flip to the ground and catch up with them, holding her pistol in one hand, brass knuckles on the other. Cynthia didn't pause to unlock the door, instead, she punched the lock and shattered it, all three of the warriors running into the command room before jerking to a stop at laughing.

Holly kicked and struggled for a few more moments before she was released and let go where she shut off the alarm and darted over to the three warriors, the three of them standing like they were ready to fight, Cynthia had her plasma sword held like a baseball bat, Leon had his fists up with brass knuckles on and Ivory had her pistol aimed at the "kidnappers."

"Grandpa really?" Ivory sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, tucking her pistol into her jeans at the sight of her ginger haired grandfather.

"Really dad?!" Holly snapped at her father, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"  
"Pay up Gunner, Firen," Brad said smugly, "My daughter's subdivision beat us in reaction time."

"Wait, that was all just a prank?" Leon exclaimed, "I was sleeping!" He complained, taking off the brass knuckles and tucking it into the pockets of his basketball shorts.  
"We can tell." Gunner grinned, looking at the male PJ-clad teen. "Most people don't want around without a shirt on." He remarked as he pulled out his wallet to hand over the fifty dollars he owed Brad. Leon's ears went pink and he scowled harder, crossing his arms like it would save him from the embarrassment.

"So Leon sleeps shirtless, who cares!" Cynthia snapped blue eyes frustrated, her ears a light almost barely noticeable shade of pink as she avoided looking to her left at Leon. "Why did you guys decide to test us in the middle of the night?!" She glanced at Holly's clock and her glare sharpened, "It's one thirty in the morning!"  
"Sorry you four," Firen partially apologized, "But we needed to make sure your subdivision was capable enough Holly."

"We're always ready Grandpa, but even the strongest warriors need sleep," Holly said, having recovered from her near heart attack. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to send my warriors back to their flat rooms to get some rest before they have to leave in the morning." She walked back over to them and took one of the two fifty dollar bills her father was now holding, "And this is going towards my new door. Again." The green eyed girl deadpanned, tired of constantly replacing the door and doorway from all the tests her grandfather and father randomly tested her and her division. 'I should really be used to it by now.' She sighed inwardly, taking a seat in her chair and glaring at the adults before addressing the three members of her division. "You guys can go, Cindy, Leon, lights out, no playing any games, alright?"

Cynthia nodded, putting her hands behind her back and hiding the plasma sword, while Leon looked disappointed.

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 _Explanations For Many Injuries_

 _(Bree breaking her nose)_

 _Bree- 12 ½_

 _Paige- 13_

Bree perched high up in a tree, amber eyes narrowed with concentration as she carefully aimed the dart gun in her hands, crouching perfectly still on the branch she was perched on. The only sound was of Paige's heavier breathing beneath her, Bree's breathing was soft and inaudible, her instinct to move around and be loud tucked away while she aimed the dart gun, her victim needed to be knocked out, he was too stubborn to come into the medical bay and Jay and Leah had asked her to help them. Despite how loud she was naturally, she was actually a very good sniper, for the simple reason that she had a lot of patience. Staying still was hard, but worth it if she completed the mission successfully.

What Bree hadn't been expecting was a loud obnoxious ring tone starting up, startling her out of her trance and making her foot slip. "Ah!" She crashed to the ground with a loud smack and she heard a crunch over the pain flooding her face. ' _My nose! Starclan my nose hurts!'_ She gave a loud yell in pain through the blood now covering her face and getting into her mouth. Paige scrambled over, her face red as she tucked her phone into her pocket.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked worriedly before recoiling as Bree heaved herself up off the concrete, blinking dazedly at her.

"'ow, 'ad is it?" Bree asked around the blood that covered most of her face, her nose was definitely broken, blood was on the sidewalk, Bree's face, and now her clothes as it trickled down her face to drip down onto her shirt.

"Pretty bad," Paige squeaked back, looking horrified at the bloody mess.

"'G'eat," Bree mumbled, going cross-eyed and trying to see her poor nose.

 _(Leon's metal ribs)_

 _Leon, Cynthia- 13_

Leon raised his arms to block Cynthia's strike and raised them just in time, blocking a painful punch that would've hit him in the ribs. He and Cynthia were sparring in the training room, testing out the new links' power share, meaning Cynthia was a lot stronger than she usually was, and Leon was a lot faster, but he hadn't quite gotten a hold of it, the ability hadn't activated at all yet and it was starting to get on his nerves. ' _How do you get it to work?!'_ He asked her mentally, jabbing towards her shoulder and getting blocked pretty quickly.

' _How do I get my super speed to work?'_ Cynthia asked in the same type of communication, blocking his punch and doing a low sweep to hit his ankles.

' _Yeah'_ Leon jumped over the attempted kick and landed a short jab to her shoulder before leaning backward.

' _I have to have a good reason to, picture something you hold close to you then imagine it being either hurt or destroyed, it usually activates like that.'_ Cynthia replied, jump kicking close to his chest, to which he leaned backward, dodging her.

' _What do you think about?'_ Leon asked, jabbing once again, taking into account her words.

' _You.'_ Cynthia replied, and misjudged the effect her words would have on him, Leon faltered and her sharp punch slammed right into the center of his ribs. They both heard cracking and Leon's face turned white while Cynthia jumped back, blue eyes wide with both surprise. Leon made a strangled and garbled pain filled noise before toppling forward. A second later Cynthia caught him, speeding around him to grab him around the waist from behind and pull him back upright. "Oh star clan, I'm sorry Leon!" Cynthia partially rambled, "I had no idea you weren't going to block that!"

"Ow, ow, ow…" Leon groaned, his face whiter than a sheet, "you broke a few ribs with that one," He wheezed as Cynthia tried to help him leave the training hall, being careful as she could, holding his weight while Leon had one arm draped around her neck, balancing himself.

"A few?!" Leah had panicked when she had gotten the x-rays back, "You broke all of your front ribs!"

Leon looked sharply over at his partner who had tensed up at the exclamation, "Woah, you have a really powerful punch." He told his partner in a wheezy voice, the laughter shaking his body made his ribs hurt even more, but it was worth it for Cynthia's next reaction.

"Shut up you prat," Cynthia mumbled in a British accent, scuffing the toe of her tennis shoes against the tile flooring, her face glowing a light pink at his remark.

 _(Cynthia's replaced vertebrae)_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 13_

 _Hannah- 13 ½_

"Guard Cynthia!" Brad shouted to the rest of the adults that were with him, Cynthia, Leon, and Hannah, "She's got the chemical bombs!" The group had just finished extracting a backpack full of chemical bombs from a camp and apparently, Brad still didn't trust Cynthia, deciding to make the twelve-year-old be the one to carry the explosive objects, that if they went off they would turn everything within a mile radius into rubble.

Leon hated the setup, not being able to do squat if something happened, he was with Hannah, guarding the back left and having fun with his new pistol. Not really, he didn't particularly like long range, he didn't have the natural flare his partner had with a pistol, even with their link. "This is crazy!" He shouted to his father, "Why does she have to carry it?!"

"Because I said so!" Brad shouted back, busy leading the way from the camp.

"Or a better reason would be that I can deal with chemicals!" Cynthia shouted to both of them as she ran past, weaving her way through her team members, "and I run faster than all of you!" Leon laughed and his guard was dropped for a split second.

"Leon Move!" Hannah yelled and tackled him to the ground as a bullet whizzed past where he had been moments earlier.

"Cynthia!" Leon yelled as the girl howled and toppled forward, crashing painfully to the ground. He shook off Hannah and ran over to his partner who shook her head, blue eyes looking around.

"The bullet hit one of the containers," Cynthia said heavily, heaving herself up to her feet, the backpack she was wearing with the chemical bombs was starting to glow slightly, "Don't follow me!" Sprinting off with the aid of her super speed she ran as far as she could within a few seconds before flinging the backpack to the ground and throwing all of her knockout bullet magazines at it as she ran away from it, causing all of the bullets to explode and mix with the other chemicals.

"What are you doing?!" Leon shouted before his eyes widened, "Hit the deck!" he dropped to the ground, pulling Hannah down as well, shielding the other teen as the chemical bomb went off, sending out a decent sized shockwave, the blast itself contained inside the ten foot large, ball-like structure of knockout gas from Cynthia's bullets.

Cynthia on the other hands wasn't as lucky, she got hit directly with both the shockwave and the shrapnel, sending her flying ten feet and crashing back down onto her stomach, staying dead still, feeling something sticky covering the back of her neck.

"Cyndy!" Leon jumped to his feet, sprinting over to where she was and kneeling beside her moving to shake her shoulder but stopping as she contacted him mentally instead.

' _Don't touch my shoulder, Leon, don't move me an inch.'_

' _Why?'_ Leon switched as well, ' _Are you hurt?'_

' _I'd say, with something stuck in the back of my neck. I can't tell how bad it is and I'd rather not die.'_

' _What?! How are we supposed to get you to the medical wing?'_

' _Call, Leah, She'd know.'_

O-o

"Why is it always you two?" Leah sighed as yet again they waited for her to tell them what's wrong. Cynthia had a neck brace for... precautions. "First Leon breaks his ribs, then Cynthia cracks her skull open, and each of you breaks an arm. You two are trouble magnets."

"Can you tell us what's wrong and how to fix it?" Cynthia asked, interrupting her tirade impatiently, rolling her eyes.

"Well unless you want to completely redesign and create vertebrae in your neck your going to be stuck with that brace for the rest of your life." Leah told them with a sigh, "so field duty isn't an option anymore."

"What?!" Both warriors yelled, looking at each other with alarm.

:) :) :) :) :) :)


	56. Next Generation Moment 1

_**Unicorn Brownies- I hope so**_

 _ **Dawnshade49- Don't think poor Cindy for too long, she builds a completely new vertebrae for her neck, allowing her to continue being out on the field! :) I think my favorite part is Bree falling out of that tree, simply because her attempts in talking were hilarious! XD**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- I'm glad you love it! :D XD XD :D**_

 _ **So I was in the mood to write a next generation thing so I did! This one is focused on Cynthia and Leon's family because they are the biggest one and I've been developing these characters for a few weeks now :)**_

 _ **(I didn't mean to have each of the kids three years apart from each other XD I swear that wasn't on purpose XD)**_

 _ **Here are the descrips for the kids, besides Leroy :)**_

 **Cynthia and Leon's Kids**

 **Lixa- Sixteen-year-old girl with wavy golden blonde hair and hazel eyes. Lixa is relatively calm and not as hyperactive as her siblings, her style as a teenager is, "Studious, and artistic" Her golden blonde hair is usually up in a messy bun with two pencils holding it in place. Her usual outfit consists of light paint-splattered blue jeans, a light colored t-shirt that usually says something like, "I didn't finish my homework because my paintbrush strayed over it!" With a multi-shaded gray and white vest over it with a creamy furry hood. (Sound familiar?) Lixa loves digital art. Art, her studies, and her family are her life. She's very close to all of her younger siblings and treats her parents as best she can, even if she feels like they're being stupid.**

 **Fun fact: Lixa is the oldest of all of her cousins, by at least a year. She also constantly carries around a sketchbook and eraser in a backpack slung over her shoulder along with a laptop to do her schoolwork and have fun messing around with coding.**

 **:)**

 **Flynx- A thirteen-year-old boy with dirty blonde hair that looks red in a certain lighting, and multicolored eyes, one aquamarine, one hazel blue. Flynx is just as hyper as his aunt Breanna, but he shows it differently. He keeps calm but can't stay still for longer than two seconds, bouncing around, tapping his foot, and playing drums every day. Flynx's style is, "I have too much energy!" his dirty blonde hair is usually messy and tucked away beneath a baseball cap of the baseball team he plays on. His usual outfit consists of khaki cargo shorts, white and blue hightops, a t-shirt of some random color that usually displayed either Pokemon, Minecraft, or sports, on the front with a light gray and neon blue sports jacket tied around his waist or around his neck like a towel. His glasses are for his nearsightedness and are dark blue rims with small soccer balls decorating the sides near his ears. Flynx is very hyperactive and speaks very fast if he's not making an effort to slow down and calm down. He loves sports, playing every sport his parents will let him play and inherits his father's strength, and his mother's love for the water and swimming on a swimming team. Like his sister, he loves his family with every he had and has a passion for sports and music.**

 **Fun fact: Flynx is the only one out of his two of siblings with a medical condition, he has decently bad ADHD and he is almost fully color blind, the only color he can see besides black, gray, and white, is blue, which is why he wears a lot of blue. He loves reading, he'll read anything and everything he can get his hands on.**

 **:)**

 **Miles- Ten-year-old boy with black hair and baby blue eyes. Miles is the calm one out of his siblings, while Lixa is scatter brained, flynx is hyper, and Cleo is hotheaded, Miles is calm, kind, and quiet. But don't let that fool you, he loves mischief just as much as his twin does and even has matching streaks of baby blue throughout his messy hair, just like his twin. Mile's style is, "Is**

 **everyone okay? Can I pull a prank on you?" His black hair is short enough to do a mohawk and it's his favorite, making the blue stand out even more against his naturally black hair. His usual outfit consists of denim knee length shorts, dark gray converse hightops, a t-shirt with words along the lines of, "Mischief King and Helpful Boy," with a dark grey hoodie with the words, "I love mischief and I solemnly swear that I am up to no good unless I really am being nice." Miles is studious and does all he can to make sure he and his twin get very high grades, he's relatively intelligent and uses that to his advantage in their pranks, school, and just life in general. Miles is just like his predecessor, kind, happy, helpful, and mischievous. He loves his family and tries to do his best to make them all happy, especially his mother, he tried his best to make sure she was okay and that he and Cleo didn't prank her, and with that, he reminds her even more of her brother that he was named after.**

 **Fun fact: Miles plays flute and guitar for his brother's tiny band, consisting of the four siblings. He and his twin are basically attached at the hip, they hate being apart and do almost everything together.**

 **:)**

 **Cleo- Ten-year-old girl with dark brown hair that starts to lighten into a ginger color from her ears and emerald green eyes that change into different shades of blue and green depending on her mood. Cleo is stubborn, very stubborn, combine how stubborn and impulsive her parents are and multiple it by two, at least. Her style is "Mischievous and feisty." She has baby blue highlights, the streaks of baby blue goes through the underside of her hair, so the blue's only visible if she has her hair up in something like a ponytail, which is very often. Cleo could care less about what clothing goes with what but reluctantly attempts to match things. Her usual outfit consists of blue jeans, a t-shirt that says something like, "I'm mischief number one, my twin is also number one," light blue converse, a white hoodie with the words, "I love mischief and I solemnly swear that I am up to not good unless I really am being nice," like her brother's, and eventually wears a golden pendant with a ruby in the center. If you thought Cynthia and Leon were stubborn and emotionally disconnected, she's even worse. With a love for mischief, Cleo causes as much of it as possible while being nice to people, keeping the pranks harmless and sometimes using her fists to communicate her annoyance. But she's also extremely impulsive, she won't stop to wonder about why she was feeling a particular way, she would just do the first thing that comes to mind, whether that be the hit the person, or kiss the person like she does when she is sixteen. She's not afraid of really anything, things may startle, creep, or gross her out but she's not someone who runs away from anything, even a challenge to fight.**

 **Fun fact: Cleo has a blindness trait from her father but isn't completely blind, the more tired she gets the worse her vision gets until she goes blind, but like Jay she doesn't really have an issue being blind, it doesn't bother her and the blindness usually goes away after she closes her eyes for a few hours. But like Flynx, she wears glasses and is color blind, Cleo can't see anything besides the faint tinge of yellow, which is why she likes blonde hair so much, she can see it as something other than gray, black, or white. Cleo has occasional seizures, from what nobody knows, but she's been diagnosed with Epilespy but flashing light don't bother her at all, most things don't.**

 _ **:)**_

 _Protective and Insistent_

 _Leon, Cynthia- 36 (I think)_

 _Lixa- 17_

 _Flynx- 14_

 _Miles, Cleo, Leroy- 11_

Leon folded his arms over his chest, scrutinizing the boy who he didn't know but Cleo and Miles had met at school a few months ago. Cynthia was watching from her position helping Flynx with his homework and Lixa was watching, sitting on the couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table while she sketched, looking at the confrontation going one between her father, sister, brother, and their friend. "Who's this?" Leon asked, his voice was little gruff as he frowned slightly, not a fan of the idea of his daughter's best friend being a boy.

"This is Leroy, dad," Cleo told her father, green eyes flashing as if she dared him to say anything bad about the boy. "He's Miles and I's friend."

"Hello, sir," Leroy spoke a bit tentatively, sunset colored eyes nervous about meeting his friend's father, who he had been told was very protective over his daughters.

Leon looked down at the eleven-year-old boy, narrowing his amber eyes, still scrutinizing the boy. Cynthia decided to take pity on the boy who looked like he'd rather sink into the floor than continue having Leon stare at him. Getting to her feet she walked over to the five of them, "Nice to meet you Leroy, Cleo, why don't you and Miles take Leroy into the living room and finish up your homework before you go play on the wiiU or something."

Cleo nodded to her mother, Cynthia was the one person she would listen to and argue with, she knew how many chores she could easily think up and make her do, and it wasn't wise to upset her. "Okay, come on Leroy!" The stubborn and feisty girl grasped her friend's wrist and pulled him away from her dad towards the living room.

"Cleo," Cynthia raised one hand to stop Leon from interrupting and spoke again, her daughter stopped, looking back at her. Cynthia looked her in the eye, "you don't fancy anyone, correct?"

Cleo nodded without hesitation, "Course not, mom, Leroy's just a friend, besides, he's Miles' best friend too."

"Then go do your homework while I talk to your dad."

"Okay, thanks, mom!"

Miles looked at his mother with a wide smile before he ran after his twin, "Wait for me!" He complained as the other two didn't wait for him.

"I don't like him." Leon insisted stubbornly, keeping his arms folded over his chest and watching the three eleven-year-olds leave.

"Of course you don't," Cynthia laughed, "but if Cleo's anything like me if anything you're going to have to deal with him for the rest of your life Leo." She stated knowingly, she had caught that brief flicker of confusion in her daughter's eyes when she had asked her that question.

"What? Why?" Leon asked, looking over at her as she started walking deeper into the entry room.

"Because I ended up with you didn't I? And I started developing a crush on you around her age. Not that I figured it out for a few years." Cynthia replied as she walked past Flynx, the older kids' faces broke into smiles at their father's alarmed and startled look as he jolted into action and ran after her.

"No way! My daughters are not going to date!" Leon retorted, chasing after Cynthia who was now walking up the stairs.

Cynthia didn't even look back at him, "You have fun with that, Cleo won't listen to a word that comes out of your mouth." She replied snarkily as she kept going up the stairs.

"They aren't!" Leon insisted, staying at the bottom of the stairs and watching her disappear up them.

"Dad," Flynx looked at his father, drumming his fingers eagerly on the table while bouncing one leg, green and blue eyes bright with amusement, "They're going to date whether you like it or not." The fourteen-year-old grinned at his father, dirty blonde hair sticking up in every direction, the baseball cap next to him on the table. "Even Lixa has a crush." Flynx grinned at his seventeen-year-old sister who rolled her eyes as her father looked at her in alarm.

"He's just blowing his own whistle dad," Lixa replied smoothly, golden blonde hair up in a messy bun, hazel green eyes twinkling with humor, "And even if I did, I'm not doing anything about it just yet."

"Good," Leon replied with an almost triumphant air and took a seat next to Flynx on the couch while looking over the fourteen year old's homework. Flynx and Lixa made eye contact and discreetly grinned at each other.

"But would it really matter?" Lixa asked leaning forward towards her father, her tone full of humor, "You and mom had me when you two were nineteen after all." Flynx cracked up while Leon blushed and sprang to his feet, disappearing up the stairs after Cynthia. Flynx and Lixa leaned forward, giving each other a high five and laughing. Cleo, miles, and Leroy were none the wiser, sprawled out in the living room and doing their homework while talking to each other, helping each other with the boring work, Miles was sprawled on one side of his sister hanging off the couch, tongue poking out of his mouth as he scribbled down answers. Cleo was sprawled on her stomach, idly kicking her legs as she wrote down the answers and completed the problems in decent loopy writing. Leroy was sitting up, leaning back against the couch on Cleo's other side, writing down the answers and leaning forward to point out a mistake Cleo had made, explaining what she had done wrong, sunset colored eyes gleaming with amusement as she whined about being horrible with negative signs.

 _ **I don't have a descrip for Leroy because he's Isa's son, and that family doesn't have descrips written yet :) I hope you all like this!**_


	57. Next Gen number 2

_**Echo in the Whispering Wind- I'm glad you liked it! :) Who is Lixa's crush? Nobody will ever know! Mwahahaha! XD**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I know, it's so weird! XD But it's also cool at the same time! :) Yes! Leroy x Cleo! Their names are similar to Cleo's parents' names because of their parents! :) Cleo is a mix of her parents' names,**_ _ **C**_ _ **ynthia**_ _ **Leo**_ _ **n and Leroy is named after Leon because that's what Isa chose to name him.**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- I'm glad you like it! I love it too :)**_

 **Leroy- a Ten-year-old boy with light blonde hair with darker golden streaks going all throughout his messy hair with orangey brown sunset colored eyes. Leroy is a little shy, unused to people not ignoring him. His style is "I love mischief… please don't get mad at me!" He has barely noticeable and very faint blue streaks through his hair when Cleo and Miles were getting their hair dyed and managed to get it in his hair as well. His usual outfit consists of blue jeans, a plain colored t-shirt, gray and black converse, and a darker blue hoodie with a fuzzy interior that his friend loves to steal and hide. Hidden beneath the collar of his shirt he wears a wooden bead necklace that Cleo whittles each bead for him over the span of a few summers. In his back pocket, he carries a small switchblade connected to a thin silver like chain connected to one belt loop. He carries the knife to protect himself and his mom. Leroy is relatively quiet, preferring to communicate silently with Cleo and reading her body language for a reply. He doesn't mind talking to Cleo and Miles and eagerly participates in their pranks and schemes, to happy about having good friends to care about sometimes getting into trouble. Over the years he and Cleo learn to read each other's body language and predict what they were going to say, what they were thinking, and how the other is feeling. Leroy thinks about everything, evaluating everything and the possibilities of everything that was going on which counters his best friend's impulsiveness.**

 _ **This one is a little darker, with Isa being a weirdo. Let me clarify something, I don't hate Icecloud, she's a little annoying but I don't hate you, these characters are LOOSELY based on of their warrior characters, Isa has Icecloud's determination and admiration for Lionblaze(Leon) I pay close attention to her in the books and I know about a lot of her hints towards Lionblaze and I promise I don't hate her, I really don't, Isa's just a little… out of it. I might write an explanation to why, but probably not, unless someone asks me too :) I swear, I'm not trying to be biased towards Icecloud, I'm being biased to Isabella as her own character :D**_

 _Next Generation Short_

 _No… Cleo, couldn't you have chosen anyone else in the world?!_

Cleo's green eyes widened and she took a step back, ' _Oh no.'_ Leroy was looking at her now, confused why she had taken a step back from his mother. Cleo was going to be in big trouble now. "Sorry, Leroy, but I have to go help Flynx with basketball," She lied flawlessly, "It's great to meet your mom, though! See ya!" With that she turned and raced off, searching for her twin brother. Moments later she literally crashed headlong into him, knocking them both to the ground.

"Oooph! Ow Cleo!" Miles complained as she got off him and pulled him to his feet, dragging him behind her and she hid behind a corner, covering Miles' mouth with one hand as Leroy went running past, probably looking for them. "What was that for?" Miles demanded his sister after she let him go.

"Leroy's mom is Isabella!" Cleo hissed to her brother, "remember the person who still bothers mom?!"

"That Isabella?!" Miles gaped, his freckled face draining of color, "We've been friends with her son?!"

"Yes!"

"Hey!" Leroy came running over, "What are you talking about Cleo? Flynx doesn't have a basketball game today… is something wrong?" He looked confused to why the pair of twins were looking hesitant about talking to him. "Did I do something?"

"No, you didn't do anything, Flynx asked us to help him practice and I had to find Miles, that's all," Cleo replied swiftly.

"We need to get going, Cleo," Miles said, starting to drag her away from Leroy and down the hall.

"What's wrong?" Leroy asked, really confused, "Why're you acting this way?" He called to them.

"I'll explain later!" Cleo shouted back before they vanished, leaving Leroy feeling confused and alone once again.

:) :( :( :) :(

"How are we going to do this?" Miles hissed to his twin as they worked on homework in the living room, their parents weren't there, Lixa was there, though, watching over them all, but she wasn't in the room.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Cleo hissed back, writing down an answer, a fierce scowl on her face. "I have no idea!"

"Well, we have to think of something-"

"Think of something what?" Flynx asked as he ran into the room, apparently to energetic to just walk into the room. He plopped down next to his brother, bouncing his leg energetically. "What have you two done know?"

"Leroy's mom is Isabella!" Miles hissed to his older brother and covered his mouth when he tried to yell in surprise. "Sshh! Lixa can't know!"

"I can't know what?" Lixa walked into the room, a pencil tucked behind one ear, hazel eyes narrowing at the situation she found. All three of them looked guiltily at her and she rolled her eyes, sitting next to her sister and looking each of the twins in the eye, "Alright you two, spill the beans."

"Leroy's mom is…" Cleo hesitated, "Isabella." She finished reluctantly, green eyes glimmering sadly as Lixa's hazel eyes hardened at the name.

Flynx removed Miles' hand from over his mouth before speaking, multicolored eyes gleaming empathetically at his younger sister. "Cleo, Leroy isn't his mom, he's your best friend isn't he?" His fingers drummed against the coffee table, tapping his foot in a matching rhythm. "So mom can't blame him, besides, she likes him."

"That's because Leroy's a lot like Leon, both in looks and personality," Lixa said stiffly, remembering that dark night.

"Lixa?" Cleo looked at her older sister, "Can you tell us why mom doesn't like Isa?"

"It's her story-"

"Please!" Cleo asked despairingly.

"Okay, fine," Lixa said, reluctantly agreeing to tell them the story. "Mom told me that when she and dad were kids she had to essentially fight for dad's attention against Isabella and Hannah, when they were teenagers Isabella was a wedge in between our parents, keeping mom away him and confusing her-"

"Why?"

"Because Isabella kept sticking to dad like a squid, she wouldn't let dad do anything with mom, even though she was his best friend for years. After they reached college and had me they thought Isabella had given up, but she hadn't." Lixa's voice darkened and she scowled, "I remember what happened next, I was only six years old when it happened. Dad wasn't home until really late, and even then he seemed off, horrible balance, he could barely talk and seemed angry and frustrated. Flynx and I were hiding on the stairwell while mom tried to see what was wrong with him."

"What happened?"

Lixa's hazel eyes darkened to be haunted, "It was the first and last time I saw him hit her." The other three stared at her as she continued, "I could tell something was wrong when she didn't block it, seeming to be too shocked to actually stop it, he got her on the cheek, and Flynx and I rushed down to go help her when she crashed to the ground, but she yelled at us to stop and that she was fine, Flynx stopped, waiting at the stairwell while I ran over to her anyway."

" _No! It's okay, I'm fine, don't come over here!" Cynthia yelled to the two kids, worried about what Leon would do. She had no idea what was wrong with him but she didn't want to risk the kids getting hurt. Lixa rushed over anyway and Cynthia got to her feet, standing in front of her as Flynx joined his sister, sniffling like he was going to cry. "Leon stop!" She shouted, her voice loud enough to further scare the two kids, "You're scaring them!" Leon faltered, looking like he was struggling against something. "Don't do this to them," She spoke, backing up slightly, forcing the kids back_

"She tried to tell him to stop and that it was scaring Flynx and me, but it didn't work and she shoved us into the living room, sprinting up the stairs with him on her heels, her phone was on the ground, open to Jay and Holly's numbers. So I scrambled over to the phone and managed to call both of them, I didn't understand what was going on at the time, and when I ran up the stairs with Holly I found dad stumbling back away from mom, in their room, his face pale and confused."

"What happened to mom?"

"You know that scar on her face?" Lixa asked her siblings and they nodded, "That's where she got it from. I found her unconscious, lying on her side near a wall, blood glinting on her face."

" _Mom?" Lixa asked timidly, scampering over to her and froze, seeing the blood gleaming on her face in the moonlight. "Mom?"_

"Later, I found out that Isabella had drugged dad, what he did wasn't on his own volition and mom had hit him in the head hard enough to break him out of it. Mom hates Isabella, for that reason."

"Woah." Miles said before looking over at his brother, "Do you not remember any of that?"

"A bit," Flynx took off his cap and scratched his head, his face screwed up as he tried to remember, "I can remember the fear and mom's yelling, but nothing else. But, then again, I have a horrible attention span."

"Yeah, you do." Lixa rolled her eyes.

"So… what about our predicament?" Miles asked his older sister, Cleo doing the same.

"You have to tell mom that Leroy's Isabella's son."

"Are you crazy?!" Cleo shrieks, throwing her hands into the air, "She'd ban m-us from being friends with him!"

Lixa raised an eyebrow as Cleo's falter and the girl blushed slightly but didn't look embarrassed. "It doesn't matter, you have to tell her if you don't you're going to have more issues."

"We can't!" Miles complained, but Cleo contradicted him.

"I'll talk to Leroy tomorrow and we'll talk to mom tonight."

Lixa smirked at her younger sister, "Does someone fancy a certain blonde?"  
"No." Cleo retorted perfectly normal, throwing that suspicion out the window. Lixa rolled her eyes but believed what her sister said, unlike Miles who knew otherwise.

:) :) :) :)

"Hey, Mom? Can I talk to you about something?" Cleo asked her mother, sitting next to her in the parents' room.

"Fire away Cleo," Cynthia said with her eyes closed, leaning back in the reclining loveseat they had up here.

"What would you do if you met Isabella's kid?"

"Treat him like a normal person," Cynthia replied, keeping her eyes closed and body language relaxed.

"You would?" Cleo asked in surprise, staring at her mother in blatant surprise.

"I know what it's like to be ridiculed or have bad experiences, so there's no reason to judge the poor kid who has to have her as a mother," Cynthia replied easily, the corners of her lips twitching into a faint smile as she connected the dots between the question and her daughter's best friend. "Let me guess, Isa's Leroy's mom?"

"Yeah, I'm glad you don't blame him, though," Cleo sighed, slumping back against the cushions as well.

"Eh, I feel bad for the kid, the last time I checked, she was still trying to find a way to get Leon from me."

"Seriously? Aren't you over thirty or something?"

"Yup."

"I don't get it."

"You don't need to Cleo, you aren't a teenager, daddy's princess."

"Thank Starclan."

"You can say that again."

:) :) :) :)


	58. Next Gen number 3-6

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- hehe he… You'll find out :) He's in fighting for love and hope as well, and hates Cynthia and Leon, that give you a clue? :D**_

 _ **Unicorn brownies- Of course they still can! Cleo has the biggest crush on Leroy! Even bigger than the crush Cynthia had on Leon! :D**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- Sure! I can write the full story :) It might take a bit but yeah I can!**_

 _Random Moments :)_

 _Seizures_

"Mom! Cleo's having a seizure!" Lixa yelled to her mother from upstairs where she and her siblings had been playing a game before her younger sister had collapsed, convulsing uncontrollably, lying on her stomach, her face pressed into the carpet. Cynthia dropped what she was doing and sprinted up the stairs, running over and kneeling next to her youngest, watching her while ushering her siblings away after carefully turning her head so she wasn't suffocating in the carpet. Miles crying and trying to reach his sister through his other sister's hold.

"It's okay, Miles," Cynthia told her three year old, "Can you keep calm for me?" She asked and he sniffled huddling into his other sister's embrace and waiting. Cleo kept convulsing, making a horrible gagging and gasping noise over and over as she seized and twitched, finally with a loud sudden gasp she stopped seizing, gasping in every few breaths while Cynthia gently stroked her daughter's dark brown hair. "It's okay, Cleo, it's okay," she soothed, stroking her daughter's hair. Cleo's green eyes cracked open, barely open, half way rolled and unfocused as she stared blankly at her mother, her breathing settling into short deeper breaths that sounded almost like she was roughly snoring. "It's okay," Cynthia soothed, "Cleo, you're okay." Cleo lifted part of her arm, her breathing steadying out. Cynthia carefully lifted Cleo's arm closer up towards her face in a more comfortable position, "Cleo, you're okay."

That how it went for the next few minutes, Cleo half conscious but not at all aware of what was going on around her. Finally they got some response from her, Cleo jerkily lifted her arm to weakly rub her eyes before letting it drop and opening her eyes to look at her mother, green eyes exhausted. "You're okay, Cleo," Cynthia told her, gently taking a blanket and wrapping it around her, "Do you want to go sleep?" She asked the small child who just stared at her, not quite understanding what she had said. Cynthia waited another minute or two, rubbing her daughter's back as she spit up a generous amount of saliva before focusing on her mother, a rattling whimper emerged from her throat and Cynthia smiled reassuringly at her, "Do you want to go sleep?" She slowly asked one more time, and this time got a response, Cleo weakly rubbed at one of her eyes and nodded slightly. Cynthia carefully tucked the blanket tighter around her youngest and gently picked her up, going downstairs to sit in the recliner in the living room with it partially reclined, Cleo settled quietly in her lap, green eyes closing as she fell asleep due to her exhaustion from the seizure.

:) :( :) :( :) :( :) :(

Leon returned from work an hour or so later and found his family all downstairs, the other kids watching a movie to distract Miles while Cynthia sat in the recliner, gently rocking it and reading a book with one hand, the other stroking her daughter's hair, Cleo was asleep in her lap, her head resting against her mother's chest, small hand near her face, green eyes closed. "Hey, I'm home!" Leon smiled at his family, grinning as the three other kids rushed over to say hello, Flynx got there first, the hyperactive child bouncing around and hugging his father multiple times, too excited to be quiet.

"Shh," Cynthia reprimanded the other kids, "Cleo's sleeping you three, so keep your voices down."

The three kids reluctantly quieted down and settled on hugging their father's legs and getting a hug from him instead of making a lot of noise and waking up their sister. After the three kids went back to their movie, Leon went over to his wife and leaned over, gently kissing her hello before ruffling his daughter's hair, "Was everything alright today?" He asked, sitting on the armrest of the recliner.

"Cleo had another seizure," Cynthia replied, continuing to read her book and stroke her daughter's hair, completely unfazed by the whole thing, she was used to it by now, three years of Cleo having seizures made it a normal thing in that particular household.

 _Roses fix everything don't they?_

Flynx grinned an excitable grin at his friend, multicolored eyes bright and amused, "Yep, I'm ninety-five percent color blind, can't see any color besides, blue, gray, white, and black." He grinned, drumming his fingers on his desk while bouncing his leg and twirling a pencil between the fingers of his other hand.

"You're crazy." Alex sighed, jotting down a few notes in his notebook, head propped up on one hand.

"Who asked you?" Lixa snapped scathingly, the seventeen-year-old girl defending her brother as she alternated between sketching and taking notes.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way," Alex backtracked quickly, hoping not to upset his blonde friend, "I just meant that your family has a lot of quirks, with half of your siblings color blind and Flynx being really hyper all the time." He jotted down a few more notes, looking at Lixa through nervous amber eyes, probably worried about getting his butt kicked by his female friend, who was like her mother and had enough strength for it to be almost weird.

Lixa gave an indignant huff and ignored him, turning towards her younger brother comparing notes with him instead of Alex.

A wide grin broke out on Flynx's face as he looked over his sister's shoulder at the messy haired ginger, ' _You so put your foot in your mouth with that one.'_ He mouthed to him when his sister was looking at the front of the classroom.

' _I know.'_ Alex mouthed back, trying to think of some way to get back into her good books, ' _What am I going to do?'_

' _Draw a pretty picture my friend.'_ Flynx replied before ducking as his sister weakly smacked him upside the head when she caught him mouthing the words to their friend.

Alex just stared at his baseball-capped friend, not sure what to draw and what he was talking about. Then he looked down at the sketchbook beside his notes, the open page blank and clean, an eraser lying on top of it like it was waiting for him to use it. Hiding the sketchbook he started to draw while trying to keep up with his notetaking.

:)

When the bell rang, Alex carefully folded up his drawing before he tucked it into Lixa's sketchbook as she dragged her brother over to the teacher to ask her a question with her younger brother at her side. Alex caught Flynx's eyes and discreetly nodded as he tucked his things into his backpack and slung it over one shoulder, silently slipping out of the classroom on his way to meet up with his other friends and check on his siblings.  
Flynx watched him leaving, already zoning out and drumming his fingers on his backpack strap. "Come on Lixa! We're going to be last again for the third day in a row!" He complained, pulling at his sister's arm, his competitive side emerging as he hoped to beat their cousins and other friends to the haven.  
"In a minute FLynx!" Lixa hissed back at him before listening to the teacher explain something to her, "Oh! That makes a lot more sense, thanks Clark!" She said to her uncle before Flynx dragged her back to their shared table, dumped her things into her backpack besides her sketchbook -which she snatched out of his hands before her could- and pulled her out the door.

"We're winning this time!" He insisted, racing down the stairs two at a time while his older sister nearly tripped on a stair behind him.

"Slow down you maniac!"

"I want to win!-"

"Too late!" Caylee grinned from her position at the table where all nine of the teenage cousins were seated, each doing something different, Caylee was the only one really focused on everyone, Minerva was reading a book, Kia had headphones on and was listening to something as she munched on her lunch, the boys -besides Connor- were arguing about what soccer team was better, and Maylea and Hailey were giggling together about something or other, probably boys.

"Oh come on!" Flynx wilted, hanging his head in defeat once again, "I really wanted to win, Lixa!" He whined as he and his sister took their seats at the table, Flynx slouching in the padded chair.

"Sorry, Flynx," Lixa apologized to her brother, settling in her seat and opening her sketchbook, "I had a question I wanted answered… What's this?" She had noticed the folded up drawing.

"I don't know, but we're dead last again!" Flynx whined, pulling a cheese stick out of his backpack and moodily taking a bite, bouncing his leg and drumming his fingers on the table.

Lixa ignored him again, unfolded the paper canvas and faltering, hazel eyes widening in surprise and shock. Sketched neatly on the sheaf of paper was a realistic looking rose, thorns and all. Written at the bottom in his usually messy handwriting was the words, _I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset, I tend to speak without thinking, forgive me?' ~Art Master Connor_. Lixa's hazel eyes soften and she looks up in time to catch sight of Alex who was just leaving the building to one of the other ones. ' _Of course I forgive you Alex you doofus,'_ Lixa thought, looking back down at the realistic, pencil drawn and shaded rose. ' _You know I like roses.'_

Flynx glanced over at his sister and grinned, stopping the whining to be content with his sister's temporary contentment. How long it was going to last? Nobody knew.

:) :) :)

 _On impulse… Okay, Now it's just awkward_

Cleo studied her friend silently, her green eyes taking in his slouched and nervous posture, like he expected her to smack him for giving her something jewelry related. Miles looked between them, not sure what to say or do, this whole situation was extremely awkward, from both the emotions between his stubborn sister and his meek friend. It was their birthday today, Cleo and Miles' and so far it had been great, with it being a Friday and a short day as well. But the tenseness between the three sixteen year olds was thick enough you could cut it with a knife. Rix was sitting quietly at his handler's converse clad feet, looking up at her and nuzzling the pant leg of her jeans, making sure she was still aware of what was going on.

Cleo looked down at the small golden pendant in her hands, it wasn't a locket but had the words, _My first friend_ engraved in the shiny ruby in the center of the teardrop shaped pendant. "Um… I don't know what to say." Cleo said sheepishly, getting a snort from her brother and a nervous chuckle from Leroy, "I really don't."

"Do you like it?" Leroy asked her, sunset colored eyes partially hidden by his messy blonde hair as he tilted his head down and scuffed the ground with the toe of his hightops.

"Of course," Cleo smiled warmly at him, still confused on what to do about it. An idea came to mind and she didn't really think about it too much, "I can't do clasps though," She admitted with a faint blush, and her brother stared at her in surprise, Cleo didn't blush, she never did and he had never seen it in his life.

"I can help you with it," Leroy said tentatively, looking back up at her, raising his eyes to hers.

"If you wouldn't mind," Cleo smiled and handed him the pendant before turning around and brushing her auburn hair away from her neck. Leroy managed not to fumble with the clasp, undoing it and putting the necklace on around his friend's neck, standing behind her to do so.

"There," He said quietly, moving to stand partially to her left, locking his sunset eyes with her green ones, head tilted down slightly. Cleo stood still, her green eyes a calm shade of gentle aquamarine, one hand gently clasped around the pendant now hanging around her neck.

' _I wonder…'_ Cleo briefly wondered before ceasing the curiosity by impulsively performing the curious action, lifting her head and turning a little more to her left before kissing Leroy, the kiss was sideways with their position and decently uncomfortable, but it wasn't too bad. Miles startled them apart with a surprised yelp and whirling around.

"Ah!" Miles yelped, spinning around and covering his eyes, trying to get the image of his sister kissing their best friend out of his mind, "Oh Starclan, I did not need to see that!" He groaned, pressing his fingers to his closed eyes.

Cleo and Leroy jolted apart, nearly knocking Cleo's glasses off in the process. Cleo blushed heavily and avoided looking at Leroy, shifting her backpack and pushing her glasses further up her nose, fixing the crooked angle they were currently at. She scuffed the ground with the toe of her converse, rubbing Rix's ears and avoiding looking at the boy to her left, too embarrassed and awkward. Leroy looked in the opposite direction, his ears bright red with embarrassment as he also shifted his backpack and looked down at the ground. "Oops." Cleo said awkwardly, frustrated with her impulsiveness once again.

"It's okay." Leroy replied instantly, still not looking at her, just as awkward as she was.

"That's never going away," Miles complained turning back around to face the other two awkward teenagers, his ears also slightly red from his shock and embarrassment at witnessing his sister's first kiss, "That… bleh."

"Sorry, Miles," Cleo mumbled, walking over to her twin brother, "We should get going, Mom's going to have a fit."

"Probably," Miles agreed reaching over and adjusting his sister's glasses back to normal before looking at Leroy, "See ya later Leroy!" He said as they started walking home, Cleo completely silent, feeling awkward around both the boy she had kissed and her brother. "I didn't see that one coming," Miles told his sister as they walked home, his baby blue eyes fixed on her.

"Me either." Cleo sighed a few moments later, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses, "When do I get the new contacts?" She asked, keeping the conversation in safe territory.

"Monday I think, why? Tired of your glasses?" Miles asked, noticing the change in subject and allowing her to get back into her comfort zone.  
"I'm tired of trying to rub my eyes and constantly running into my glasses." Cleo replied simply, dropping her arms back to her sides as Rix nudged her in the back of the knee, "I know boy, I know I'm going to be blind in a minute." She told her dog, rubbing his ears as they sped up their pace just a hair.

"That's a good reason to want the contacts," Miles admitted, walking a little faster, hoping to get home before his sister's vision failed.

:)

Over the weekend Leroy didn't come over and hang out with Miles and Cleo like he usually did, the three had seen each other once that weekend and promised themselves not to do it again. It was extremely awkward, Leroy and Cleo avoiding each other's eyes, acting like the most awkward people in the world. Cynthia was already suspicious, with the absence of the boy who was always there at their house, hanging out with the twins, having a sleepover with them, or coming over to take them places. Seeing them all together on Monday confirmed it, Leroy and Cleo were avoiding each other, being around each other but awkwardly ignoring the other person's presence. After school, she decided to take action, giving the three teenagers a suggestion on going to the park.

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia stopped her son from following her daughter and her friend, "they need to work it out on their own Miles, as much as you wish you could help them figure it out they have to do it on their own."

"Why? Cleo and I do everything together!" Miles complained, watching his sister look back at him in confusion, wondering why he wasn't coming with her. Leroy glanced back as well, the two pausing to look back at their brother and or friend, not understanding why he wasn't coming. Cynthia gave her daughter an assuring look and the teenager seemed to understand when she took a deep breath and continued walking away from her twin brother, Leroy walking beside her, their shoulders brushing occasionally.

"Because you can't help your sister decide what she feels Miles," Cynthia told her youngest son, "Leroy may be your friend but Cleo's got other feelings for him, and she needs to figure it out without your help."  
"But mom!"

"No buts about it young man," Cynthia replied, her tone both amused and serious, "You have a lot of schoolwork to do and I better see all of it completed and turned in this week."  
"I'll get started on it now." Miles mumbled, walking back into the house and trudging up the stairs.

Cynthia watched her daughter disappear out of sight, ' _Be brave Cleo, you can figure it out angel, don't follow my example, it only leads to more heartache.'_

:)

"So…" Cleo said awkwardly, looking at her friend through the corner of her eye, "I kissed you…"

"Yeah…" Leroy replied just as awkward, shifting his weight slightly.

"This is awkward." Cleo sighed, attempting to restrain her impulsive nature as she briefly wondered about something else that would probably make it even more awkward.

"Yeah."

"Are you going to say anything else? I can say I'm sorry till the moon and back but it won't do squat."

"What do you want me to say?" Leroy asked her, looking over at her, "I don't know what to say and whether you will get upset or not."

"How about… did you like it?" Cleo asked timidly, strangely timid for her boisterous nature.

"I don't know-"

"I did." Cleo said, her voice wavering just slightly as she said it, "I liked it… a lot."

"It was… nice?" Leroy said, grasping for the right words, "It was really nice, I guess I liked it too?" He said his tone soft and unsure.

"I've never been kissed before." Cleo mumbled, not looking at him as she spoke.

"That was your first kiss?" Leroy asked her in surprise, with Cleo's attitude and looks he had always guessed she had been kissed plenty of times.

"Yeah, I guess I was saving it." Cleo shrugged slightly, still not looking at him. "What about you?"

"Same." Leroy replied and this time it was Cleo who was surprised, Leroy was a sports player and it would make sense that he had been kissed before as well.

"I want the awkwardness to go away." Cleo mumbled, "It's stupid. Just because I have a crush on you doesn't mean it should be awkward." She mumbled, hardly noticing her slip up.

Leroy looked over at her, "You… have a crush on me?"He asked in surprise and a little bit of shock. Cleo shrugged in reply, a faint blush lighting up her cheeks and she didn't respond, choosing to instead, kick a small pebble down the street. "I have a crush on you too." He blurted rather quickly, walking a little faster to avoid looking over at her.

Cleo stared in shock for a few moments before rushing to catch up to him and tentatively grasping his hand, "then we're on the same page," She said firmly, looking at him, green eyes twinkling adoringly, "Maybe more than friends in the future?" She asked a bit confidently.

"Of course," Leroy grins back at her, lacing their fingers together and smiling wider as she stepped closer their shoulders brushing, Cleo softly swinging their joined hands.


	59. Next Gen: Leon's Drugged!

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Yup, the annoying Sam :) I know what you were thinking and yeah, his dad's Sam, although Isa's a chemical engineer just like Cynthia, but she specializes in genetics and biology, meaning she could've modified Leroy's DNA to give him the blonde hair and sunset colored eyes, who knows? XD :D Cleo and Leroy are cute! :)**_

 _ **Featherflight123- Yay! Leroy x Cleo forever!**_

 _ **Echo in the whispering Wind- Shippings! :D**_

 _ **Dawnshade49- That's a few moments with the next generation of characters :) Cynthia and Leon's kids at the moment :) I hope it's not too hard to follow, Is cronicals of ancient darkness: wolfbrother a fanfiction? Or a published book?**_

 _Lixa's story Further explained_

Leon felt a stinging pain in his arm and he finally managed to tear off the blindfold and elbow the man holding him in the gut, his arm stinging thoroughly as his vision swam and mostly blackened, "get off of me!" He snarled, throwing the other person off and stumbling towards his house, ' _I need to get to Cyn before this stuff screws with my mind!'_ He thought, struggling to keep going, his senses were being disoriented, his vision blurry and faint, his ears ringing, ' _Leave me alone Isa! I hate you!'_ He yelled mentally, struggling to get the door unlocked and open. He managed to get inside and slouched against the doorframe, his vision blurring further as he looked blankly at the fuzzy shape of the entry room in his house, unsure what he was seeing.

:( :( :( :(

Cynthia cautiously approached Leon, noticing the confusion and anger in his amber eyes and how he had himself propped up against the doorway, he looked like a mess, tired, confused, angry, and upset. "Leon?" She asked carefully, getting a little closer to him, "Are you okay?"

"Go away Isa," Leon slurred, his amber eyes confused and full of anger and frustration, "I hate you."

"What?" Cynthia's eyebrows furrow in confusion, "I'm not Isa, Leon, it's me, Cynthia."

"I don't believe you." He slurred, managing to gather his balance enough to stand properly, convinced she was Isa, the person who had injected the drugs into his system.

"Leo, I swear it's me... what happened?" She asked, taking a small step closer to him, unsure what was wrong with him. She could hear the stairs creaking as their two kids hid at the stairwell, probably confused and scared. "I promise, it's me, Cyndy."

"Leave me alone Isa!" Leon slurred, his vision too blurry to distinguish anything, his ears were ringing, making her voice higher pitched and more like Isa's, "go away!"

"Leon-"

"Go away!" He roared, attempting to perform a warning punch that was supposed to miss her.

Cynthia's blue eyes widened and she stumbled backward as the punch connected with her left cheek. Tripping over one of the kids' toys her back hit the ground with a hard crash and she groaned, her back stinging painfully, and her cheek throbbed with pain. Through the extreme pain, she noticed the two kids rushing down the stairs towards her. Panicking with Leon's unstable state she yelled, "No! It's okay, I'm fine! Don't come over here!" Flynx froze at the bottom of the stairs, huddling close to one of the bars while Lixa ignored her warning and rushed over anyway, forcing her mother into action once again as Leon growled and got closer, squinting, his hands tightening into fists. Cynthia forced aside the pain and heaved herself to her feet, her balance barely good enough to keep her on her feet as Flynx joined his sister, sniffling heavily and trying not to cry. "Leon stop!" Cynthia yelled at her partner, raising her voice in hopes of snapping him out of whatever he was stuck in, "you're scaring them!" Leon faltered and she noticed the way he was fighting against something, struggling. With her hands behind her back she quickly found Jay and Holly's contacts as Leon got closer, "don't do this to them," She pleaded with him, backing up towards the living room, forcing the two kids back and away from their unstable father, "please Leon, don't hurt them." He just growled in reply, his blurry vision focused on her and her alone. Cynthia pushed the kids back into the living room, threw her phone as well and slammed the door shut, sprinting up the stairs as fast as she could, only two stairs ahead of him. ' _I have to do something!'_

:( :( :( :( :(

Lixa scrambled over to her mother's phone which had slid on the carpet and was lying screen down on the creamy carpet, finding it open to two numbers Lixa called them both, in tears from her fear, "Aunt Holly? Uncle Jay?" She asked into the phone, crying while doing so, Flynx was huddled near the door, the small child crying at the top of his lungs, scared for his mother.

:( :( :( :(

Cynthia tripped on the last stair and managed to twist, falling onto her back rather than her stomach and found herself in even more pain than before. Leon jumped over her and grabbed her ankles, hauling her away from the stairs, grumbling under his breath as he did so, she knew he thought she was Isa and frankly it terrified her of what he was going to do to her because of that. "Leon! Listen to me!" She pleaded, struggling to sit up and free her ankles from his grasp, "It's me! I'm not Isa! I swear!" She managed to get her ankles free and ran away from him, sprinting into their room and slamming the door, pushing her back against the door and digging her heels into the carpet as he slammed his shoulder into the door, "Leo it's me, Cyndy!"

"I don't believe you!" Leon roared, slamming into the door again, "You screwed with my senses, Isa!"

' _Oh Starclan no, please tell me she didn't use a chemical solution on him!'_ Cynthia dug her heels farther into the floor as Leon started just pushing on the door from the other side, pushing against the door with all of his strength. "I'm not Isa!"

:( :( :( :(

"What's wrong, Lixa?" Holly picked up the phone and Lixa cried harder, glad to hear her aunt's voice.

"Daddy's gone crazy!" She cried, huddled next to her brother, scared by the racket happening upstairs.

"What do you mean? Leon's not crazy, Lixa." Holly's voice was calm and collected, helping the small girl calm down.

"He's being mean! He hit mommy!" She sobbed, hiding with her brother as she heard her mother shriek in what sounded like pain.

"What?!"

:( :( :( :( :( :(

Cynthia shrieked as Leon shoved open the door with enough strength to send her crashing into the wall and the door to make a loud bang. "Leon! Stop it!" She yelled, scrambling back away from him as he blindly searched for something in a chest of drawers. Cynthia's face drained of color as she realized what he had found. "Oh, Starclan… Leon! Put that knife down!" She dodged his attempt to tackle her and tried to do it again but he timed it right the next time, tackling her to the floor and pinning her down, a fierce scowl on his face, his anger and actions heightened drastically. He would never do this to anyone when he wasn't under a drug that viciously heightened his emotions and actions while diminishing his senses. "Leon, please, I'm not Isa! I'm not who you think I am! I'm Cynthia! Cynthia Bramble!"

:( :( :( :(

"I'm on my way, Lixa, don't get involved till I get there alright?"  
"Hurry Holly!" Lixa cried, "they're scaring me!"

"I'm coming Lixa, it'll be okay princess."

:( :( :( :(

"I don't believe you!" Leon growled, squinting at her.

"Leon, please believe me," She pleaded with him, blue eyes wide with fear, "don't hurt us!"

Leon's arm was already in motion, but he tried to stop the action as Cynthia managed to hit him hard in the temple with a book she was able to reach while turning her head to one side, the blade ended up slicing open her face and part of her neck, rather than doing some severe damage. Leon roared in pain and scrambled up and away from her, fighting the drug, struggling viciously against it. Cynthia didn't even get to her feet, she just panted, out of breath and her body ached, her face burned and her back hurt really badly. Leon hit himself in the head, obviously attempting to free himself and accidently kicked Cynthia in the shoulder, making her roll onto her side and whack her head on the wall, sliding into unconsciousness rather suddenly.

:( :( :( :( :(

Holly raced into the house, "Lixa! Where are your parents?" She asked, completely out of breath. Lixa raced up the stairs, still crying but less now that the ruckus had completely stopped and it was dead silent. Holly raced after her, sprinting up the stairs and to her brother's room, finding him and Cynthia, Leon stumbling backward, blinking rapidly, looking confused and horrified, his face white as a sheet. "Oh my Starclan Leon, what happened?!" Holly rushed over to Cynthia, checking her unconscious sister in law for a pulse and finding one rather easily.

"I-I don't know, i-is she okay?" Leon asked his sister, keeping his distance away from the two girls, afraid he would hurt them.

"I'm not sure, the cut on her face probably needs stitches, Leon, that's pretty deep."

"Mom?" Lixa asked timidly, scampering over to her mother and froze, seeing the blood gleaming on her face in the moonlight. "Mom?!"

"It's okay Lixa," Holly soothed her, "She's just tired, can you call Jay for me?"  
"Y-yeah," Lixa glanced at her father before racing back down the stairs, unsure what to think.

Holly looked at her brother, "Cynthia seems fine Leon, but I can't be sure if the twins she's carrying are okay as well, I have no idea if they're okay."

Tears welled in Leon's amber eyes and he hung his head, "I'm sorry," He said, voice strained, "I don't know what happened, but I'm really sorry."

"I know," Holly told her brother, gently shaking Cynthia's shoulder and trying to wake her up, "Wake up Cindy, you need to wake up."

Cynthia's blue eyes cracked open and the first thing she said was, "Is Leon okay?" She rasped, her voice tired from all the yelling she had done, "The twins?"

"Leon's fine, he's back to normal it seems, and…" Holly hesitated, "I can't tell you if the twins are okay or not, I have no idea."

"Okay," Cynthia mumbled, mostly closing her eyes again.

"How badly are you injured, Cindy?" Holly asked her, green eyes fixed worriedly on her.

"Besides my back hurting like I've been dragged along a path of glass? My face hurts and I landed on my wrist funny." She mumbled.

"Jay will be here soon, just stay with us, Cindy."

"I am," Cynthia mumbled a reply, not noticing Leon looking at her with both fear and hope in his amber eyes.

:( :( :( :( :(

 _ **And That's the full story :)**_


	60. Singing Is Passed Down(Singingspinoff 11

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Cynthia would've killed him if he did what you were thinking XD Leroy's older than the twins by six months XD You shall never know! Mwahahaha!**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- Glad you like it! :)**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I love all the caps XD The twins are fine, that's why Cynthia landed on her back twice, to protect the twins :) They are alive later aren't they? But unfortunately they have their parent's bad luck, hence the scar across the front of Cleo's neck at 14 Cinderblaze Forever! :D :D :D XD**_

 _She takes after her mother, Cynthia, she's just like you (Singing Spinoff #11)_

 _Cleo sings "You Belong With Me" By Taylor Swift_

 _(Mother-daughter bonding)_

Cynthia froze with her hand on the doorknob to her recording studio, hearing someone quietly singing something in a half-hearted voice, obviously tired of something or other.

" _ **You're on the phone with girlfriend,**_

 _ **she's upset**_

 _ **She's going off about something that you said**_

 _ **She doesn't get your**_

 _ **Humor like I do,"**_ Cynthia heard from inside the music room and she carefully opened the door enough to catch a peek of who was singing. Dark auburn hair and a light gray hoodie surprised her, she didn't expect her youngest daughter Cleo to be the culprit, the teenager was usually busy with either her sports, her friends, or her twin brother and her mother had never known that she liked to sing, she hadn't ever heard it before either.

" _ **I'm in the room, it's a**_

 _ **Typical Tuesday night**_

 _ **I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like**_

 _ **and she'll never know**_

 _ **Your story like I do."**_ Cleo sang most of it under her breath, barely loud enough for Cynthia to hear her, the teenager was slumped forward over her mother's lyric writing desk, idly tapping the end of a pencil against the desk to the beat of the half mumbled lyrics she was singing.

" _ **But she wears short**_

 _ **Skirts, I wear t-shirts**_

 _ **She's cheer captain**_

 _ **and I'm on the bleachers,**_

 _ **Dreaming about the day**_

 _ **When you'll wake up and find**_

 _ **That what you're lookin**_

 _ **For has been here the**_

 _ **Whole time!"**_ Cleo's voice got a little stronger at what sounded like the chorus of sorts and Cynthia silently slipped into the room, gently closing the door behind her and taking a seat in one of the beanbags she never had the heart to get rid of, noticing how her daughter had her head resting on her arms, face turned away from her mother's direction and staring blankly at the wall to her left.

" _ **If you could see that I'm**_

 _ **The one who understands you**_

 _ **Been here all along so why can't you see!**_

 _ **You belong with me!**_

 _ **You belong with me!"**_ Cynthia knew that was the chorus, she could tell by the way her daughter didn't fumble over the words at all, choruses were easy to make compared to the actual verses themselves so usually they were easier to recite. She studied her daughter, blue eyes empathetic as she looked her over, taking in the tired and defeated position and mumbled words.

" _ **Walkin the streets with you and your worn out jeans**_

 _ **I can't help thinking this is how it ought to be**_

 _ **Laughing on the park bench thinkin to myself,**_

" _ **Hey isn't this easy?"**_

 _ **And you've got a smile**_

 _ **That could light up this whole town**_

 _ **I haven't seen it in a while**_

 _ **Since she brought you down**_

 _ **You say your fine,**_

 _ **I know you better than that**_

 _ **Hey, whatcha doing with a girl like that?"**_ Cynthia continued to watch her daughter, legs curled beneath her on the beanbag as she leant back in the comfortable and fluffy seat, watching and listening to her daughter's mumbled singing, Cleo's voice was clear despite the low tone and half-hearted emotion in both her voice and her body language and it made Cynthia wonder if Cleo wanted to pursue a musical career like her mother or continue with her sports and chemistry.

" _ **She wears high heels, I wear sneakers**_

 _ **She's cheer captain and**_

 _ **I'm on the bleachers,**_

 _ **Dreaming about the day**_

 _ **When you'll wake up and find**_

 _ **That what you're lookin**_

 _ **For has been here the whole time!**_

 _ **If you could see that I'm the one who understands you**_

 _ **Been here all along so why can't you see!**_

 _ **You belong with me!**_

 _ **Standing by or waiting at your back door**_

 _ **All this time how could you not know baby**_

 _ **You belong with me!**_

 _ **You belong with me!"**_ Cleo's singing trailed off and Cynthia breifly wondered if she was finished and even moved to get up before stopping and settling back into her seat, listening as Cleo continued singing.

" _ **Oh, I remember you driving to my house**_

 _ **In the middle of the night**_

 _ **I'm the one who makes you laugh**_

 _ **when you know you're about to cry**_

 _ **I know your favorite songs**_

 _ **And you tell me about your dreams**_

 _ **I think I know where you belong**_

 _ **think I know it's with me...**_

 _ **Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?**_

 _ **Been here all along so why can't you see**_

 _ **You belong with me**_

 _ **Standing by or waiting at your back door**_

 _ **All this time how could**_

 _ **You not know baby**_

 _ **You belong with me**_

 _ **You belong with me**_

 _ **Have you ever thought, just maybe**_

 _ **You belong with me**_

 _ **You belong with me…"**_ Cleo abruptly ended with a heavy sigh, letting the pencil drop from her fingers to clatter down onto the desk.

"I've never heard you sing before," Cynthia said quietly after letting Cleo gather her thoughts together, watching her worn out daughter with gentle blue eyes.

"Yeah, well I don't do it very often." Cleo sighed, not showing any surprise at finding her mother there, half the time her mother lived in here anyway so it wasn't too surprising to her. She sat up and leaned back against the chair she was sitting in, rubbing a hand tiredly over her face before allowing the chair to slowly spin around and face her mother.

"Your voice is beautiful Cleo," Cynthia told her softly, keeping her voice relatively hushed, attempting to keep the calm peace they had going on at the moment.

"Nah," Cleo shook her head, leaning on one of the armrests on the chair, "My voice sucks, but that's okay, if I do chemistry or something then my voice doesn't really matter now does it?"

Cynthia studied her for a few moments, noticing the faint spark of pride that had flared inside Cleo's green eyes when Cynthia complimented her voice, high praise from a professional singer like herself. "You sound just like me at your age," She said fondly, relaxing a little more, despite the strain her voice had gone through for the past twenty or so years it wasn't dying on her… yet, but she didn't really think about it that much, it didn't really matter at this point. She had done exactly what she had wanted and that's what mattered to her now.

"Seriously? How?" Cleo asked, feeling proud that she was like her mother, even though the two of them often butted heads and Cleo's favorite parent was her father, she was often told she was a lot like her mother, besides the random bouts of music frenzy that made her mother often vanish to the recording studio now.

"Your voice is higher but still a well-ranged soprano like me, plus you like a golden blonde boy," Cynthia's blue eyes twinkle, "So did I at your age."

"Dad?" Cleo asked her mother, the teenager curious about her parents.

"Of course, did you think I liked Brendan or something?" Cynthia rolled her eyes at the idea while Cleo chortled, her mother with who was now her uncle Brendan? Starclan now, her mother would have killed him within the first week. "Anyway, not to mention we seem to use music as an outlet."

"An outlet to what?"

"Our hurt and other negative emotions," Cynthia replied, raising an eyebrow as Cleo blushed.

"Right," Cleo replied, attempting to wipe the blush off her face. It was quiet for a few moments, mother and daughter dreading to next part of the conversation.

Cynthia broke the silence first, "So Leroy's with somebody?"

Cleo shrugged, "Yeah… her name's Irene I think," She continued at Cynthia's raised eyebrow, "I spend most of my time ignoring her so her name isn't really my concern."

"Ah, of course."

"Mom? Can you tell me what happened between you and Dad a while ago?" Cleo asked her mother, "I don't understand it." She needed some kind of advice but really didn't want to say it outright.

Cynthia hummed a thoughtful noise before deciding to reply, "Sure, Cleo, I'll tell you a few things that happened if that'll help." Cleo avoided her eyes and Cynthia smiled softly before her blue eyes distanced slightly, slightly fogged over with memories, "At your age, your father and I got along like most friends did, besides the added sporadic kinds of moments that seemed to happen on a day to day basis."

"What do you mean?"  
Cynthia snorted, "We were in constant trouble with Firen and Gunner on physical affection and what not. In fact, Brendan kept suggesting to our siblings to just gluing us together, whether it was by the hand or the face we never found out because I punched him into his locker and wouldn't let him out till he agreed to shut up."

Cleo's green eyes glittered with mirth, she could imagine that kind of scene, Brendan annoyed practically everyone, her mother most of all so the picture of her mother at sixteen punching him into a locker and slamming it closed wasn't too out there. "By the face?" She asked with a laugh and a raised eyebrow.

Cynthia rolled her eyes good-naturedly as she replied, "Yes, by the face, Brendan caught us kissing once or twice in the hallways and milked it for what it was worth, his nose wasn't the same ever again after those confrontations."

"I believe it," Cleo chortled, Brendan's nose was crooked now, he never told anyone the reason for it besides saying he didn't deserve it. "He always says he didn't deserve it."

"Oh he deserved it, it was a very nice moment before he had crashed into us, turned on his heel and ran, yelling how Cynthia Lawson and Leon Bramble were kissing in the hallways the first time. The second time was worst," Cynthia visibly shuddered, "the second time he caught us, he snuck up behind me and pinched the back of my neck before tasering me. Let's just say that I've never jumped higher, squealed louder, nor punched him harder in my life."

"Ouch!" Cleo laughed, "Why were you two doing that there anyway?"

"I had my reasons." Cynthia shrugged casually, "Anyway we're getting way off topic. It wasn't till we were about sixteen and a half when the drama started. For years everyone at our school knew your father was mine, everyone just considered the two of us dating and left it at that. Until Isabella or as I still call her Isa, transferred into the school. She took a liking to your father right away and I could tell something bad was going to happen. So for six months, I struggled to keep her away from him in anything other than friends, making sure they weren't alone or anything like that, at the time I didn't know how much courage Isa had."  
"What happened?"  
"I turned down Haliah's offer of singing for the school," Cynthia hastened to explain at Cleo's confused look, "Nobody knew I could and did sing at that time, and I went to find Leon for basketball stuff he wanted my help with. What I found was not at all what I was expecting." Cynthia said, blue eyes growing distant again, "I found the two of them kissing in the gym and couldn't handle it, so I ran from both of them."

"I would've punched her in the face," Cleo told her mother, green eyes flashing.

"You would have I'm sure, but I'm a coward remember?" Cynthia rolled her eyes, "So I did what came naturally, I ran. A few days turned into two weeks and by that time I had already started the song I would sing to the school and the song that would be one of the best singles I have."

Cleo racked her brain before her green eyes lit up and she stared at her, "You wrote it for him?"

"I wrote most of my music for Leon, not that he knew it at the time, but yes, I wrote 'My life would suck without you' for him, trying to display what I was feeling at the time," Cynthia replied, "After I personally embarrassed myself and practically told him my feelings through the music we got to together, after your father took care of Isa of course."

"Just like that?"  
"Pretty much," Cynthia replied looking at her daughter, "that's just how your father and I work, through music, if I'm mad at him I will yell and curse at him in my native dialect, but I will also sing something, for example, I wrote Mr. Know it all because I was ticked off at him."

"I've noticed that a lot of those songs were written within a few months span, did something happen?" Cleo asked curiously, having never heard the story before.

"Did something happen? Boy did something happen," Cynthia replied, a little touchy on the subject years later.

"Can you tell me?... I mean you don't have to tell me." Cleo backtracked, noticing the slightly shift in Cynthia's demeanor.

"Nah, I don't mind, it's not the end of the world or anything. But you have to tell me what's going on between you and Leroy when I'm finished."

"Okay," Cleo agreed, a bit reluctantly.

"About a year after we got together I had an argument with your father in regards to my music, he said it wasn't a career and I should find something else, so naturally I blew up at him and stormed off. Later the night I wrote Don't let me stop you and literally threw the disc at him telling him to listen to it and to not talk to me after. Through the song, I put subtle hints that he picked up on and understood."

"Understood what?"

"That I was done with the relationship," Cynthia replied, "He had to go his separate way if he wanted to treat me like that. For a few days it was fine, awkward and completely platonic friends like every other set of best friends after they break up, at least until the reality of it hit your father and he did something reckless and stupid which I am not telling you," Cynthia said, her voice a little hard at the sentence, but softened back to her previous tone. "Anyway, I had been rethinking my reaction and was going to apologize for blowing up at him but after he pulled a stupid stunt he broke my heart again for the third time."  
"Third?!" Cleo stared at her mother, for someone who had never seen her parents fight or argues beyond playful banter that tidbit of information shocked her.

"Yup." Cynthia didn't seem too bothered about the fact that Leon had broken her heart three times before he finally got his act together, "But anyway, he cobbled up a song and begged me to sing the feminine part, I didn't give him an answer, scared he was going to hurt me again. Eventually Holly convinced me to sing in it and I did, very reluctantly and vanished the moment the song ended, but your father followed me, after both of us ended up as emotional wrecks we figured it out again for the third time, this time I didn't do the promising, your father did."

"So you forgave him?"  
Cynthia laughed, "Only until I got over my turmoil, after that, I gave him what he deserved, a punishment. Your father got the cold shoulder for over three months and whacking him upside the head became a daily thing or whenever he opened his mouth and I didn't particularly care for what he said for over six months."

"Ouch."

"He deserved it. Now, what's going on with you and Leroy?"  
"Irene I guess. He's just so sad all the time," Cleo shrugged, green eyes glittering with worry for her friend.

"In what way? He seems fine to me," Cynthia commented, carefully studying her daughter's body language. Leroy had been off lately and she could tell, but she wouldn't say anything about it until Cleo explained a little more.

"Well, he's more dreary than a storm cloud and practically has a rain cloud raining on his head every day," Cleo replied in a dull tone, sitting up straighter, tensing up at the subject. Cynthia waited, just watching her, blue eyes gentle and calm. Staying silent seemed to be the right thing to do as Cleo spoke again, blurting out the words. "I don't like her. At all." She got her feet, pacing back and forth with quick strides, the words just coming out of her mouth in a rant like fashion. "She's always around and makes him so upset, demanding for him to do things for her and whatever she wants! I usually don't mind when people swing a punch at me or Miles, but not it's when my best friend doing it because she told him too! Had a bruise on my jaw for weeks and fell down a flight of stairs because of that idiot! She's so frustrating! She fumed, green eyes flashing.

"Leroy, do this! Leroy, do that! Leroy, I don't like her, make her go away! Why're you here Cleo? He's my boyfriend, not yours!" Cleo mocked in a high pitched voice, pointing around as if she was telling someone to do something. Her green eyes gleamed with annoyance and borderline anger when she gestured wildly with her hands, continuing her rant. "As if I care! Starclan! If being Leroy's girlfriend means I get flowers and all that mushy crap all the time then I really don't mind being in the friend zone! And what kind of nickname is a scrawny raven? I mean seriously?! All the other names that are in the world she calls me scrawny raven, and I don't have black hair! Why not blue jay for the highlights?! Or even pathetic grass for my eyes! Why a raven of all things?! It's not like I'm a loner who avoids everyone else and is a scavenger!" She growled, tugging on her auburn ponytail, green eyes wild with annoyance. "And he can't do a thing about it! He has to go along with it and do everything she wants him to! It's ridiculous! He just does everything she says like it's his job to do it all! Cause having a girlfriend totally," Her voice oozed sarcasm, "means you should go punch your best friend because she wants you to! Even if they are trying to have a conversation with her brother and is walking up the stairs!" She scowled as she continued, "Illene the cheerleading captain! Irene student council secretary! Illene the genius!Blah blah blah! I don't give a cent about all of her positions! I'm captain of the soccer, baseball, and basketball teams! Not to mention I created a club! On my own!" She was counting her positions on her fingers, "I'm captain for over half the sports clubs for the thunder part of school, I have the fastest track record for the school since you and dad went to school, I'm the head member of stage crew, and she didn't beat my score for the ACT! _***It's an American test you have to take as a junior with the highest score being a 36***_ I got a thirty-five while she got a twenty-eight!" Cleo fumed, her face flushed from her annoyance, "It's ridiculous!" She deflated, plopping back down into the chair and with a miserable expression, "And he has to get engaged with her after they turn eighteen." She sighed, rubbing her face with one hand, obviously worn out from the whole rant and her situation.

Cynthia seemed alarmed by her last sentence, "Wait, you said he has to become engaged with her after he turned eighteen?"

"Pretty much." Cleo replied with a weak sigh, letting her arm drop to rest on the armrest, "So that's my situation anyway."

Tucking away the information to deal with later, Cynthia looked at her daughter, chin resting on the palm of her hand. "You're in love with him." She stated simply and Cleo looked briefly startled before shrugging in her way of trying to casually deny it. "Right?" Cynthia pressed, wanting to confirm the feeling she had in her gut.

"Do you have to know?" Cleo groaned, hanging her head, "But yes." She looked back up at her mother, "I'm in love with Leroy, my best friend."

"Come here," Cynthia patted the spot next to her on the beanbag, "You need a hug," she grinned at the confusion in her daughter's eyes, "I can see it in your body language." She admitted and Cleo sighed, sullenly trudging over to her mother and dropping into the beanbag next to her, letting her mother hug her comfortingly while she closed her eyes to make the tears go away. "I'm here when you need me, Cleo," Cynthia murmured sincerely to her daughter, "I hope you know that."

"Thanks, mom," Cleo replied, taking a shuddery breath and returned the embrace, "I appreciate it."


	61. Valentines Special

_**Echo in the Whispering Wind- Trouble is stressful, but Cleo's okay! :) Everything works out in the end! Or does it? Mwahahaha!**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- YAYYYY! XD**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Echo, and brownies beat you for the first reviews! XD that's unusual :D I like it too! It's really interesting that way! :)**_

 _ **:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)**_

 _ **YES! Trystan is introduced! You guys get to meet my OC and personal pairing for Poppyfrost! The second half of this will be posted later! Maybe tomorrow! I have no idea when! XD I still have to right a Hollyleaves, Ivybreeze, and Honeynose moment each!**_

 _ **I won't be putting up any more chapters til after the seventeenth, there's a new season for one of the tv shows I like to watch coming out and I've been too excited to write that much! :D :D :)**_

 _Valentines Special_

 _Who are you?..._

 _Poppyclaw_

 _Trystan Mathis- OC Talonclaw_

 _Paige- 19 ½_

 _Trystan- 20_

Paige inwardly groaned as someone slammed into her shoulder, making her books tumble from her arms down onto the college building's floor. ' _Starclan above! I'm going to be late!'_ She quickly knelt down and started picking up her books before being startled to find someone else crouch down as well and help her, scooping up the books rather easily and stacking them into a neat pile.

"Here, you can use my backpack if you'd like," The mystery guy said with a small smile, holding out the gray and black striped backpack, blazing green eyes kind, dark brown hair drifting in front of his face. The guy was tall, probably taller than Brendan but shorter than Leon with jade green eyes framed with forest green rimmed glasses and had messy dark brown hair brushed haphazardly so it stuck up in a wide variety of directions. He was wearing casual blue jeans rolled up at the bottom with a white t-shirt under a red plaid long sleeve with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, with a lean build like Leon. Paige stared at him for a few moments, having never seen him in her life before now. "I promise I don't bite, and neither does the backpack actually," the guy assured her, offering the backpack once again, "While it matches your clothing colors, it's not very fashionable, sorry. But hey! It smells like blueberries, that make up for it?"

Paige blinked and hesitantly took the offer, taking the backpack from him and loading her supplies into the bag with him handing her the items. "Th-thanks," She said awkwardly, getting to her feet and brushing her light brown hair away from her face, or what had escaped her messy braid.

"No problem," The guy smiled at her before offering a hand for her to shake, "My name's Trystan Mathis, what's yours?"  
' _That last name sound's familiar…'_ Paige thought before blinking and remembering to reply. "Oh, my name's Paige Lawson," She replied, shaking his hand before glancing at her watch and her eyes widened with panic, "Crap! My class is about to start!"

"What class do you have? I can tell the professor you dropped your books and I was helping you if you'd like," The guy smiled kindly matching her hurried pace, easily keeping up with his longer legs.

"You don't have to-" Paige said not wanting to be a bother.

"I want to," Trystan grinned at Paige, playfully winking at her, "Anything to help a pretty girl like yourself."

Paige blushed, ' _He's cute, I have to give him that.'_ She weighed out her options and figured it couldn't hurt for him to come along and confirm her story. "I have Fashion design with Professor Weaver," She told him after a few moments, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Majoring in fashion?" Trystan asked curiously before his grin widened at her nod and faint blush, "Same here actually,"

Paige actually stopped and looked at him in surprise, it wasn't too common for a guy to major in anything fashion related. ' _He's just full of surprises isn't he?'_ She thought as she continued walking with him to her next class, surprised to find she didn't mind his presence at all if anything she appreciated it.

Trystan held open the door for Paige as they reached the classroom and waved to the professor, "Hello Professor Weaver, sorry for interrupting your class," He said politely, "Paige had someone run into her in the hallway and dropped her books, please excuse her lateness."

"Alright," Professor Weaver told the other college student, "Take a seat Paige," He erased something and changed it on a clipboard, his attendance marks for the class. "Thank you for notifying me Trystan. Now," He got back into his lecture while Trystan winked at Paige and disappeared out of the door, closing it with a soft snap.

Paige's cheek was dusted with pink from his actions and as she pulled out her notebook for notes she couldn't help but wonder, ' _What's wrong with me? I haven't felt this way since Brendan a few years ago.'_

 _:) :) :) :) :) :) :)_

 _Boredom Napping_

 _Crystalfang_

Cleo stretched out her legs, getting stiff from being curled in a ball for so long, ' _I really should've gone easy on myself during those games yesterday, I hate being stiff.'_ A short grunt escaped her mouth as she stretched, a muscle in her upper left arm causing her pain.

Leroy turned his head to look at her, he was sitting next to her, watching reruns of a cartoon they had watched as kids, "You okay over there? He asked with a small amount of amusement, watching his friend attempt to stretch like a cat. They were in the same boat, stiff and sore after the sports games they each had yesterday, Leroy only had baseball and football while his friend had basketball, soccer, and baseball, the games had been right after one another, giving her less time to cool down before the next game. So they were both at Leroy's house, up in Leroy's room sitting on the huge beanbag he had and watching whatever had been on the tv while griping about the stiffness of their muscles. Cleo was over because she was supposed to go with Miles to their older sister's birthday party but could scarcely move a muscle let alone sit through a car ride then race her sister on a track for a relay they were doing. So Leroy had volunteered to watch over his miserable friend and here they were.

"No," Cleo grunted, managing to get into a half sitting up position without too much strain and pain. "Why do I play that many sports?" She complained feebly, already knowing his answer.

"Because you enjoy them," He replied with a hum, lazily circling one arm around her shoulders, golden blonde hair shining from the sunlight casting its way into the room.

"Meanie," Cleo grumbled before they both got the wind knocked out of them as Rix, Cleo's companion and service dog jumped up onto them, settling for a position halfway on their stomachs and laps across both of them. "Rix!" Cleo complained, pushing at her fluffy husky lab mix, "Get off you giant lump!" Rix just lifted his head and licked her face, tail thumping against the beanbag itself.

"He's not moving, you know that Cleo," Leroy chortled, leaning back to be laying on his back, his arms slipping off her shoulders, "He's too stubborn for that." He told her with amusement.

"Still, he's supposed to listen to me," Cleo grumbled, managing to mimic Leroy's position, laying on her back, his arm under her head like a pillow and half closing her eyes, relaxed."Rix, curtains." She mumbled and the big dog did as she asked, getting off the two teenagers to pull the curtains closed, dimming the room and making it easier for the two best friends to sleep. He then trotted back over and curled up at the foot of the beanbag, giving them their space.

"He's also your friend, friends don't always listen to you," Leroy told her, attempting to bug her by rolling onto his side and pushing her into that position as well.

"Hey!" Cleo complained, "I was just getting comfortable!"

"Stop whining," He rolled his eyes, looping one arm around her waist to pet Rix's ears, "Hey boy, blanket?" He asked and Rix got up once again, but this time he pulled a blanket off of Leroy's bed and over the teenagers, adjusting it to cover them both. Rix then laid down on the other side of the bean bag, next to his handler, his head under one of her hands. "Still uncomfortable?" Leroy asked almost smugly and didn't get a response from his friend, signaling she was already asleep. "Good boy Rix," Leroy praised the dog, rubbing his golden head and ears along with scratching his muzzle just under the chin before closing his eyes as well, deciding to follow his friend's lead.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

When Miles and Lixa arrived two hours later they were still asleep on the beanbag, Rix curled up near his handler, the two teenagers tucked under the blanket, dead to the world of the waking. Cleo had rolled over and was cuddled close to her friend, the blanket up over her head, one hand keeping it there, the other arm was behind her back, her hand resting on Rix's nose. Leroy hadn't moved beside having his head tilted down close to Cleo's auburn hair, and had one hand resting on Rix's flank.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

 _Briarfeather_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 17_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree- 17 ½_

Bree was with Holly and Cynthia when she got Leon's call. "Bree?!"

"Hi, Leon! What's up?!"

"Jay hasn't come back from school, I think Dawn and Tyler got ahold of him!" Leon replied, his voice loud, panicked and worried.

The three girls exchanged looks and Bree quickly replied, sliding off her bed into her wheelchair and checking the straps, "I'm on my way with Cynthia and Holly, if they do have him you'll need help defending him!"

"I'll meet you at the school, don't dawdle!" Leon said before hanging up and Bree yanked open the door to her room and raced down the ramp that covered the stairs before bolting out the front door, Cynthia pulled ahead of her, staying out of her way but staying ahead to get there first with Leon.

' _Why don't you listen to me?!'_ Bree mentally shouted to herself, wishing Jay had listened to her earlier. The school courtyard came into view and she put one more speed, pushing the wheels of her wheelchair as fast as possible. Leon had been correct, Dawn and her brother Tyler had gotten a hold of Jay, "Get away from him!" Bree shouted, getting their attention, amber eyes flashing with anger and worry.

"Leave my brother alone!" Holly yelled, green eyes worried about her brother.

"Hey! Gits! Leave Jay alone!" Cynthia shouted, blue eyes flashing hands clenching into fists.

"I will pound you two to the dirt if you don't leave me brother alone!" Leon roared as he caught up with the girls, amber eyes flashing, golden blonde hair messy and wet like he had fallen into the pool or something.

Holly stayed a little farther back as Leon and Cynthia chased off her idiots of cousins who belonged to the shadow part of the school, the two cousins howling with laughter as the two athletes chased them, apparently not noticing how they were catching up to them. Bree raced over to Jay, locking her wheelchair in place and leaning down enough so she could see his face, "Are you okay?!"

Jay looked up at her, one of his blind eyes was swelled shut, blood trickling down from his lip, he turned his head and spat out some blood, a scowl on his face, "I don't know, do I look healthy to you Bree?" He snapped sarcastically, heaving himself into a sitting position and visibly wincing.

"Now is not the time for sarcasm you blue jay!" Bree snapped back, a little frustrated with his attitude, she carefully prodded his ribs for any broken ones and found a few, judging by his low hiss of pain. For good measure and payback for his attitude she poked him a little roughly in a spot where she knew he had broken his ribs, "We need to get you to your aunt and patch up these ribs!"

"Ow! What was that for you crazy person?!" He said indignantly, narrowing his blind eyes in her direction.

"For being sarcastic when you got yourself beat up!" Bree replied, her voice frustrated and concerned.

"I'll be fine Bree," Jay says without any sarcasm, picking up on her concern and looking in her direction, his voice gruff but sincere. "Honest."

"You're not fine till I say so!" She said stubbornly, and with Holly's help, they got him to his feet.

"I can walk on my own," Jay grunted as his sister helped him walk Bree gave him a withering death glare that despite his nonexistent vision he could feel the warning and strength behind, so he went quiet, remembering how fierce his friend's temper could be.

:) :) :) :)

"Thanks," Jay grunted as Bree used a damp cloth to clean the blood on his chin and lower lip while he sat on the edge of the bathtub. Bree didn't say anything, focused on helping her friend. "I can do this you know," He muttered, blind eyes gazing vaguely in front of him.

"I know," Bree finally spoke after a deep breath, "but I want to make sure you're okay after Dawn attacking you." Her voice was devoid of her usual cheer and instead held concern for her best friend.

"Well, I'm probably worse off than she is," He grunted annoyedly, "Leon wouldn't hit a girl."

"Cindy was there, she got Dawn for you," Bree told him, leaning back against the back of her wheelchair and carefully folding up the cloth she was holding before rolling over to the bathroom sink and rinsing it out. Her lips twitched into a small smile, "Got her right in the face."

"Where?" He asked, sounding curious, a smirk spreading across his gruff features.

"Once in the eye, twice in the nose," Bree told him crisply, pretending not to care as she rolled back to him, amber eyes now gentle.

"Finally," Jay smirked, sightless blue eyes gleaming with satisfaction, his voice oozing with it. "I finally got revenge."

"Yes you did," a small smile spread across Bree's face and she dropped the other medical supplies into his hands, "If you want to do it on your own you can, just don't go off and be stupid again alright?"  
"Leon's the stupid one, not me," Jay replied with his usual defensive attitude.

"You can be just as stupid Jay," Bree said matter of factly, her voice gentle and calm. She leaned forward and pressed a short kiss to his forehead, "Find me when you're finished okay?"

Jay blinked before replying, showing no reaction to the affection, "Alright Bree, if I have to."

"Thanks!" Bree smiled before rolling out of the room, leaving Jay to nurse his wounded pride and physical injuries.

:) :) :) :)

 _You are a prat Leon_

 _(Fighting for Love With constant Hope)_

 _Cinderblaze_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 16_

The medical wing door was thrown open and Leon paled slightly, he. Was. Dead. His partner strode determinedly into the room, her arms swinging at her sides, hands clenched into fists. Water dripped off her shoulder blade length black hair and clung to her clothing, and her blue eyes flashed dangerously. She strode right up to Leon, standing a few inches from him, her head tilted up to look up at him, "What do you have to say for yourself, Leon? It better be something good." The withering glare she was giving him made him want to cringe and go hide behind something, away from her menacing glare.

"I'm sorry?" He said weakly, having not planned on what to say.

"You make me keep Brendan from drowning in a lake and you just say you're sorry?" She asked, her voice dead calm, the calm before the storm.

"Uh, no, I shouldn't have pushed him off that building," Leon said quickly, trying to keep himself safe from her wrath, "and into the lake, I was being stupid." He replied, looking at his partner's wet face. She was royally ticked off at him, less than an hour ago he had pushed Brendan into the lake off of a seven story building and ended up getting ambushed moments later, making his partner who had been asleep back at their campsite up in a tall tree nearly have a panic attack and fall out of the tree, dislocating her wrist before having to go fetch Brendan from the lake before he drowned.

"Stupid?!" Cynthia snapped at him, her patience thinning, she had a headache, jumpy from dealing with Brendan at close quarters, and in a decent amount of pain. "That was something only a git _**(fool)**_ could pull off!"

"Hey!" Leon snapped back, getting defensive, "I'm not a fool!"

"Pushing a guy who can't swim into a lake off of a seven-story building into a deep lake is something only a fool would do!" Cynthia retorted back, blue eyes flashing. Leah and Silvia ignored their argument, Leah setting Cynthia's wrist while Silvia wrapped a bandage around Leon's right arm where he had taken a knife to and Cynthia had refused to heal him. It was normal for the partners to yell at each other when they were injured, it happened every time, especially when Leon lost his patience and did something to someone else and put himself in more danger.

"I only pushed him because he was being a jerk!"

"So what?! Brendan's always a jerk!"

"He was saying bad things about you!" Leon snapped back, he was still mad at Brendan, he was sure what Brendan had said wasn't true, but it still bothered him.

"Almost everything that comes out of that git's mouth is pure bollocks, Leon! He was trying to goat you!"

"Well, I don't like having my partner being rumored about!"

"He's a bloke _**(guy)**_ with no brains Leon! And I don't care what he's saying, he's a muppet! _**(idiotic person)**_ "

"Well excuse me for being mad about him boasting about how he had snogged _**(deeper kissing)**_ all three of the Lawson sisters!" Leon snapped at her using the British term so only she would understand, fuming while the two medics finished up and left to attend to the other injured warriors, "and that you enjoyed it!" Cynthia's blue eyes widened and she stayed silent, gesturing to him to follow before turning on her heel and leaving the medical wing in a foul mood, unable to believe that he had believed Brendan on something like that. Leon followed her, keeping silent as well, still fuming and eager to keep fighting with her, anything to get rid of his anger.

Cynthia lead them to their flat room facing him from where she was standing near one of the walls, scowling. "So you believed that git?" She asked him coolly, irritated at her partner's actions.

"I don't know!" Leon growled at her, "He's been trying to kiss you for weeks!"

Cynthia face palmed, the action making some of Leon's anger drain and he looked at her in confusion. "Starclan above, I swear I will kill that bloody bugger! _**(bad word)**_ " She looked at him, blue eyes annoyed and exasperated, "Yes, Brendan managed to so call kiss me," she made air quotes and rolled her eyes, "He got me with an electrical taser and kissed me while I was stunned from the electricity, but he didn't snog me you prat! _**(Idiot)**_ It didn't last even two seconds before I shoved him away and punched him in the nose!"

Leon looked reassured but asked her anyway, "You're sure?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes, walking over to him before she pulled him down by his collar and kissed him, non-verbally giving him her answer. She gave a verbal answer a few moments later, breaking apart to answer him, her breathing a little rough, "Yes, I'm sure Leo." She answered his question, blue eyes glittering.

"Good," Leon grinned, closing the gap again.

:) :) :) :)

 _ **I am still writing, it takes a lot of time to write these with all of the other stories I'm writing at the same time! and I'm really excited for the new season of Dragons Race To The Edge! :D I know I'm really really late to the 50 chapter milestone but I am writing the Great Battle Humanized! I promise! I have the beginning and end finished, now I just need the middle! :D If you're interested, here's a list of chapters and shorts that I'm in the middle of writing!**_

 _ **The Things Sisters Do For Eachother**_

 _Have the outline and first scenes written_

 _ **The Great Battle Humanized beginning and ending written along with prophecy**_

 _Beginning and Ending written along with prophecy_

 _ **Q & A With The Characters #2 I need more questions! But I have a few for a few of the characters**_

 _I need more questions! But I have a few for a few of the characters_

 _ **What Am I supposed to do?! He Likes Me?!**_

 _Written up to when Paige freaks out_

 _ **Guilt Ridden And Broken AU Sequel**_

 _Written up to Cynthia's panicked escape from school_

 _ **Oh Brother, And I Mean It Literally**_

 _Written up to the scene where Holly face palms when Leon tells her what happened_

 _ **The Contest Results, Leon Wins!**_

 _Missing three scenes, the rest is written_

 _ **THEY LEFT US IN THE FOREST?! AU**_

 _Written kidnapping scenes, and when they wake up._

 _ **Boring Office Work, Welcome To The City Leon AU**_

 _Written up to Leon finding out about Holly's partner and head of the department of science and chemistry_

 _ **Don't worry Paige, It'll Work Out**_

 _written up to Cynthia and Honey comforting her sister and trying to reassure her_

 _ **Meet Trystan, The Guy Whose Been In The Background For Years**_

 _Written up to where Trystan reveals that he is Fin and Isa's older brother_

 _ **Holly, you do not want to be me, seriously. You don't.**_

 _Written up to Cynthia telling her friend she was lucky before sprinting down the stairs to find her son_


	62. AN and Sneak Peeks

_**Hey guys, sorry about the delays in the chapters but unless I get another chapter out today before three then there won't be any chapters up. I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled and probably won't be able to write for a day or two... Sorry about that :( But I have some sneak peeks for the upcoming chapters, these are in order of how close to being finished they are :) Enjoy!**_

 _Guilt Ridden and Broken Sequel_

She(Cynthia) crashed directly into him(Leon) and nearly knocked him to the ground. "Woah! Cyn, calm down! You're okay," He stopped her, putting his hands on her shoulders amber eyes worried. "Hey, it's okay," He said as she reached to move his hands from her shoulders, "It's just me, it's Leon, Cynthia."

Cynthia froze, blinking a few times and narrowing her eyes, looking at his face, trying to figure out if it was really him. "Leon?" She breathed, reaching to touch his face.

"Don't do that, Cyn," Leon urged, carefully moving her arm away from his face, aware that if she did so he would have a real issue explaining.

Hurt flashed across Cynthia's face before she frowned, obviously confused, under normal circumstances he wouldn't mind her doing so, but he had to make her believe it wasn't really him if they weren't going to get into trouble. 'Why don't I think before I act?' He mentally groaned, pushing her arms down to her sides before speaking quickly, "You're okay, you ran into the woods, I'm going to take you out of here, unscramble the letters, Cyn." He heard the sound of tires rolling across gravel and had to hurry, "Don't cry, everything's going to be okay, you'll figure it out eventually, don't grieve."

"I don't understand," Cynthia said, trying her hardest to grasp what he was saying.

"Just… unscramble the letters Cyn," Leon said before briefly kissing her forehead, "Don't cry Sunshine, everything will turn out okay."

"Leon, what? I don't get it!" Cynthia stressed, struggling to grasp what he was saying. The tires grew louder and Leon winced at the thought of what he was going to do, but did it anyway, hitting Cynthia in the temple with a well-placed punch, knocking her out right away. Causing her to slump forward and he caught her, carrying her bridal style, her head resting against his chest, out cold.

Leon ran to the edge of the woods, "be careful" He whispered in her ear as he carefully put her down at the edge of the woods, making it look like she tripped over something and crashed to the ground. "Unscramble the letters, Cyn." He whispered as she started to stir, "I love you, be careful, and don't forget I'm still with you Sunshine. I'm always with you." He quickly kissed her crown before sprinting back to the cabin and quickly returning to the roof, getting back to work on the roof, wishing he had had time to actually look her over when he wasn't thirty feet away in a tree.

:) :) :)

 _Childhood Adventures (Cynthia's)_

She(Sarah) needed to take her two-year-old son to the doctor but didn't want to leave her daughters alone at home without any supervision, she did not want to come back to toothpaste splattered all over the bathroom walls once again. When her youngest daughter Cynthia was four years old she had somehow managed to rig all the toothpaste bottles into exploding.

 _"Mom!" Haliah screamed, running down the stairs to where her mother had just come home from doing some errands. "Cindy made a huge mess!"_

 _"Alright, let's go see it." Sarah sighed, wholeheartedly believing her daughter, knowing Cynthia probably did make a mess._

 _"Look!" Haliah tugged her mother into the first floor's bathroom where Sarah stopped in shock. Cynthia was sitting quietly on the floor, the small child shrinking away from Paige, some of her father's tools scattered on the floor along with other things like bobby_ _pins, towels, soaps, and ruined toothpaste bottles. The entire bathroom was covered in light blue toothpaste, splattered everywhere, in all three of her daughters' hair, the walls, sink, bathtub, cabinets, floor, everywhere._

 _"W-what? Cindy, what happened here?" Sarah asked, gawking at her daughter._

 _Cynthia brightened at the sight of her mother and smiled at her, throwing her hands into the air, "Boom!" She giggled, "Toothpaste go splat!"_

 _"I see that… but how?" Sarah shook off the shock and went over to her, picking her up with the intent of giving her a bath._

 _"I did it!" Cynthia giggled, looking overjoyed at the whole situation, "I used Daddy's tools!" that stopped Sarah in her tracks._

Since that incident, Cynthia was not allowed any access to her father's carpenter tools, and Sarah and Bracken bought a bunch of legos for the curious girl.

:) :) :) :)

 _Boring Office Work, Welcome To The City Leon AU_

Holly looked up from her position sitting on the couch between both her brothers as someone rushed through the front door, black hair up in a sloppy ponytail, clothed in a t-shirt, skinny jeans, black fur trimmed hooded vest, and light blue running shoes. "I'm here," The person said through her slightly labored breathing, "Sorry about being late, Holly." She partially wheezed, leaning forward on her knees.

"Hi!" Holly smiled and got up, hugging her, "Leon," Her green eyes twinkled as she broke the hug to look at her stunned looking younger brother, "you already know Cynthia, but she's been my best friend since we were kids."

:) :) :) :)

Leon choked on his words, amber eyes widening slightly, the casual relaxed clothing fit the black haired woman for sure, but that wasn't what was making him speechless. The thing that was stopping him from speaking was the dark navy blue rimmed glasses framing her blue eyes, her eyes were even more blue from the rounded rectangular framed glasses. ' _Oh my Starclan, how…'_ He noticed the amused look he was getting from Bree and he formulated something to say, his voice a little strangled. "Hey, Cynthia, haven't seen the glasses before." He managed to say clearly. Over the last week, he had gotten to know his coworker a lot more but hadn't known that she was his sister's best friend.

Cynthia nudged the glasses farther up her nose with one finger on a lower corner, "I usually wear contacts," She shrugged before smiling and greeting both Bree and Jay, "Hey guys!" She went over to Bree and leaned down to hug her before giving Jay a high five and taking a seat on the couch, "Hello, Leon," She smiled, and Leon blinked before shrugging and fiddling with his phone in his pocket.

"Anyway!" Bree grinned, "You're finally here with the rest of us Leon!"

 _ **(This is easily the most complicated Short Story So Far! XD XD)**_

 _The Great Battle Humanized_

Leon raced into the neighbor gathering area, his breath rattling in his chest as he followed Firen into the grassy tree rich park, everyone was there, waiting impatiently for their leader. ' _This battle is like nothing we've seen, from what Jay's told me I might've just met my match. But I can't give up and let everyone down, I will fight to the end.'_ Leon thought as he squeezed between her siblings and his parents, accidently brushing arms with Cynthia who jumped and shifted away from him, both of them awkwardly looked in opposite directions, avoiding looking at each other. Being a martial artist there was no doubt Cynthia would be sharpening other people's skills while Leon was off using his power to protect the city, all four neighborhoods despite the hostility between them all.

"Are we ready for this?" Holly whispered in her brother's ear, green eyes worried and slightly scared.

"I will be with Bree," Jay told his sister sharply, putting one hand on his friend's shoulder, blue eyes gazing blankly in front of him, "She will help me when I cannot help myself, Holly."

"I'll take care of him, Holly." Bree reassured the black haired girl, amber eyes lit with a determined fire, "Jay can handle himself, but when he can't I will be there."

"You don't have to worry about me," Leon reassured his older sister, looking over at her, "I can't be hurt remember?"  
"Leon, I will always worry about you," Holly chuckled weakly, "You need a responsible person watching over you."

"I can take care of myself," he reassured her, feeling Cynthia's blue gaze on him but forcing himself to not make eye-contact with his friend. "If anything we have to worry about you," he side hugged his sister, his brother briefly fumbling to do the same on the other side.  
"Thunder residents, we face an enemy stronger than we have ever known!" Firen shouted, his voice projecting over the entire clearing from his position standing tall and proud on the stump the teenagers called the Great Stump, an over grown tree stump that's roots spread throughout the entire clearing and surrounding park. "The danger comes from the alley group as well as our own! The Dark forest has sworn to destroy Warrior City!"

Gasps rang throughout the clearing and Firen paused, letting the startled murmuring die down before continuing, "A battle is coming that we have to win, for the sake of everyone that ever lived. We must fight alongside the other neighborhoods because this enemy threatens us all! Each of the three other neighborhoods; Shadow, Wind, and River will send a small group of people to fight alongside us and join our patrols. We will send three patrols to their neighborhoods. He looked down at his co leader, "Brad, you choose who will go."

Theo pushed his way forward to ask his question in a loud voice, making sure everyone could hear him, "Won't they take advantage of this to move in and kick us out like they tried before?!"

Leon's jaw clenched at the memory, a bloody battle of protecting their homes and his mother nearly be killed by a fatal shot to the stomach along with Cynthia going missing halfway through the battle only to end up being kidnapped with Leon, Jay, and Holly, the only ones able to find her with Diana's help. He smirked slightly, boy did he hope that the other teen's nose was still drastically crooked from the wallop of a punch he had delivered to the guy's face. ' _That won't happen again thought.'_ He thought as he looked at Cynthia through the corner of his amber eyes when she wasn't looking at him, ' _Even if she says I'm too special to be with her I won't let anyone hurt her-'_ His attention snapped to the front as his cousin Ivory moved around him to walk up to the front of the clearing, dressed in her usual black with her pistol hanging in the custom loop on the right side of her jeans.  
"I know how they fight. I can teach those moves to the clan and how to counter them." Ivory's voice was calm, steady, and cool, the blonde had plenty of experience with both public speaking and people ignoring her, so she could keep her cool in situations like this. Leon, on the other hand, would probably die before he spoke in public like that.

"How do you know?"

"Traitor!"

Other people snarled and Ivory kept her expression indifferent as Firen spoke over them, defending her. "I sent her to spy," Firen stated simply and the reactions changed, everyone staring at the skilled blonde in surprise and a few in awe.  
"You were spying in the Dark Forest?" Diana asked her twin sister in surprise, blue eyes wide with shock and awe, she knew how rough and scary the dark forest was.  
Ivory gave a sharp nod to her sister, green eyes impassive, "Yes. I was sent from Firen to spy on them once I figured out what was going on."  
"You're so brave!" Miles squeaked from his spot next to his sister who gently hushed him and the eight-year-old shuffled closer to his favorite sibling, Cynthia ruffling her brother's hair, leaning down to gently whisper something in his ear. Leon watched the interaction, his heart felt like it was being jabbed with a knife once again. Something he once would've smiled at now made his mood just a little worse with the missed chances and his hands curled into fists.

"We will win this battle because we are fighting for our lives and the lives of our community! Our enemies have been rejected before. They fight only out of hate and that will be their weakness." Firen shouted over the murmuring, the statement being received with excited and determined chatter.  
"We'll beat them!"  
"They won't win!"

Firen nodded, green gaze traveling proudly over his community, "Then let's start training. For our homes!" As Firen spoke a thought chilled Leon to the bone.

:) :) :)

Oh Brother

"You what?!" Holly yelled startled, dropping her book as she got to her feet and approached her younger brother, green eyes wide with shock and surprise, locked on her brother her friend who was sprawled on the couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table, seemingly comfortable in the fluffy hoodie she had stolen from Leon, blue eyes watching the sibling's confrontation with slight amusement.

"I'm sorry," Leon winced, shrinking away from his shocked older sister.

"You're sorry?! Leon! That's probably one of the most irresponsible things you've done so far!"

"Hey!" Leon fired back, feeling a little brave at the moment and he gestured to Cynthia, "It's her fault too!"

"Yes, but she's not my sibling!"

"She will be!" Leon snapped back, looking over at Cynthia with a partial pleading expression, _'Help me!"_ Holly's green eyes flash and he wilts, shrinking away from her again, "Sorry."

"In a few months, sure! but she isn't yet!" Holly retorted, moving to smack him before pausing and looking at Cynthia, "Can I hit him?" She huffed, taking her friend into consideration.

Cynthia shrugged and rubbed her temples, "go ahead." She looked over at them and rolled her eyes at Leon's amber eyed plead, "grow up you baby," She joked.

"I'm not a baby-" Leon complained before being cut off as Holly promptly smacked him upside the head, "Ow! Holly cut it out! I'm sorry!"

"You guys are crazy!" Holly smacked him again and Leon winced repeatedly as his sister kept berating him, calling him stupid in twenty different ways.

Cynthia decided to take pity on her fiancé and got up, striding over to the two siblings and stepping between them, facing Holly. "Holly, calm down," She said, her voice unusually firm, "you've calmed him stupid way too many times and only I can smack him that many times."

Holly's green eyes flash, "Cynthia Casi lawson," her friend winced at the sound of her full name, " what were you thinking?!"

"I wasn't."

"And why not?!"

"Because I got distracted."

"You have a brain, don't you? Why didn't you use it?!" Holly weakly shook her friend by the shoulders.

"I do have a brain and I did use it." Cynthia rolled her eyes, arms crossed over her chest, looking unimpressed. It was strange seeing Holly getting all emotional while Cynthia was calm for once.

"This is going to change everything!"

"Only for Leon and I."

"You two are the most impulsive people I've ever met!"

"Thank you for the compliment." Cynthia deadpanned and Holly deflated, looking worriedly at her friend and her brother. Leon was hiding his smile in Cynthia's black hair, his arms wrapped snugly around her waist, broad shoulders shaking slightly.

"What am I going to do with you two?" Holly sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, green eyes finally calm and accepting.

"Three," Cynthia replied evenly, her blue eyes twinkling softly, "And we don't know yet, but we'll figure it out." She looked up at Leon, "Right?"

Leon nodded, "Yeah, we'll figure it out." He looked at his sister, "Will you help us, Holly?" He asked a bit timidly, not sure how she was going to react.

"Of course I'll help," Holly sighed, hugging both of them, "I couldn't leave my siblings without any help."

 _:) :) :)_

 _He likes me?!_

 _'What am I supposed to do?!'_ She(Paige) thought nervously while Trystan waited patiently for her answer. "Can I give you my answer later?" She asked with a small stutter.

"Of course," Trystan smiled, "Take your time, Paige, I'll see you tomorrow in fashion design class," He said as she turned and ran off, confusion and concern flashing across his eyes.

Paige ran into her dorm and took out her phone, calling her younger sister, her twin was already in the dorm room. "Cindy, I need your help."

"Uh... now's not a particularly good time," Cynthia sounded almost... giggly? "Cut it out, Leon! I'm trying to talk to Paige!"

Paige blinked before shaking her head, she'd ask about that later. "I really really need your help! I don't know what to do!"

"mmhmm... If it has to do with fashion and college stuff ask Holly or Haliah," Cynthia suggested, obviously distracted, "Leon! Cut it out!" She giggled through the last sentence.

"Cindy please!" Paige begged her sister, "I don't know what to do." Her voice was soft, scared, and nervous. It seemed to do the trick, though.

Cynthia's voice was now serious and focused, "Right, I'll be over in a few minutes, do you want me to meet you in your dorm?"

Paige heard faint mumbling and resolved to ask her about it later. "Please."

"Okay, I'm on my way, Paige, don't freak out till I get there okay?"  
"Thank you, Cindy."

"Anything for my older sister."

:( :) :) O-o

Paige paced her dorm room, Haliah watching her, still confused on what was wrong with her twin sister. Paige didn't speak until the dorm room's door was pulled open and Cynthia slipped inside, alert and worried for her sister. "Cindy!" Paige rushed over and hugged her younger sister, who of which she hadn't seen in a few months since Cynthia had finished high school.

"Hey Paige, Haliah. Now, what's going on?" Cynthia asked, briefly returning the embrace before drawing back and looking at her younger sister.

"I have no idea," Haliah replied, sitting up on her bed and looking at their younger sister, "She ran in here, called you, and hasn't said a word since."

"You have experience in romance right?" Paige asked Cynthia, releasing her to pace nervously while biting her lower lip.

Cynthia and Haliah exchanged confused glances before Cynthia replied, "I guess you can say that," She shrugged, "Why?"

"Because a guy at the college likes me!" Paige squealed with excitement and nervousness.

"What?!" Cynthia and Haliah yelped, blue and green eyes widening in sync.


	63. Guilt Ridden and Broken Sequel AU

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Valentines day fun! XD**_

 _ **Well here's one! Oh brother will probably be the next one! :D I'm really excited to finish them!**_

 _ **Unicornbrownies- Yup :)**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- I'm glad you think that chapter is perfect for valentienes day!**_

 _ **Here's one! :D The next ones will be up soon! How soon I don't know, but soon! :D**_

 _ **Featherflight- I'm glad you're excited for them! I am too! Ha ha ha! XD I think I forgot to include the meaning for bollucks in there, I'll have to check XD but either way it means stupid :D Maybe I'll post the list of British Slang (Those words are all British slang) that Cynthia uses, she uses a decent amount, as shown in the future chapter of Oh Brother :D**_

 _ **It wasn't too bad :) Didn't particularly feel it with my entire mouth being numb! :D I did read your PM, I just forgot to reply XD I will use that scene soon! I have a really funny idea for that chapter, I'll give you credit for inspiring the chapter! :D I'm excited too! One's already finished while the other three i think? Are about half way finished :) Boring Office Work, Welcome to the City Leon is by far the most complex and hardest one to write so far! XD**_

 _ **Waterpool- It wasn't too bad :) and I didn't get a heavy painkiller so I'm atleast aware and alert enough to use my brain and write chapters! :D**_

 _ **:) :) :) :)**_

 _ **Writing this was insane! It's thirteen pages! XD And hey! I'm cohearant enough to write and post a chapter! :D Isn't that awesome! So no more delays for chapters! I don't have any excuses for the chapters not being out besides that life is a pain and a few of these chapters are really complicated! Take Boring Office Work, Welcome To The City, Leon AU for example: I have to create completely unoriginal backstories and have them influence the characters; design and work around the fact that Cynthia and Leon have never met eachother in their lives(This is the hardest thing by far); design the budding relationship between them; design everyone else's relationships, jobs, capabilities, and other miscellanious things; involve Ashton and make him a lot younger than he usually is; design the character's involvement in the main plot; design a different**_ _ **personality**_ _**for one of the characters; and fit it all into a small story! XD I'm not trying to complain here, because I love writing them, it just takes some time to write them out :)**_

 _Guilt Ridden and Broken AU Sequel_

Cynthia had her eyes closed, her chin tilted up slightly as she stood silently on the boulder like she had been for the past hour. It was around midnight now and Cynthia had been at the boulder for a full hour and a half, silently hoping for something to happen. Ever since the conversation she had had with Leon a week ago she tried being at the boulder more often, sometimes falling asleep on the large rock while she waited for something she inwardly knew would never happen again. With a heavy sigh, Cynthia sat down, stretching her legs out in front of her and leaning backward on her arms, opening her eyes to gaze hopelessly at the dark trees. ' _Where are you Leon? Holly? Jay? Where are you three?'_ She mentally wondered, looking for any traces of movement in the maple and spruce trees.

After a few minutes she moved again, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, resting her chin on them in the process. Sometimes she could almost make herself believe that they were out there, locked away in the woods and unable to escape, a prisoner to someone. She wondered if she was going insane, was the interaction she had with Leon even real? Or had her beaten brain come up with it to pacify some of her distress? Shifting her weight she didn't notice the faint rustle in the trees, too lost in her confusion. For the past week she had been finding random objects that didn't make any sense but were each linked to her friends that vanished, a green bandana with a piece of paper with the letter 't' scribbled on it, a small blue jay feather with a scrap of paper with the word 'on' written in loopy handwriting, and a slightly battered forest green hoodie with a fuzzy cream colored inside with a neatly folded paper flower with the letter 's' written in painfully familiar handwriting. Each object belonged or described her friends, the green bandana was the one Holly usually used as a hair tie or had tucked in her pocket, the jay feather described her friend Jay, the object he was named after, and the hoodie was the same one she used to sneak from Leon or he'd drape it over her shoulders and get mercilessly teased by his siblings about being a gentleman.

' _Starclan, I have to be going insane.'_ Cynthia pressed the heels of her palms to her now closed eyes, feeling tears pricking at her blue eyes. ' _It's been years, why suddenly now? I have to be going crazy… but if I was crazy I wouldn't be able to feel the pain… would I?'_ For the past two years she had been able to push away the grief of losing her friends and instead wallow in the guilt she felt and did everything possible to make the guilt go away, but it never did. There was the occasional moment when she was caught off guard and someone mentioned their names and would run off feeling the reality crash down on top of her again and again, but it had never been this bad. With these reminders of her friends now around her she couldn't hide the emotions and memories resurfaced with or without her permission. She was miserable, even more than before. ' _I want it to stop.'_ She mumbled mentally, ' _I just want it to stop.'_

Something hit the boulder beside her and her head jerked up, only to lock on a small silver locket lying precariously on the boulder's edge. "No…" She breathed, and with trembling fingers she scooped up the small locket, trembling, blue eyes filling with tears. Pressing the top and the bottom of the locket, it swung open, revealing a picture of five young teenagers, two of them asleep, the two were giggling at the sleeping duo, the third one had his arms crossed over his chest, smirking. Holly, and Bree were the two giggling, sitting up behind Cynthia and Leon who were asleep, Holly's black hair in a neat braid, green eyes twinkling with humor, while Bree's dark brown hair was also braided but her braid was sloppy and her amber eyes glittered with amusement. Cynthia was asleep lying partially on top of Leon, her head resting on his shoulder, fingers loosely gripping his shirt while Leon was lying on his back, fingers curled around Cynthia's upper arm. Jay was the one who had his arms crossed and was smirking smugly. Cynthia clutched the jewelry in one hand, folded her arms over the top of her knees and burst into tears once again. ' _It's not fair!'_

:( :( :( :(

' _Cyn… don't cry,'_ Leon pleaded mentally from his perch in a tree, he had been the one to throw the locket, trying to give her clues on their position with what they had on them. He had had the locket since they were fourteen, the picture was from Cynthia's birthday party, a few months before they were kidnapped, and he had offered her the locket but she had turned it down, worried about what everyone else would think when she had a silver locket with a picture of the five of them inside. ' _Cyn, please…'_ He hated seeing her cry, and he felt horrible for making her cry right now, but he couldn't go and comfort her, not until he escaped Ashton or she needed it enough that he would risk his life for it. Rummaging through his pockets he searched for something and found another piece of paper before he scribbled something down, crumpling it into a ball and throwing it, causing it to hit the boulder and bounce against her legs. But he didn't get to see her reaction, by the time she had noticed it he had turned and ran back to the cabin, not wanting to get caught.

:( :( :( :(

Cynthia smoothed out the crumpled ball of paper and smiled through her tears, ' _Don't cry Sunshine, I'm still here.'_ It said. Wiping the tears from her eyes with a few fingers she looked at the dark forest, feeling grief stricken but full of affection at the same time. ' _I should get going back to the house… thank you Leon… I miss you.'_

:) :) :) :)

" _No! Leon!" Cynthia shrieked as she was dragged away by the wolf like dog with it's jaws locked around her ankle. "No! Get off me you dumb animal!" She tried to kick the creature but missed and only made it mad,_

Haliah caught the subtle twitching of her sister's sleeping body almost right away and froze, pausing the braiding of her little sister Lily's hair to stare at Cynthia, making sure she wasn't seeing things. Cynthia trembled and Haliah jumped to her feet, shaking her sister's shoulder, "Cindy! Wake up!" Cynthia made a whimpering noise and didn't show any sign of waking up, trembling.

" _Leon!" Cynthia shrieked, struggling to escape the dog and ran back to where they had been taken. She then screamed in pain as the dog let go of her ankle to latch onto her leg, sinking it's teeth into her leg with a wild snarl.  
_ " _Hey!" A another voice yelled, getting the dog's attention by throwing a rock at it. It was Bree, pinned beneath a fallen tree and whiter than a sheet._

"Come on, wake up!" Haliah shook her harder while Lily darted off to find her brother and probably get a glass of water to throw at her sister, Cynthia whimpered, trembling a little more.

" _Leave her alone you stupid dog!" Bree shouted, amber eyes gleaming with anger directed at the four legged creature still shaking her friend with it's teeth in her flesh. "I'm the one you want!"_

" _Bree no!" Cynthia shouted as the dog released her to rush over to the pinned girl._

" _I got it!" Bree shouted back, as the dog got closer and lunged she headbutted it in the muzzle, causing it to yelp and scramble back as pain flared in it's nose._

" _Normally I wouldn't say this, but hit it!" Cynthia yelled to her, unable to get up from the ground with her broken leg and ankle._

Haliah shook her younger sister hard, "Cindy it's not happening right now! You're dreaming!"

 _Bree managed to grab a branch off the ground and whacked the dog across the side of the head, hard enough to make it wary of her, "Go back to your master!" Bree growled at the dog, blood trickling down her face from her bloody nose, "Get out of here!" With a yelp the dog did as she said, running off with it's tail tucked between it's legs. The two girls stared at each other before they both dropped to the ground as they heard voices calling their names, Bree putting her head on the ground on top of her free arm, breathing heavily while Cynthia stayed sprawled on her back, partially leaning back against a tree, blue eyes glazed over with both pain and guilt._

Lily came back and splashed the water all over her older sister's face, making Cynthia jolt awake with a yell.

"I'm awake!" She yelled jerking upright before blinking in confusion and staring at the three people in front of her, Lily looked happy she got to throw water on her sister's face, Miles was a few feet behind her, his blue eyes worried about his sister, and Haliah was kneeling next to her, her hands on her shoulders from trying to shake her. "I'm awake, I'm awake," She said in a relatively steady voice, startled by both the memory turned dream and everyone's concern, "I'm okay, sorry."

"Cyndy," Miles spoke quietly, the preteen looking at his sister empathetically, "You go to the boulder, I'll get all the assignments you have to do. You don't have to go to school." the reason he said that was because he knew how much just going to school reminded her of her friends, the bullies shoving scrawny kids into lockers, the sports games, and the one person per class whose hand would shoot up the moment a teacher asked a question he wanted answered.

"I can handle going to school Miles, it's manageable-"

"Maybe so," Haliah interrupted her younger sister, "But we don't want you to feel trapped and tortured throughout the entire day Cindy. Nobody expects you to go." That was true, at this point nobody expected her to show up at the school, she didn't have any other friends and the teachers all knew about the woods incident and went easy on her.

"Well I have to show up every once in awhile, and it's been a while." Cynthia sighed, she only had to show up once a week to not fail the classes she was taking and the classes weren't that hard, it was the people that bothered her.

"If you're sure," Miles said, "I'll go with you if you'd like." Miles was a lot smarter than his sisters, skipping grades since he started school and testing out of all of his junior high years so he was in Cynthia's grade, he could've skipped that one too, but he decided not to, preferring to keep an eye on his isolated sister.

"If you want." Cynthia replied dully, ' _I wish they were here, Leon always came over to walk me to his house where we were joined by Holly while Jay went to Bree's house to find her and make sure her mother wasn't trying to homeschool her. Bree's too much of a social butterfly to be homeschooled, she'd probably die from the quietness and Isolation.'_

:( :( :( :( :(

Daisy watched as her classroom slowly started filling up with the students she was teaching, The first three being the ones she was hoping would show up. Miles and Cynthia Lawson, accompanied by Breanna Grayas. Miles was always in class, with perfect attendance and marks he was a bright kid despite being nearly five years younger than the other students. Bree was usually in class, occasionally coming in late with the explanation she had been trying to convince Cynthia to come with her, quite the chatterbox, when she was present the class was buzzing with soft chatter and something close to cheer. Cynthia Lawson, nicknamed by the students the crazy girl, when in reality she wasn't at all crazy, she was quiet, rarely speaking at all and quite intelligent, everyone said she was crazy because of the strange fogginess of her blue eyes, almost like she was blind but different, her gaze was sharp and focused through the fog, giving her the appearance of someone gone mad.

Before she started class Daisy got up and quietly placed a decently thick packet on Cynthia's desk, all the work she needed to complete this week and have returned next monday. "It's good to see you again Cynthia," She smiled at the student who kept looking down at her notebook before Bree smiled at Daisy and gently poked her friend in the side.

Cynthia looked up, the student looked tired, worn out, and trapped with panic underlying the other emotions in her eyes and body language. "Hello Daisy," She called most of the teachers by their first names, "It's… nice to be back." Her attention strayed to the empty seat a few desks to her right before she dropped her attention to the packet and started getting to work on it.

Daisy smiled a sad smile at her before going back to the front of the classroom, "Hello everyone, today we're going to continue working on reviewing for your end of the year test coming up, starting with commas, semicolons and colons…"

:( :( :(

By lunchtime Cynthia was starting to panic, feeling trapped and overwhelmed by the many people and the closed walls, being jostled around in the hallways with no one besides Bree and Miles to calm her down made her feel like she was being squished in the loud big hallways of the high school. She had always been claustrophobic, but Leon used walk directly next to her, giving her the space she needed so she wouldn't panic while joking around with her to distract her from the close quarters. Someone else bumped into Cynthia's shoulder and her panic threatened to choke her. Bree and Miles had been in different classes before lunch, leaving her on her own in the crowded, loud, and noisy hallways, not a good combination for a girl who didn't have more than four people around her at once most days.

Her blue gaze flickered between doors and windows, the escape routes she could potentially use, her breathing loud and uneven, blue eyes a little wide, body language stiff and tensed. The last straw came when someone crashed into her head long, knocking her to the ground and running past. "Stop touching me!" She blurted, getting to her feet and starting to run, squeezing her eyes shut and sprinting through the maze of hallways that the school consisted of, sliding around corners and avoiding most of the other students.

:( :( :(

"Bree!" Haliah came tearing down a hallway into the cafeteria where Bree and Miles were looking around for Cynthia. "Cindy's bolted!"

Bree and Miles' expressions changed to worry and Bree spoke, "Bolted? As in worse than panicked?"

Haliah nodded, her green eyes a little wide, "She ran into Paige and kept running, even though she knocked Paige down a flight of stairs!"

Bree's amber eyes harden, "Go check on Paige, get J-bring her to Leah and get her checked over, Miles and I will try and stop her." She and Miles bolted out of the cafeteria, taking the elevator and waiting impatiently for it to reach the first level.

"She hasn't bolted since the first few weeks after they disappeared," Miles said, his tone concerned and worried about his older sister. "What happened to make her bolt now?" He looked over at the wheelchair bound teenager next to him.

"I don't know," Bree admitted, "but she's been more zoned-out lately, I've asked her before on what she was daydreaming about and she told me she wasn't daydreaming, she was just lost in her memories."  
"Do you believe it?"  
"One-hundred percent yes." Bree stated confidently, "Something happened last week that's made her more on edge and made the many memories for her resurface. Have you noticed how she ventures out to the boulder late at night and stands there, looking at the forest?"

"No," Miles looked surprised, "I just assumed she stayed out there too long and fell asleep."

"Well she's been at the boulder more often, sometimes she would pace around the boulder like she was expecting something," Bree said as the elevator doors opened, just in time for them to see Cynthia sprint out of the school. "We have to catch her before she runs into the forest!" She jerked into action, pushing herself as fast as possible.

She and Miles chased Cynthia, running or rolling as fast as possible to try and catch her from running into the woods. After a few minutes it became clear they weren't going to catch her.

"She's running too fast…" Bree panted, before something clicked in her brain, ' _Cynthia doesn't pace like that unless Leon's involved…'_ Something came to mind and she acted, "I sure hope my hunch is correct!" She said, then put two fingers to her mouth and let out the a loud, high pitched, piercing whistle.

:( :) :) :( :) :) :(

Leon looked up sharply from where he was repairing the cabin's roof, hearing the whistle, a whistle he hadn't heard in years. ' _Cyn in trouble.'_ Dropping the nails he had between his teeth, the hammer he was holding, and undoing the tool belt that was around his waist, Leon jumped from the roof to the ground.

"What're you doing Leon?" Holly asked as she looked up from where she was making a list of things Ashton wanted.

"I have to go out there!" Leon exclaimed, looking at his sister, amber eyes worried and panicked.

"What?!" His siblings yelled.

"Hear that whistle?! Cyn in trouble!" Leon took off, not allowing his siblings to dissuade him. Soon enough he heard someone crashing through the branches of a low maple tree and hurried in that direction, moments later Cynthia emerged from the tree, her blue eyes wide and panicked. She crashed directly into him and nearly knocked him to the ground. "Woah! Cyn, calm down! You're okay," He stopped her, putting his hands on her shoulders amber eyes worried. "Hey, it's okay," He said as she reached to move his hands from her shoulders, "It's just me, it's Leon, Cynthia."

Cynthia froze, blinking a few times and narrowing her eyes, looking at his face, trying to figure out if it was really him. "Leon?" She breathed, reaching to touch his face.

"Don't do that, Cyn," Leon urged, carefully moving her arm away from his face, aware that if she did so he would have a real issue explaining.

Hurt flashed across Cynthia's face before she frowned, obviously confused, under normal circumstances he wouldn't mind her doing so, but he had to make her believe it wasn't really him if they weren't going to get into trouble. ' _Why don't I think before I act?'_ He mentally groaned, pushing her arms down to her sides before speaking quickly, "You're okay, you ran into the woods, I'm going to take you out of here, unscramble the letters, Cyn." He heard the sound of tires rolling across gravel and had to hurry, "Don't cry, everything's going to be okay, you'll figure it out eventually, don't grieve."

"I don't understand," Cynthia said, trying her hardest to grasp what he was saying.

"Just… unscramble the letters Cyn," Leon said before briefly kissing her forehead, "Don't cry Sunshine, everything will turn out okay."

"Leon, what? I don't get it!" Cynthia stressed, struggling to grasp what he was saying. The tires grew louder and Leon winced at the thought of what he was going to do, but did it anyway, hitting Cynthia in the temple with a well placed punch, knocking her out right away. Causing her to slump forward and he caught her, carrying her bridal style, her head resting against his chest, out cold.

Leon ran to the edge of the woods, "be careful" He whispered in her ear as he carefully put her down at the edge of the woods, making it look like she tripped over something and crashed to the ground. "Unscramble the letters, Cyn." He whispered as she started to stir, "I love you, be careful, and don't forget I'm still with you Sunshine. I'm always with you." He quickly kissed her crown before sprinting back to the cabin and quickly returning to the roof, getting back to work on the roof, wishing he had had time to actually look her over when he wasn't thirty feet away in a tree.

:( :( :) :) :(

"...tripped on something."

"Sounds like Cindy."

Cynthia heard as she came to, disoriented and confused. ' _What happened?...'_ She wondered. With a jolt she remembered. "Leon!" She jerked upright with a gasp, opening her eyes and slightly flailing her arms.

"Woah!" Haliah sat down on the edge of the bed, "Leon's not here, you're okay Cindy."

"No! You don't understand," Cynthia said, blue eyes wide and startled, "I saw Leon! He was there!"

Haliah looked a bit concerned and she spoke a little slowly to her mother, "Mom… I think Cindy hit her head too hard."

"I'm not imagining it!" Cynthia retorted, blue eyes begging them to believe her, "I know what I saw! I saw Leon!" She lifted one arm to touch where Leon had kissed her forehead before dropping it a few moments later, looking slightly desperate, "He told me to unscramble something! I'm not crazy!" Bree was the only one who wasn't looking at her like she's crazy. "Bree, you have to believe me! I'm not crazy!"

"I want to talk to Cindy," Bree said to the others, keeping eye contact with the stressed girl. "Alone."

Reluctantly, everyone left and Bree rolled closer to Cynthia as the teenager swung her legs over the side of the bunk. Bree watched as Cynthia got up and started pacing back and forth, running her fingers through her black hair, mumbling under her breath. The pacing strengthened her belief. "I don't think you're crazy," She said with a smile, "I believe you."

"Thank Starclan!" Cynthia exclaimed, pausing the pacing to look at her friend, "I saw Leon, he told me a few things before knocking me out, but I swear to Starclan that I saw him!"

"I know you did," Bree smiled, "If you didn't see him, you wouldn't be pacing like that."

Cynthia paused the pacing and grinned sheepishly before sobering up, "I have something to tell you, something I've been neglecting to tell you…"

:) :) :) :)

Bree fingered the blue jay feather, her expression oddly pensive with no traces of hyperness apparent. "Wow. So that's why you've been zoned out a lot more this past week." She stated, looking up from the small feather she was absently twirling between her index finger and thumb, "These objects remind you of them, they remind me of them too." She admitted, her amber gaze sweeping over the hoodie, feather, and bandana. Suddenly she smiled, humor lighting up her amber eyes, "Remember that etiquette dinner we were all forced to go to and the boy had to choose their partners?"

Cynthia lips twitched in a small smiled, "Of course, probably the most awkward activity in the world."

"Are you kidding?" Bree chortled, "You and Leon were perfectly fine with it while the rest of us were awkward and nervous, Holly and Finli were dead silent for most of it!"

"We were just as awkward as you two," Cynthia laughed, "We're just better at hiding it."

"Oh really?" Bree teased, "Then what was going on before Holly startled you so badly you fell out of your chair?"

Cynthia blushed and shrugged, tucking her bangs behind her right ear, "Awkward teenager junk." She replied, the corners of her lips turning up into a smile. She knew exactly what had been going on, at that particular moment she had been waiting for something. At the time, Leon had had the expression he used to have when he was about to kiss her and he almost did before Holly startled them both.

Bree rolled her eyes, leaning back in her wheelchair still playing with the jay's feather in her hand and looking at the small feather, amber eyes soft. Cynthia relaxed as well, laying back down with her arms behind her head, feet propped up on the bottom rail of the day bed she was laying on, gazing up at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. It was quiet for a few minutes, the two friends lost in their own thoughts as they both contemplated the idea of their friends coming back. Bree almost broke the silence, but she decided against it seeing her friend's blue eyes already closed, her breathing evening out. ' _We'll come find you Jay,'_ She mused, gazing out of the window, amber eyes flashing as she focused on the distant woods, ' _You gave me clues too, hopefully I can figure it out.'_ Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small but sturdy stick with the riddle, 'I am strong and I am sturdy, man created me, but fire will kill me, what am I?' She brushed her fingers over the skilled carved letters, ' _I know this is your doing, you always had an affinity for sticks and branches… and you're probably the best wood carver I've ever seen.'_ She looked back up at the window, gaze focused and alert. ' _We're coming Jay. I'm coming to find you.'_

:) :) :)

"Do you think they'll figure it out?" Holly asked her brothers in a quiet voice, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her chin on top of them, wrapping her arms snugly around them in the process. Holly looked tired with a decently thick cut along her cheek, one that was sure to scar.

"Of course they will," Leon replied, walking over to his sister and dropping his other jacket around her shoulders before sitting next to her, "They're smart enough to figure it out."

"Bree's no idiot." Jay grunted as he used a tiny pocket knife to whittle something out of a stick, his thin fingers perfect for the job. "She's almost as smart as you Holly."

"And Cyn may be a bit impulsive but she's smart too," Leon added, using his friend's nickname, finding permission in how Jay shortened his friend's name as well.

"Finli's intelligent as well," Holly admitted, leaning closer to her brother for warmth.

Leon pulled his siblings closer by the shoulders, having them all huddle while two of them watched their brother transform a boring old stick into an object of sorts. "They'll come, it's just sad it's taken us so long to be able to do anything to help them."

"Does it bother you?" Holly asked Jay, "That Cindy's the only one who seems affected by us missing?"

Jay snorted brushing away the wood shavings on his creation with his thumb, "She's just as affected as Cynthia is. Bree visits the woods all the time, calling our names and looking for clues."  
"Seriously?" Holly asked in shock, "and Cindy lets her?"  
"Holly," Jay closed his put down his knife and turned his head towards his sister, blind eyes gleaming with something close to mirth hidden beneath the grumpiness he had. "Nobody can stop Bree from doing what she wants if she puts her mind to it. Not even Cynthia." He then picked up his knife again and the mirth in his eyes vanished, leaving them blank and a bit frightening as he turned his head back towards his carving despite how he couldn't see it. "Cynthia just shows it more. Cynthia saw us be kidnapped, Bree was injured before she could follow us. She pushed Cynthia out of the way of a falling tree, I heard it creaking when we ran past."

"Speaking of Cindy," Holly looked over at her brother, "how did the confrontation between you two go?"  
Leon shrugged, hiding his annoyance and unease at the mention of the topic. "I snapped her out of the panic, gave her a clue and knocked her out." He shrugged, looking away from his siblings and out at the setting sun over the treetops, "Nothing else really."

"Did you notice anything strange about her?" Holly asked, wanting to know a little more about how her friend was doing.

"No," Leon mumbled, shifting a little away from his sister and keeping his gaze focused on the outside world.

"But-"

"Holly," Jay grunted, "drop it, you're making him uncomfortable." He could tell his younger brother was distancing himself from the conversation.

"I just want to know what's going on with my friend-" Holly complained in a mumble.

"I gave her the locket clue yesterday night." Leon said, his voice dull, "She was sitting on the boulder like she always does but she was restless, pacing before sitting down then shifting her position again a few minutes later. I gave the locket and she started crying." He explained, tone dull, "She's been spending more time sitting restlessly at the boulder like she's hoping I'd show myself and leaves looking miserable. That's all I know." He mumbled.

Holly was quiet, quietly hugging her brother while Jay continued to work on his carving, the sounds methodic and close to comforting.

' _I'm going to break the rules again, I want to talk to her, face to face.'_ Leon decided, getting up and taking his jacket from his sister, replacing it with a blanket, "I'm going for a walk." He mumbled, pulling on the hoodie.

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia put her head on her arms, looking out the window and silently watching the sky change colors and change the colors of the trees outside. ' _Where are you guys… in the woods somewhere?'_ Her blue gazed slid over to the locket she had propped up against the window glass, the crafted silver gleaming in the fading light. ' _I miss you three… I miss you guys. I love my siblings but they can't replace any of you. I remember that etiquette dinner, it was hilarious, shoving two twelve-year-olds, six fourteen-year-olds, three fifteen-year-olds, and five six-teen-year-olds into a formal dinner. Holly and Finli didn't know what to do with each other, and pretty much avoided contact with each other throughout the entire activity; Haliah and Paige got along with each other, and didn't argue at all during it over Brendon; Bree and Jay playfully bickered and argued throughout the whole thing, acting like their normal selves; and Miles was paired with Amber, being a gentleman and trying his best.'_ Her blue eyes slid closed, lost in her thoughts.

' _I was paired with Leon, it was amusing when he just about ran over to me and away from the other girls before straightening himself and offering his arm like he was told to do. The expression on his face when he was told he had to choose while Isa and Hannah both started giggling was the funniest expression I've seen on his face. He was completely horrified at the idea of going with Isa or Hanah. The actual activity was fun, just getting along and laughing with each other in pairs while four pairs were grouped together at a table, got rid of some of the awkwardness. But I think my favorite is when we all split up to go home, Holly dragged Bree and Jay with her, too awkward to stay while Leon and I slipped away from our siblings, laughing about the tension erupting between my sisters…'_

"I found something!" Finli burst in, startling Cynthia and Bree, the latter had been studying her riddle, working to figure it out. Cynthia fell backward off her chair and crashed to the ground, looking dazedly up at the ginger and white haired boy.

"Cool… Tell me in a minute." She managed, the words slurring before her vision went black.

:) :) :)

"Cindy?" Cynthia opened her eyes to Bree looking down at her, "Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm okay," Cynthia reassured her with a groan, sitting up as Bree moved back, "I have a killer migraine, though."

"Sorry," Finli apologized sheepishly, "but I think I figured out the clue I got."

"Well don't keep it to yourself, tell us," Cynthia snorted, getting to her feet and staggering a little as she fetched the letter scramble that she had turned into blocks because she had issues remembering where the papers were.

"It's forest, the answer is a forest."

"Oh! And I figured out mine too! It's cabin!"

Cynthia suddenly froze, the entire thing clicking in her mind and she dropped the blocks, locking eyes with Bree, "Ashton… Oh, my Starclan!" She turned on her heel and started racing down the stairs.

"What?!"

"Ashton! The guy who tried kidnapping me to convince Leon to kill himself!" Cynthia yelled up the stairs, the other two following her, Bree bouncing merrily down the stairs.

"That maniac?" Finli yelped, right behind Bree.

"That maniac has a secluded cabin in the woods?!... Wait, that actually makes sense, nevermind. Where are we going?!" Bree shouted to Cynthia as they left her house and started running across the street.

"To Skylar's! Ashton has a grudge against her!" Cynthia yelled back, running to the house and pulling out a key she had since she was ten and unlocking the door.

"How's this going to help?!"

"Because Leon would have a record of that cabin! He wanted to take me there!" Cynthia replied, running up the stairs and disappearing out of sight while the two older teens yelped, "What?!" and Bree started the hard process of getting up the stairs while Finli rushed past her.

Cynthia ran into Leon's room and pushed the door open, running into the room and searching through his closet for something, forcing herself to stay focused on the task at hand and not bolt back out of the room with all of the memories this place held. "Where did you put the box you prat," She mumbled before looking up at a shelf above her head. "Huh, that's a good place."

"What?!" Bree came into the room, her face a little flushed from the hard climb.

Cynthia ignored her and pulled down the box, putting it on the desk and taking out another key before sliding it into the padlock on the plastic box and pushing the top off and rummaging through it.

Bree's amber eyes widened, "Starclan, Cindy! This is a lot of stuff!"

"Yeah," Cynthia's blue eyes softened, "It is a bunch of stuff. I have the same box." She pushed through the many different objects, playing cards, toys, water guns, many different kinds of papers and a leather bracelet she had made for him when they were little. "Here it is." She pulled out a leather bound notebook and flipped through it, keeping the other two from looking through it.

"What's that?"

"It's a notebook." Cynthia replied before her blue eyes light up and she puts the book down flat on the desk, and unfolded a page, unfolding several other folded pages to reveal a detailed hand drawn map of the woods and the lake in the center.

"Did Leon draw this?" Bree asked in a hushed whisper, "it's so detailed."

"He didn't do it alone. Brad used to take us in his patrolling helicopter and we'd sketch a vague sketch of what we saw before adding detail while we walked around and through the woods." Cynthia pointed at a small cabin like structure near a bridge that crossed the lake, "Ashton's cabin. Or should I say, Skylar's cabin."

"What?" Finli asked in surprise, "I've never heard of it."

A smile tugged at the corners of Cynthia's lips, "I know you haven't, because I'm the only non Bramble person who knows about it, and I haven't seen it. Anyway," she sobered up, "I know where the cabin is, but we can't just barge in there, we're going to need a plan and Skylar and Brad are in charge of it, it's their kids."

"Our friends!" Bree shot back.

"But we're just teenagers, we can't stop this maniac, we tried that before and it led to Leon nearly drowning in the lake remember?"  
"Right… so we tell them?"  
"You two tell them, I'll leave a clue for Leon." Cynthia replied, the mistiness in her blue eyes temporarily clearing up at the possibility of getting them back.

:) :) :)

Leon yelped as something hit him in the back of the head and he turned around to find a familiar looking locket lying at his feet. Picking up the locket he suspiciously opened it and grinned. The picture was different, the picture was now of when Brad had taken a picture of him and Cynthia asleep in his helicopter, the map books open on their laps, Cynthia's head on his shoulder. And scribbled in tiny loopy writing he could see the words, 'Still holding you to the cabin promise.' his amber eyes widened and he jumped down from the roof and rushed over to his siblings, "They figured it out!" He hissed in a low voice, running over and showing the locket to Holly.

"I've never seen this picture before," Holly said, studying it.

"Yeah whatever, see the writing on the bottom? Cyn knows we're in the cabin!"  
Holly jerked her head up, "which means Bree and Finli know-"

"And they'll get the adults involved!" Leon grinned.

"So we'll be able to go home," Jay said, looking excited for once in his grumpy life.

"Yes," Leon nodded, smiling, ' _I can see Cyn again!'_

:) :) :) :)

"Skylar, I know where your kids are," Cynthia told the ginger haired woman, blue eyes bright and sincere, the map book tucked under one arm.

"Come with me." Skylar said, quickly getting over her shock and yelling up the stairs, "Brad! Someone has got a lead on the kids!"

:) :) :) :)

Leon, Jay, and Holly all pretended to be asleep, waiting tensely for any sign of their freedom. A moment later all three heard the front door get flung open an heard Brad's thundering voice, "Put your hands up!"

:) :) :)

"Cindy! Bree!" Haliah shook both teenagers awake, "Brad just went to fetch Leon, Jay, and Holly!"

Bree shot up like a rocket while Cynthia looked groggily at her sister, having had a good sleep for once in two years. "Huh?" She asked sleepily, "I'm sleeping Haliah, go away." She complained, rolling over.

"Cindy!" Haliah heaved her sister out of the bed and dropped her onto the floor, something she hadn't done in a long time. "Get up Cindy! Leon's coming!"

"What?!" Cynthia jolted awake from both the impact and the news, "Let's go!" Hauling herself to her feet she grabbed Leon's hoodie, pushed on her tennis shoes and sprinted down the stairs.

"Wait for me!" Bree complained heaving herself into her wheelchair and bouncing down the stairs behind Cynthia.

:) :) :) :)

"Dad, can we go?" Leon asked, fidgeting while his father bound up Ashton and wrote the record of the incident.

Brad opened his mouth to say be patient but he paused, seeing the pleading look on his son's face, "I'll write this later, let's get you home."  
"Yes!" Leon grinned, throwing a fist into the air, "We're going home!"

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia caught sight of them first. Her vision focused on the golden blonde haired teenager her age with excited amber eyes and slightly dirty clothing. "Leon!" She exclaimed as she dodged the adults who tried to stop her and ran over to her best friend, blue eyes bright and hopeful, "it's really you?!"

Leon's amber eyes twinkled as he caught her, breaking her momentum by spinning her once around before smiling at her, neither of them paying attention to everyone else. "It's really me Sunshine, it's me."

Cynthia wasted no time, smiling as well before pressing her lips to his, resting her hands on his shoulders, Leon threading his fingers through her black hair.

Bree rushed over as well with a happy squeal, "Jay! Holly! Leon!" Her amber eyes twinkled as she pulled both Jay and Holly down for a hug.

"Bree! What happened?!" Holly asked, returning the embrace but staring at her now wheelchair bound friend. "You're in a wheelchair!"

"I got squashed beneath a tree!" Bree grinned with a shrug, "but I don't mind!"

Jay got down to her level and showed an unusual and rare gesture of affection, he pressed his lips to her forehead, "that's my girl," He mumbled soft enough for only her to hear before moving back and settling on crouching in front of her, at her eye level, blind eyes gazing directly at her, "of course you wouldn't mind being stuck in a wheelchair, nothing fazes you does it?"

"Somethings do!" Bree smiled, ruffling his hair, amber eyes gleaming with returned cheer and enthusiasm. "Like my best friend's being kidnapped!"

Jay, Holly, and Finli laughed, Bree joining in as did Cynthia and Leon. Everything was back to normal and everyone was glad.

:) :) :)

"Leon, why are you taking me out here right now? I have a test tomorrow you prat," Cynthia sighed but didn't speed up their pace, instead, keeping the slow and steady pace they had going as she walked alongside Leon at the sandy shore of the lake, her arm linked with his, looking at him, blue eyes mildly annoyed.

"You'll see." Leon said again for the tenth time, acting all mysterious and riling her up with her hatred for surprises. He loved the lake, that water was always clear and uninterrupted, even while he had been captured by Ashton he had loved this place, and a few months later he was finally introducing Cynthia to both the cabin and a sunset even better than watching it from her house where you could see nearly the entire thing from start to finish.

"You know I hate surprises!" She groaned, getting closer to him suffering through the anticipation.

"Look," He said, stopping in front of the cabin that they, Him, Holly, and Jay, had fixed up. "This is the cabin." Cynthia looked at the cabin with wide blue eyes and Leon smiled, "There's nothing in it at the moment, but I promise I'll take you after my mom finishes putting the stuff back in it." He leant closer to her and whispered something in her ear, "Maybe it can be our secret hideout."

Cynthia smiled at him, "I'd like that."

"Hold on, I have to check something." Leon said and Cynthia moved away from him, looking at the cabin while Leon jogged closer to the lake and looked at the water whose color had shifted from clear blue to shimmering pink, yellow, red, and orange. Going back over to Cynthia he put his hands over her eyes, "Ready?" He asked, turning her around and leading her back to the sandy shore. "Don't you trust me?" He snorted, noticing how she had her arms extended in front of her.

"To keep your balance and not send us both to the ground? No, I don't." She deadpanned but put her arms down at her sides.

"Surprise," He smiled, taking his hands away from her eyes and watching her reaction.

"Wow," She breathed before grinning and taking off, running into the lake and jumping in with a splash. "Come on Leon!" She laughed at his startled expression, "It's not that bad!"  
"It's wet!"  
"Be all alone then!" Cynthia chortled, diving back under the surface.

"I'm coming!" Leon braced himself and ran into the water, stopping when it got to his waist and scowling at the wet and cold sensation. Suddenly Cynthia grabbed hold of his ankle and pulled him under. When he broke the surface spluttering he found Cynthia giggling, blue eyes twinkling with amused mirth. "I'm going to get you for that!" He warned, seizing her around the waist and falling backward into the water, cutting off her laughter as they both went under water and so a water fight began, the air ringing with the teenager's laughter.

:) :) :) :)

"What are you two doing?" Holly asked as she stepped into her younger brother's room to find Jay and Bree, Jay sanding his whittling carving while Bree watched him, idly sketching something on the notepad beside her as she did so.

"Whittling."  
"Sketching!"

"You two are strange." Holly sighed and left, leaving her sibling to do whatever he was doing while she started walking to Finli's house, looking forward to spending some time with him playing her favorite game, chess.

:) :) :) :)

Jay finished the sanding and seemed to check over the whittled carving before blowing off the sawdust and handing it to Bree, "Try it, it's a picilo." He grunted curtly

Bree's amber eyes lit up at the name of her favorite instrument and she took it from him, putting it to her lips and experimenting, playing a few notes to test out the tuning of the instrument before starting to play a tune Jay himself had created when they were younger. Jay grinned and hummed along with her playing, blind blue eyes triumphant and happy.

 **Yeah… the ending was rushed… but I've spent SIX days on this one! XD I've rewritten it six times, deleted and added in scenes, and was getting tired of fiddling with it! :D XD**


	64. Oh Brother

_**Waterpool- Thanks! :D**_

 ** _Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- They are all together! :D I think I'm getting the message that you liked it a lot XD_**

 ** _dragonwritergirl112- Hi! Haven't heard from you for a little while! I'm glad you like the ending! Personally, I find it a bit rushed, but to each their own! :D_**

 ** _Featherflight123- It's more amazing than usual?... Wow! :D Leon x Cynthia forever! :D I know right?! He calls her Sunshine because she brightens his life every day! :D_**

 ** _Echo in The Whispering Wind- Mwahaha!_**

 ** _Ashton silently plotted in his cell, sitting on the bunk with his clasped hands beneath his chin, blue eyes smoldering. 'I'll get you back Skylar, one of your kids will end up dead when I am finished.' An evil smirk spread across his lips, 'I nearly did it once with that Lawson girl, this time it will work. And I'll get her as well, for ruining my plans. Maybe I'll kill all of them. After all, I blinded your pathetic blind boy and it's a pity your other son isn't my own, or he would've been treated well. I would have brought out his true potential and not let him be swayed by the mushy crush that girl had on him. I would've made him better, but I can't do that so I will destroy him.' His blue eyes flash dangerously. 'Once and for all."_**

 _ **Duhn Duhn Duhn Duhn! XD**_

 _ **Dawnshade49- What kind of tips do you want? I will do my best to help you! Really?! I'll have to read it! I'm sure it's great! Aw, I'm glad you like my writing! It's fun writing it! Yeah, I spent six days on that chapter, I wanted it to be perfect for you guys! :D  
If you're hungry go eat food! Well, every writer has their own style! Mine's just overly complicated and confusing! :D My style is the characters are talking to me, I'm being their scribe essentially! :D  
I have a human, animal, and some things written! So all I need it shapeshifters, wizards and witches, mythical creatures and OTHER! I will write those eventually! :D :D :D :D**_

 _ **Where ever is says fiance I mean fiancé XD My computer won't do the accent XD And by the way, do not think I encourage this kind of thing, having kids before you're married and stuff okay? It's just with how impulsive both Leon and Cynthia are combined with their personalities they would do something like this in my opinion. Plus, The bet between the three siblings was just created so Leon's eager to get a head start on his siblings, and they've been together on and off for five and a half years at this point.**_

 _ **I just want to make sure that you guys don't think rude of me because of the way I set this up and their ages, I introduced the idea in Lixa's comment of, "You guys had me when you were nineteen" and this is the follow-up, the complete story behind it. There's a major jump because Cynthia's pregnancy is a secret at the moment because I'm still fiddling with how it goes with her first born and the recurring issues with the other three. I may upload a chapter about it in Briarfeather and Cinderblaze, but we'll see! So as a recap, I full-hearted believe you should wait till your married and comfortable with your partner, you should know the person inside and out and get along with them very well, not to mention you two can handle living with each other. Cynthia and Leon nearly check off everything in that list.**_

 _ **They're engaged, have been for over nine months at this point**_

 _ **They're always around each other and are very comfortable with each other**_

 _ **They know everything about each other, there aren't any secrets between them**_

 _ **They've been living with each other since they were 13!**_

 _ **And as a plus, Lixa isn't born till AFTER they are actually married so yeah! (That scene is also a secret!)**_

 _Oh brother_

 _Leon, Cynthia- 19_

 _Holly- 20_

"Leon, I have to talk to you."

"Uh, Sunshine I'm in the middle of a practice," Leon said, his Bluetooth headset on as he dribbled and shot a three-pointer.

"Now, Leon."

"Is something wrong?" He asked, catching a pass from another member of his college basketball team and waiting for her answer before he shot another basket.

"Will you please just come to your dorm room? I really really need to talk to you!" Cynthia pleaded, her voice strained and borderline panicked.

"Cyn, I can't leave my team," Leon said slowly, lining up another shot as the captain of the team gave him a funny look.

"Leon please!" She was on the border of tears now.  
"We have a game tomorrow Cyn," Leon reasoned, fine-tuning his shot, "I can't miss this practice."

"I'm pregnant Leon!" Cynthia blurted and started sobbing.

Leon's amber eyes widened, his grip on the ball loosened and his shot hit a banner in one corner of the gym. "W-What?!" He yelled in shock, making the entire basketball team look at him, "I'm on my way, where are you?"

"In your dorm room," Cynthia sobbed.

"Kay, I'm coming, don't worry Sunshine!" He told her and hung up, "Uh, Sorry Trystan," he apologized quickly to his team captain, running over to his duffle bag and slinging it over one shoulder.

"Where are you going?!" Trystan yelled back, looking at him in confusion.

"Leonardo! Get your butt back here!" The coach roared.

"My fiancé needs me!" He yelled back, sprinting out of the gym and down the halls of the college building before bursting outside and racing up the street to the dorms building. ' _Oh my Starclan! Cyn's pregnant!'_

:) :) :) :)

Leon skidded around a corner and fumbled for his key card, dropping it repeatedly, his hands shaking slightly. Finally he got the key card into the slider and the door unlocked and popped open. He pushed it open, quickly walked in before kicking it shut with his foot as he was enveloped in a tight embrace by Cynthia, her face buried in his chest, shoulders shaking as she sobbed. "It's okay," He reassured her, wrapping his arms around her back and gently stroking her hair, attempting to calm her down before figuring out the whole situation. "Shh, you're alright, it's okay…" He soothed, kissing her crown and keeping her wrapped snuggly in his arms.

"Holly's going to kill us!" Cynthia sobbed into his chest, loosely gripping fistfuls of his shirt, completely terrified at the prospect of what they were now dealing with.

"I know," Leon soothed gently, "but it's okay if she gets upset, it's not your fault." He rocked them slightly from side to side, softly murmuring anything comforting that he could think of in her ear. "We'll be okay, it's alright, it's not a bad thing, we'll get through it," He murmured and it seemed to do the trick, Cynthia's crying died to shaky breaths and the occasional hiccup within the next few minutes. He kept murmuring things in her ear, not sure if she was okay now or would start crying again.

Another few minutes passed by before Leon drew back from her slightly and put his hands on either side of her face, making her look at him. His heart squeezed a little painfully at the glittering tear tracks on her face, along with the red rimming her blue eyes, and the water glistening in her eyes. "Hey," He said softly used one thumb to wipe away the tears below her blue eyes, "it's okay," he soothed sincerely, "It's not your fault Cyn," he said as she looked away from him, looking down at the ground at her feet, His amber eyes softened, "hey, look at me Cyn, it's alright." Cynthia reluctantly looked up at him blue eyes watery and vulnerable, still not speaking. "It's my fault," He assured her, "Not yours, I urged you into it, you can blame me if you want okay?" His amber eyes searched hers, looking for her answer and getting a reading on her emotions.

"I don't blame you," Cynthia said, her voice thick and a little hard to understand, "I could've done something, anything to stop it."

"Hey, do you regret it?" He asked, keeping his voice calm despite the fear swirling in his mind and how his heart was squeezing in fear.

Cynthia took a moment to respond, "no…" She admitted quietly, keeping the rest of the sentence to herself. ' _But I wanted to wait…'_

Leon seemed to know what she didn't say anyway as he leaned over, resting his forehead against hers, "I know you did, and I did too, but we're too impulsive and impatient to sit there and fidget for sixteen months," he said and was treated with a small smile at the truthful but humorous statement. He smiled a little as well before kissing the tip of her nose and speaking again, "It's okay, It'll be wonderful in the end." He smiled tenderly as her, "I'm thrilled personally." He admitted softly and Cynthia's blue eyes lit up, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"I am too," Cynthia admitted as a faint blush spread across her cheeks before closing her eyes, content in their current position.

"I love you," He murmured, looking at her with a loving expression on his face.

"Mmmhmm, I love you too," Cynthia replied with a murmur as well, keeping her eyes closed while moving her arms from around his back to be looped lazily around his neck.

 _ **That's most of the pure Cinderblaze fluff! XD**_

:) :) :) :)

"You what?!" Holly yelled startled, dropping her book as she got to her feet and approached her younger brother, green eyes wide with shock and surprise, locked on her brother her friend who was sprawled on the couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table, seemingly comfortable in the fluffy hoodie she had stolen from Leon, blue eyes watching the sibling's confrontation with slight amusement.

"I'm sorry," Leon winced, shrinking away from his shocked older sister.

"You're sorry?! Leon! That's probably one of the most irresponsible things you've done so far!"

"Hey!" Leon fired back, feeling a little brave at the moment and he gestured to Cynthia, "It's her fault too!"

"Yes, but she's not my sibling!"

"She will be!" Leon snapped back, looking over at Cynthia with a partial pleading expression, _'Help me!"_ Holly's green eyes flash and he wilts, shrinking away from her again, "Sorry."

"In a few months, sure! but she isn't yet!" Holly retorted, moving to smack him before pausing and looking at Cynthia, "Can I hit him?" She huffed, taking her friend into consideration.

Cynthia shrugged and rubbed her temples, "go ahead." She looked over at them and rolled her eyes at Leon's amber eyed plead, "grow up you baby," She joked.

"I'm not a baby-" Leon complained before being cut off as Holly promptly smacked him upside the head, "Ow! Holly cut it out! I'm sorry!"

"You guys are crazy!" Holly smacked him again and Leon winced repeatedly as his sister kept berating him, calling him stupid in twenty different ways.

Cynthia decided to take pity on her fiancé and got up, striding over to the two siblings and stepping between them, facing Holly. "Holly, calm down," She said, her voice unusually firm, "you've calmed him stupid way too many times and only I can smack him that many times."

Holly's green eyes flash, "Cynthia Casi lawson," her friend winced at the sound of her full name, " what were you thinking?!"

"I wasn't."

"And why not?!"

"Because I got distracted."

"You have a brain, don't you? Why didn't you use it?!" Holly weakly shook her friend by the shoulders.

"I do have a brain and I did use it." Cynthia rolled her eyes, arms crossed over her chest, looking unimpressed. It was strange seeing Holly getting all emotional while Cynthia was calm for once.

"This is going to change everything!"

"Only for Leon and I."

"You two are the most impulsive people I've ever met!"

"Thank you for the compliment." Cynthia deadpanned and Holly deflated, looking worriedly at her friend and her brother. Leon was hiding his smile in Cynthia's black hair, his arms wrapped snugly around her waist, broad shoulders shaking slightly.

"What am I going to do with you two?" Holly sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, green eyes finally calm and accepting.

"Three," Cynthia replied evenly, her blue eyes twinkling softly, "And we don't know yet, but we'll figure it out." She looked up at Leon, "Right?"

Leon nodded, "Yeah, we'll figure it out." He looked at his sister, "Will you help us, Holly?" He asked a bit timidly, not sure how she was going to react.

"Of course I'll help," Holly sighed, hugging both of them, "I couldn't leave my siblings without any help."

:) :) :) :)

 _ **Sorry guys, the pregnancy is secret, and so is the wedding! :D So this is a major skip! :D**_

"Leon," His basketball game was broken by Holly calling him during half time, "You need to get to the hospital now."

"What wrong? I'm in the middle on a game-"

"Cindy's in labor Leon, so get your butt over her before I drag you here!"

"I'm coming! Sorry coach! I have to go!" Leon told his coach, running off the court.

"You owe me one!" Trystan yelled to him as he took his place, "Go to her Lion!"

"Holly, Is everything going okay?!" Leon fretted as he escaped the rowdy stadium, sprinting towards his car. "She's okay right?! Nothing is going wrong?! Is there blood?!" He asked in rapid succession.

"She's fine Leon just get over here!"

"Let me talk to her!" Leon said as he quickly unlocked his car, throwing his bag into the back and slamming the door shut before getting into the car and shutting the door, starting it up and backing out his parking space.

"Ugh! Fine! Here Cindy, he's freaking out. You're on speaker Leon."

"Holly, if you were in labor Finli would be freaking out too!" Cynthia's voice was strained and full of pain but he didn't care as long as he heard her voice.

"How're you feeling Sunshine?!" He asked worriedly as he drove towards the directed hospital, "Do you need me to stop at your apartment to get anything?!"

"I feel great concerning the migraine I had this morning," Cynthia groaned, "no, we have everything we needed from my flat, Holly has it with her."

"How bad in the pain?!" He asked, worried sick about her.

"Judging by how she is crushing my hand to powder she's feeling it," Holly complained before yelping, "ow!"

"Oh shut up!" Cynthia snapped back, "What you're feeling is nothing Holly!"

Leon would've laughed at the snappy response if he wasn't extremely worried at the time. "Cyn, answer my question please!"

"On a scale of one to ten? Probably about a seven!" Cynthia grunted, gritting her teeth.

"Ow, ow, ow ow! Loosen your grip you tigress!" Holly complained, "I want to be able to use my hand tomorrow you maniac!"

"Shut up Holly!"

"Well sorry but you're killing my hand here!"

"Holly! Stop arguing with her!" Leon demanded, "She's in a lot more pain than you!" He fumed before noticing the entrance to the parking lot he needed to go to. "I'm pulling into the parking lot right now, where are you two?"

"Waiting for you in the lobby actually, ow! Starclan above!" Holly yelped in pain again.

"I'll be right there!" Leon pulled into the parking lot, parked, and jumped out of his car, rushing into the hospital and looking for his sister and wife. He spotted Cynthia first, the blue-eyed woman was looking at Holly with annoyance, her face flushed and displaying the pain she was in. "How come you're still down here?" he asked, rushing over to them and slipping his hand into Cynthia's allowing her to grip his hand instead from Holly's thinner one, he could barely feel the pain of her grip, too focused on the task at hand.

"We were waiting for you," Cynthia panted as Leon kissed her cheek, blue eyes glittering with pain, "If we didn't you wouldn't be allowed to come with me," She grunted squeezing his and a little harder.

"How are you not flinching?!" Holly stared at her brother, rubbing her injured hand.

"Come on, let's go," Leon ignored his sister, too focused.

:) :) :) :) :)

Leon smiled at the small infant wrapped up in a white blanket and cradled in Cynthia's tired arms, his partner did in fact look exhausted and probably wanted everyone to go away so she could get some sleep, but their parents and sisters were gushing over the baby girl Leon and Cynthia had named Lixa Leanna bramble, the name more Cynthia's idea than his own. Leon himself was sitting in an visiting chair, leaning over so his arm was wrapped around Cynthia's shoulders, looking at the baby with loving eyes. "Thank you," He murmured to Cynthia, kissing her temple, "she's wonderful."

Cynthia just gave a soft grunt and didn't speak, her blue eyes drooping mostly closed, leaning her head on his shoulder with the hope of being able to go to sleep.

Leon moved one arm to cradle the baby as Cynthia's arms slackened, as she drifted off, her energy spent. ' _You're daddy's princess little Lixa,'_ he smiled brushing his thumb over the baby's cheek. "Thank you very much Sunshine, you're amazing," he murmured in Cynthia's ear, getting a small reaction from her, a slight smile.

:) :) :) :)

Holly pushed open the front door of her brother and Cynthia's apartment, the first time she had not been busy with college and her internship. She had missed Lixa's birth, bringing Cynthia to the hospital and waiting with her for Leon, but had to leave to her internship right after so she hadn't seen the baby at all yet.

"Holly? What're you doing here?" Holly jumped to look over at the kitchen where Cynthia was, squinting slightly and looking like she had a headache.

"Figured I should come say hello when I had a chance." Holly replied, walking over to her sister in law and watching as the blue eyes woman filled up a glass of water before unscrewing a small container of ibuprofen and tipping one into her palm. "What's wrong?"

"I've had a killer migraine all evening," Cynthia replied with a shrug, "I hit my head on something wood earlier and the headache ended up waking me up." She leaned against one of the counters, "You choose to say hello at…" She glanced over at the digital clock on the stovetop, "...Midnight?" Cynthia rolled her eyes before taking the pain medication and draining the glass of water.

"Yeah… I've been really busy." Holly said sheepishly and Cynthia rolled her eyes again before putting the glass down on the counter and pushing herself away from the counter, walking down the hall.

"Well you're lucky because Lixa about to wake up." Cynthia said and sure enough a moment later Lixa started crying. She pushed Leon back so he was lying down, "I'm up," She told him and he flopped back down, dropping off to sleep a moment later while she went over to the crib in one corner and picked up the fussy infant.

"How did you know?" Holly asked in surprise, walking over to her and looking at the baby girl.

"I just do," Cynthia replied mysteriously before grinning, "you wouldn't understand." She smirked, before smiling, "Anyway, meet Lixa Leanna Bramble." She said and Lixa giggled, reaching for her mother's face, hazel eyes wide open and alert, smiling a gummy smile at her.

Holly smiled as well, "She's beautiful Cindy."

"You'll have one too Holly," Cynthia's blue eyes twinkle, "I heard about Finli's proposal last week."  
Holly blushed and followed her sister in law as she strode out of the room and back into the living room, taking a seat on the couch with Lixa held snugly in her arms. "Yeah," Holly said a bit nervously, "he did."

"Don't be nervous Holly," Cynthia smiled, blue eyes shining, "There's nothing to be nervous about the wedding."

"There are plenty of things to be nervous about!" Holly exclaimed, keeping her voice down slightly.

"Really? Do tell me what they are." Cynthia said sarcastically, rolling her eyes while letting Lixa play with her fingers and put them in her mouth.

"Well-"  
"I was kidding Holly," Cynthia laughed, "there's nothing to be worried about, it's your day, it's whatever and however you want it."

"Yours wasn't though."

"Yeah, because I was four months pregnant and had a stubborn case of mood swings and morning sickness that just refused to leave me alone. I let Leon handle because a, I was being lazy and didn't want to worry about it, and b, because I knew he would make sure I'd like it."

"I still don't get that, how did you manage to turn my brother into a wedding planner?" Holly said, tickling Lixa's tummy softly.

Cynthia blue eyes twinkle, "Leon and I have been planning something like that since we were kids."

"What?!" Holly stared at her in shock.

"Like everyone girl, including yourself Holly," Cynthia said, "I had a silly dream wedding designed and who to design it with than my best friend Leon? So technically we've been modifying it and adding to it as we got older and more mature. Although it was always blue and gold themed."

"It was fun designing it," Leon spoke from where he was walking along behind the couch towards them. Cynthia tilted her head to look back at him and rolled her eyes at his extremely messy golden blonde hair, but accepted the upside down greeting kiss anyway. Leon took a seat between the two of them, side hugging his sister while Cynthia just leaned against him. "I never really thought much about it until we actually got engaged," He said, looking over at Cynthia before looking at his sister. "But seriously, don't sweat it, it's not that nerve-wracking I promise."

"Dido," Cynthia said, tickling Lixa's cheeks and making the three week old infant giggle and laugh. The three of them continued to talk, the two women talking while Leon played with Cynthia's hair and played with his baby girl until Lixa started crying again, the cry a little different to her parent's ears. "Well, sorry about cutting this short," Cynthia said with a small yawn, "but I need to go feed this little monster and Leon needs to get up at four in the morning."

Holly looked at her brother, "Four in the morning?"  
"Basketball practice before classes," He explained, watching Cynthia get up and leave, disappearing down the hallway.

"You're crazy."

"Why thank you."

"You're daughter's beautiful Leon," Holly smiled, "definitely a princess."

"I know," Leon said simply with a bright smile. "Thanks for being there for us Holly," He thanked her, "I couldn't have done it without your help."

"No problem Leon, you're my little brother, it's my job to help you." She leaned over and hugged him before letting him go and getting up, "I better leave, see you later Leon. bye Cindy!" She called down the hall.

"goodbye Holly!" Cynthia's reply was muffled but she didn't reply.

Leon got up as well, hugging his sister, "thank you."

"You're welcome, Leon, goodnight." Holly said before slipping out of his grip and disappearing out of the door.

Leon walked back to his room, sitting on the bed and watching Cynthia and Lixa, the former talking quietly the the baby girl, telling her a story of some sorts. ' _Thank you Holly, you helped her when I could not.'_

 _ **And that's a wrap! :D I love it! It's definitely Cinderblaze based but hey, I LOVE Cinderblaze! :D XD :D :D :D :D :D**_

 _ **Let me know if you guys want to see the secret scenes up in Briarfeather and Cinderblaze! :D**_


	65. Well Oiled Machine Of A Team AU

_**Snowcrystal Of Thunderclan- I am working on one of them right now! XD It'll be up soon, I'm just missing a few scenes! :D**_

 _ **Waterpool- Thanks! I'm glad you like it! :D**_

 _ **Unicorn brownies- Cuteness! XD**_

 _ **Dawnshade49- I replied to your PM! And CINDERBLAZE! XD**_

 _ **Dragonwritergirl112- I'm glad you like it! :D I'm writing the missing scenes currently! :D  
Well, I love hearing from you! :D I'm glad you still like this story! :D**_

 _ **Featherflight- I'm writing them right now! XD**_

 _ **YES! I agree! #Cinderblaze4life! :D :D :D**_

 _ **I know right?! I love it too! :D :D :D Lixa actually means Princess XD fitting for Leon's princess huh? XD**_

 _Well Oiled Machine Of A Team._

 _ **Heads up, the translations are probably wrong, my apologies!**_

Cynthia watched the person in front of her with no fear apparent in her features, being tied to a chair with her arms tied to the chair itself seemed to be a daily occurrence at this point. "Werden Ihnen der Spaß gehabt, der versucht, Informationen von mir zu erhalten? Weil leider für Sie ich gebe Sie nicht irgendwie." **(Are you having fun trying to get information from me? Cause unfortunately for you I'm not giving you any.)** She said in perfect german.

Retired Military general scowled, "Sie sind frustrierend, ich geben Ihnen das," **(You are frustrating, I will give you that,)** he walked around her in a circle studying the trained engineer. "Aber es muss irgendeine Weise des Erhaltens der Informationen, die ich von Ihnen, benötige Besserwisser geben." **(But there has to be some way of getting the information I need from you, smart alec.)**

"Oh, mais ce qui est l'amusement dans celui?" **[Ah, but what's the fun in that?]** Cynthia replied in fluent french, switching the language just to miff the bilingual general. "Si vous obtenez l'information de soyez alors mon travail est fini et je ne peux pas parler à un linguiste fascinant comme vous-même plus longtemps." **[If you get information from me then my job is over and I can't talk to fascinating lingualist like yourself any longer.]**

The general gave a barking laugh and shook his head slightly, going over to her partner who had his arms restrained over his head along with his ankles being tied together as well. "Tandis que vos mots sont flatteusement et je suis tout impressionné par vos capacités linguistiques, j'ai un programme à garder." **[While your words are flattering and I'm quite impressed by your language skills, I have a schedule to keep.]** The general replied, keeping up with her language change, his chest puffed out a miniscule amount from her words.

Cynthia could tell she had hit his weakness, flattery. Tilting her head slightly to one side she looked at him through curious blue eyes and continued speaking in french, adding to her words. "Un programme a emballé assez que vous ne me permettrez pas d'écouter vos mots ? Je dois dire, votre accent est en ligne tache et la prononciation est-vous parfait, combien de langues peuvent parler ?" **[A schedule packed enough you won't allow me to listen to your words? I have to say, your accent is spot on and the pronunciation is perfect, how many languages can you speak?]** She asked, a small smile on her face, blue eyes twinkling. Of course, Cynthia already knew how many languages he could speak, five, including english, spanish, german, french, and italian. But she could speak a language most people fell for with no conscious thought. The language of flattery, and she liked to believe she was good at it, with even the trained Leon occasionally falling for it, when they weren't on duty anyway.

"Cinq," **[Five,]** The general smirked a bit smugly, "J'ai été des langues parlantes pendant plus de vingt années." **[I've been speaking languages for over twenty years.]**  
"Vraiment ? C'est impressionnant ! J'avais seulement appris pendant quelques années," **[Really? That's impressive! I've only been learning for a few years,]** Cynthia smiled sheepishly, "la pièce d'accent est dure, mais la vôtre est parfaitement naturelle!" **[the accent part is hard, but yours is perfectly natural!]** She glanced briefly over at Leon who was looking back at her, pausing his act of being unconscious to let her know how soon they needed the information. He blinked three times and Cynthia focused back on the general, thinking of what to say.

"Pourquoi merci," **[Why thank you,]** the general smiled, "mais naturellement j'ai un programme. aber selbstverständlich habe ich einen Zeitplan."

 **[but of course, I have a schedule.] (Let's start with the boy)** he told his men.

"Sie sind erfahren, zwei W.E-Mittel gefangen genommen zu haben." **(Well you are skilled to have captured two W.E agents,)** Cynthia said, switching back to german and keeping her head tilted down slightly, allowing him to think he had control over her. "Wie taten Sie es?" **(How did you do it?)** W.E stood for Warriors In Excellence, an under over agency with highly skilled agents of fourteen and up, it was incredibly hard to capture a W.E agent, to get information from them? Nearly impossible.

"Gut war es nicht zu hart," **(Well it wasn't too hard,)** the general replied easily while Leon still pretended to be unconscious. "Eine Mole auf den Inneren und einigen gut gesetzten Beruhigungsmittel Pfeilen war alle, die sie nahm." **(A mole on the inside and a few well-placed tranquilizer darts was all it took.)**

' _So there is a mole! And I need to hurry up with that bullet and needle proof clothing coverings.'_ Cynthia said mentally before nodding, still being submissive. Leon groaned and opened his eyes, pretending to be confused and injured.

"Gut, damit Sie uns, Jungen verbinden," **(Good for you to join us, boy,)** the general said, looking at the bound nineteen-year-old teenager standing in front of him. "Sie können das Meerschweinchen für diesel ersten Bioweapontest sein." **(You can be the guinea pig for this first bioweapon test.)** The general grinned wickedly and everything came together for Cynthia.

' _That's all the information I need.'_ Dropping the submissive act Cynthia straightened up in her chair, discreetly moving her left ankle and dislodging the knife she had tucked into her tennis shoes. "Danke für das Zusammenarbeiten," **(Thank you for cooperating General,)** She said with an almost mischievous smirk and in perfect german, the accent full and natural sounding, "Wenn mir wirklich geholfen. Leon! Fangen!" **(It really helped me out. Leon! Catch!)** Flinging her left leg forward the knife flew through the air and Leon jumped, swinging his legs so that the sharp knife cut through the ropes binding his ankles. His feet hit the ground and he yanked on the rope holding his hands, yanking part of the board with it in the process. Meanwhile, Cynthia had moved, leaning forward she rushed the general, headbutting him in the gut before moving backwards and crashing the chair she was bound to against the lankey behind her and hearing an almost satisfying crunch of his ribs. The chair was starting to annoy her, so while Leon swung around the board like a mace, she flipped backward, landing on her back and destroying the chair. A second later the ropes broke and she stood up, taking one of the chair's legs and hurtling it at the fleeing lankey while handing Leon another knife.

The lackey was hit in the head with the chair leg and dropped to the floor. "Πήραμε, μπορείτε, βλάκα!" **{Got you, you, idiot!}** She laughed in her team's code language of ancient greek and high-fived Leon before she walked over to the ex general while Leon fetched their gear, her expression calm and dangerous. "Die W.E ist auf Sie Miguel Francisco, und Sie werden Sie aufhören." **(The W.E is onto you Miguel Francisco, and they will stop you.)** With those foreboding words she jabbed her fist against his face, making him stumble back into the railing before slumping to the ground and unconscious. Cynthia crouched down and rummaged through his pockets, looking for something he had taken from her. "I'll λάβει," **{I'll take that,}** She said, fetching the smooth silver ring from his pocket before sliding it onto her right hand and catching the backpack Leon tossed to her.  
"Ας's από εδώ, Μπλε,'re τελειώσει εδώ." **{Let's get out of here Blue, we're finished here.}** Leon grinned before touching his index finger to his ear, turning on the invisible comlink, "Alpha Strike της ομάδας Alpha Leader, πληροφορίες, ζητώντας μεταφορά επιλογές." **{Alpha Strike team to Alpha Leader, information obtained, requesting transport options.}**

"Άλφα Leader στην Alpha Strike ομαδικός," **{Alpha leader to Alpha Strike team,}** Leon's sister, Holly's voice filtered in through the comlinks, "Alpha Standby ομαδικός στέλνει τον αετό σας, ραντεβού είναι στο επίπεδο του εδάφους στο δρόμο ενδυμασία. Καλή δουλειά Alpha Strike." **{Alpha Standby team is sending the eagle for you, rendezvous at ground level in street attire. Good job Alpha Strike.}**

"Ο αετός είναι στο δρόμο!" **{The Eagle is on the way!}**

Cynthia and Leon grinned, it was nice hearing the team's voices after having pure silence for six hours.

:) :) :) :)

It took only ten minutes for the eagle to arrive, the low profile ford fusion currently a light silver with standard rims and all windows tinted. Cynthia and Leon tapped on the trunk window and it popped open, allowing them to drop in the normal looking backpacks before getting into the vehicle, Cynthia sliding into the driver's side, Leon in the passenger. The trunk closed automatically and a small screen on the dashboard lit up, showing the Alpha Standby team consisting of the overall Alpha leader Holly Bramble, the team's resident tech genius Breanna Grayas, the grumpy medic Jay Bramble, and the alert reconnaissance agent Diana Connor. Holly swiped across a holographic screen before pushing it out of sight, giving her attention to the strike team. "Θαυμάσια δουλειά Alpha Strike, δεν έχετε αποδείξεις για τις πληροφορίες που έχετε λάβει?" **{Great job Alpha Strike, did you get evidence for the information you have received?}**

"Τυχόν τραυματισμούς?" **{Any injuries?}** Jay grunted from his position leaning back in another office chair, his feet propped up on the thin dark stained wood table, his hood pulled up and over his face.  
"Bree, δήλωσε ότι υπάρχουν πράγματα για σας παιδιά του αετού, όπως τα τρόφιμα και άλλα πράγματα!" **{Bree said there's stuff for you guys in the eagle, like food and stuff!}** Diana smiled, looking up from her phone to look at the pair.

"Γεια σας παιδιά!" **{Hi guys!}** Bree said enthusiastically, a flattened VR headset that she had crammed into a special pair of sunglass cover lenses were hiding her amber eyes and her hands were wrapped around a modified Wii remote, from which she was remote controlling the eagle with practiced ease."Γεια, βρε παιδιά! οι ταυτότητες στο ντουλαπάκι μαζί με ένα δίσκο αποθήκευσης για κάθε σας! Είμαι βέβαιος ότι και οι δύο έχουν λίγα πράγματα να κάνουμε από τις δύο την ημέρα αποστολής!}" **{IDs are in the glove box along with a storage disk for each of you! I'm sure you both have a few things to do from the two-day mission!}** With her words and with a press of a button, the glove box popped open, the two agent's drivers ids with made up names and information were there along with two of the storage discs that were essentially storage units that could hold a variety of things despite being only an inch long and only half an inch thick. She chirped happily, " **Alpha Leader! Ο αετός είναι σε κίνηση!" {Alpha leader! The eagle is in motion!}**

"Δεν αναφέρθηκαν τραυματισμοί-" **{No injuries-}** Cynthia started, catching her storage disc from Leon as Bree started making the car drive back towards the base, a thirty hour drive, one that Bree would do almost completely remotely.  
"Έχουμε την απόδειξη bioweapon-" **{We have proof of a bioweapon-}** Leon continued her sentence, scrolling through what items his storage disc contained.

"Και χάρη Bree." **{And thanks, Bree.}** They spoke in sync, finishing the sentence while the standby team and leader all started to laugh, having not heard the pair finishing each other's sentences since the beginning of their mission.

"Πόσο καιρό σας σχεδιασμό στην οδήγηση Bree?" **{How long are you planning on driving Bree?}** Cynthia asked with a small yawn, leaning back in her seat slightly.

"Είκοσι τέσσερις ώρες συνολικά!" **{Twenty-four hours total!}** Bree chirped happily, smiling. She was able to see them, but they couldn't see her her eyes. "Έξι ώρες μετά το διάλειμμα 30 λεπτών για να παράγουν περισσότερο καύσιμο, τότε άλλα οκτώ ώρες πριν άλλο διάλειμμα. Από τότε θα φτάσει στον ωκεανό, τότε δεν υπάρχει ανάγκη για τον ανεφοδιασμό ενώ're υποβρύχια! Έχετε δύο θα πρέπει να οδηγήσετε τρεις ώρες στον ωκεανό και στη συνέχεια να βρουν κάτι να κάνουν, ενώ θα μετατρέψει τον αετό με την υποβρύχια λειτουργία! Θα παρfαδώσω ελέγχου τρεις ώρες από τη βάση ώστε να οι άντρες μπορούν να σταματήσει στο διαμέρισμά σας και λάβετε οτιδήποτε θέλετε ενώ οδηγείτε τις τελευταίες τρεις ώρες!" **{Six hours then a break of thirty minutes to generate more fuel, then eight more hours before another break. By then we'll reach the ocean so then there is no need for refueling while you're underwater! You two will have to drive three hours to the ocean then find something to do while I convert the eagle to it's underwater mode! I will hand over control three hours from the base so you guys can stop at your apartment and fetch anything you want while driving the last three hours!}**

"Ακούγεται καλή μου," **{Sound's good to me,}** Cynthia replied, closing her eyes and making her seat lean back so she could be comfortable before being startled when Leon grinned and threw a blanket on top of her, while he ran a comb through his blonde hair. She rolled her eyes and spread the blanket out over top of her before getting comfortable. A moment later the inner tint darkened, blocking more light as Bree projected an evening lighting, making sleep a pleasant idea for the strike team. But knowing Leon, he wouldn't sleep until he did something non productive, whether it be playing on the 3DS Bree had provided, or eating an entire bag of chips, he would still do it first before going to sleep.

:) :) :) :) :)

The eagle was one of Bree's best inventions, the technology inside advanced enough where she could switch it between being a ford fusion or a small completely safe torpedo shaped submarine that allowed them to go to different countries by expensive plane or boat. The eagle was an incredible piece of machinery, able to be twenty different colors or a blend of multiple, bulletproof when needed, the window tint able to get darker and lighter depending on Bree's choices, with a special windshield that allowed Bree to be far away from the car but essentially be in the driver's seat, able to drive the car as if she was in it herself, able to turn into a submarine, with an interior that can shift between white or black leather, whatever color the driver wanted, and many other features.

Of course, the eagle was the baby, at first it had been an experiment that Bree had developed so she could drive a vehicle without the use of her sometimes useless legs, but it developed into a full fledged project she called the movable eagle project, or eagle for short. But the eagle had an heir, one that Bree was still fine tuning and adjusting, the project for that one was called project Lion, the king of transportation. It was the eagle with hundreds of modifications and plenty of additions, such as the ability of turning into a small four passenger plane that she could control remotely, good thing she had a pilot's license. The lion was still in progress, and while everyone was waiting for it with bated breath to be finished and deployed in the field, the eagle still reigned as the technology king. Everyone knew Bree, you touched anything electronic or stepped through an automatic sliding door then you've been in contact with her work. Whether you knew her by the technology she had invented and introduced to the W.E or by her hyper cheerfulness, she was one of the most popular people in the W.E, right behind Holly, Leon, and Cynthia, The Alpha Strike team.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Cynthia opened her eyes to crystal blue water above the open windshield of the submarine. "E?" **{Huh?}** She mumbled sleepily, confused on why they were already in the water. She rolled over to her left, with there being no space to sit up, rubbed her blue eyes and looked to her left, where Leon was, the blond was awake like her. But he was watching something on his tablet using the eagle's custom wireless and internet signal and a pair of wireless headphones. Cynthia's movements however made him look over at her and he smiled, "Ήλιο, θέλουν ένα τσιπ?" **{Morning Sunshine, want a chip?}** he asked with a grin, offering her the large bag.

Cynthia rolled her eyes, but took one, popping it into her mouth and stretching, wincing as her back and neck popped. "Ow,"{Ow,} She complained, "I've είχε αποκοιμηθεί πάρα πολύ καιρό." **{I've been asleep way too long.}**

Leon grinned at her, amusement gleaming in his amber eyes,"Είκοσι από τα τριάντα ώρες." **{twenty of the thirty hours.}** He then put a few more chips in his mouth with a cheeky grin.

"Orange!" **{Orange!}** She huffed, "Γιατί άρεσε't σας υπηρεσία μου!" **{Why didn't you wake me up?!}**

"Προσπάθησα να κάνω όταν Bree παύση, το αυτοκίνητο, αλλά εσείς δεν't μετακίνηση ενός μυός," **{I tried to when Bree paused the car, but you didn't move a muscle,}** Leon chortled after swallowing and put more of the junk food in his mouth. It wasn't often that they got junk food like this, only when they went on super long missions with a lot of travel time or when Leon snuck some under his sister's nose into the apartment.

"Θα πρέπει να προσπαθήσει περισσότερο!" {You should've tried harder!} Cynthia retorted, stealing a chip from him.

Leon switched from Greek to a different language that only the two of them out of the team understood. "Vos sunt vere defessus Blue, et nolui turbare te." **|You were really tired Blue, I didn't want to disturb you.|** He said sincerely in latin before a cheeky smile spread across his face, "Te erant totaliter ex, erat venerandum," **|You were totally out, it was adorable|** He teased, "prorsus non potuit dicere, vos erant a W. E agens." **|totally couldn't tell you were a W.E agent.|** He then leant up on his elbows and reached over to ruffle her black hair, the cheeky smile widening at the heavy breath Cynthia breathed through her nose, her cheeks a light shade of pink. "Fortasse magis remissum, quam ad diaetam." **|Probably more relaxed than at the apartment.|** He added and laughed as Cynthia smacked him upside the head, a small smile twitching at the corners of her lips.

"Donec non πορτοκαλόχρους!" **|Not funny Orange!|** She retorted, reaching over and pulling his hood over his head before pushing his head down against the seat, attempting to smother him.

Leon kept laughing, his body shaking from the force of his laughter while his partner tried to smother him in his own hood.

"Όλοι γνωρίζουμε ότι μου αρέσει το γέλιο!" **{We all know I love the laughter!}** Bree's voice interrupted the partnership's playful banter, "Αλλά θα ήθελα να είχα τη διαβεβαίωση ότι το παρμπρίζ isn't θα σπάσει!" **{But I would like to be reassured that the windshield isn't going to break!}** Bree laughed, "Κάθονται για άλλη μια ώρα και εμείς'll είναι έξω από το νερό και πάλι στη γη!" **{Settle down for another hour and we'll be out of the water and back on land!}** She chirped in perfect greek, she had no idea what they were saying and didn't bother worrying about it, the partnership only used latin when they were only talking to themselves and were relatively relaxed. "Στη συνέχεια, μπορείτε να πνίξουν το πορτοκαλί, εντάξει μπλε?! " **{Then you can smother Orange, alright Blue!}** Bree laughed.

"Ουφ! Πρόστιμο." **{Ugh! Fine.}** Cynthia mumbled, releasing Leon with reluctance, but not before she gave him a vicious noogie.

Leon chortled, pushing his hood up over his head and looking at his partner, amber eyes gleaming with mirth.

:) :) :) :) :)

"Choco, έχουμε τη βάση στο θέαμα, θέλετε να πάρετε τον έλεγχο?" **{Choco, we have the base in sight, do you want to take control?}** Leon asked from his spot in the passenger seat, watching Cynthia with something close to amusement. "Μπλε μπορεί να καταρρεύσει ζέση."  
 **{Blue might crash the eagle.}** He grinned mischievously.

"πορτοκαλόχρους!" **{Orange!}** Diana reprimanded her cousin while trying to stifle her giggles.

"Ανόητος!" **{Idiot!}** Holly barked, amusement coloring her tone.

"Κέρδισα't συντρίβομαι ζέση," **{I won't crash the eagle,}** Cynthia rolled her eyes, "Ωστόσο, θα ήθελα, αν μπορείτε πάρτε τον έλεγχο ώστε να μπορώ να χτυπώ πορτοκαλόχρους." **{however, I would like it if you take control so I can hit Orange.}** She reached above her head and flipped a switch, temporarily putting the vehicle into autopilot while Bree set up to take control.

"Σίγουρα! Χτύπησε τον για μένα πολύ εγκρίνω?!" **{Sure! Hit him for me too kay?!}** Bree chirped happily, probably excited to take back control of her "baby."

Cynthia leaned sideways and smacked Leon upside the head as a response to the teasing he had been doing since she started driving four hours ago while the eagle swung into a gentle right turn towards the headquarters, going up a ridge so the entire headquarters that sprawled over multiple hills, the buildings connected by sprawling paved walkways. The lake contained in and around the center of the base glittered with the light from the steadily rising sun.

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia and Leon squinted as the car rolled into the W.E's headquarters in the Alpha garage, nicknamed Bree's workshop. The tint on the windows faded, revealing the two calm and patiently waiting, agents. The reason Leon and Cynthia were squinting? Bree's workshop was white, designed so that she could see any issues and or leaks in her technology, meaning the light refracted everywhere. The eagle's engine shut off and Cynthia and Leon got off, slinging their bags up onto their shoulders.

"Βρε Choco," **{Hey Choco,}** Cynthia greeted Bree as they strode over to the now stretching tech genius. "Πώς νιώθετε?" **{How's it going?}** She bent down and hugged the wheelchair-bound girl who smiled and returned the embrace with a bright smile.

"Είναι ωραίο να σας δω!" **{It's nice to see you!}** Bree chirped cheerfully, "Είμαι καλή αίσθηση! Λίγο κουρασμένος, αλλά ότι's οκ! Πώς σας δύο?!" **{and I'm good! A little tired, but that's okay! How about you two?!}** She grinned up at the two of them as Cynthia moved back, standing next to her partner once more. Bree's amber eyes gleamed, visible thanks to the now flipped up vr visor, revealing clear lensed sunglasses beneath. Her dark brown hair was up in a messy ponytail, keeping it up and out of her face and she was dressed in a white mechanic's jumpsuit with a smiley face on the front, a toolbelt around her waist containing her many tools, vr stuff, and attachments to her sunglasses. Bree had a peculiar injury, since she was a child she didn't have the strength in her legs to hold her own weight, confining her to a wheelchair or crutches. She could move on her knees, move her legs, and even move down onto her knees, but she couldn't stand, walk, run, or jump, not that it bothered her.

"Κουραστήκατε να κολλήσει σε ένα αυτοκίνητο για μεγάλο χρονικό διάστημα," **{Tired of being stuck in a car for that long,}** Cynthia laughed, "Ο αετός μπορεί να είναι ένα από τα πιο άνετα αυτοκίνητα στον κόσμο, αλλά μπορώ να't κάθονται ακόμη περισσότερο από λίγες ώρες πριν την ακαμψία ξεκινά το." **{The eagle may be one of the more comfortable vehicles in the world, but I can't sit still for longer than a few hours before the stiffness kicks in.}**

"Τότε'd μισώ να μου!" **{Then you'd hate to be me!}** Bree laughed, "Μπορώ να καθίσω στο δικός βαρέλι!" **{I sit on my butt all day every day!}**

Leon got involved in the conversation as they started leaving the white walled room, "Μπορώ να't περιμένετε να επιστρέψουμε στην Alpha κοιτώνα," **{I can't wait to get back to the Alpha dorm,}** He exclaimed, walking with his arms behind his head in a half stretch,

"Παρακολούθησα στις γερμανικές και ελληνικές, για τις τελευταίες δύο ημέρες, Αγγλικά και Λατινικά είναι και θα παραμείνει η αγαπημένη μου γλώσσα."

 **{I've been listening to german and greek for the past two days, English and latin are and will remain my favorite languages.}**

"Συμφωνώ," **{I agree,}** Cynthia agreed with her partner, "Ακούγεται καλύτερα, αν και προτιμώ την λατινική." **{it sounds better, although I prefer latin.}**

"Καλά's η γλώσσα που μεγάλωσα με!" **{Well it's the language that you grew up with!}** Bree chirped cheerfully, "Leon και μεγάλωσα με αγγλικά ενώ μεγάλωσε με την Λατινική και λίγο στα αγγλικά!" **{Leon and I grew up with English while you grew up with latin and a little bit of English!}**

"Αλήθεια," **{True,}** Cynthia agreed with a light shrug of her shoulders, "Εγώ δεν μεγαλώνουν με μια παρτίδα της λατινικής." **{I did grow up with a lot of Latin.}**

"Αυτό's ενδιαφέροντα που επέλεξαν μια θνήσκουσα γλώσσα ως κύρια γλώσσα ως τον τρόπο να επικοινωνεί με τους μαχητές!" **{It's interesting that they chose a dying language as the main language as the way to communicate with the fighters!}** Bree chirped waving to the people she passed in the hallways.

"Αυτό's ενδιαφέροντα που επέλεξαν μια θνήσκουσα γλώσσα ως κύρια γλώσσα ως τον τρόπο να επικοινωνεί με τους μαχητές!" **{Eh, it's for secrecy. But I like it, it's natural for me.}**

Leon suddenly jolted and he looked down and over at his partner, "vos have vestri anulum ius?!" **|You have your ring right?|** He asked in latin, pointing to his right hand where a thin silver band he had on was visible. "Te obtinuit eam ex genere?" **|You got it back from the general?|**

"Scilicet," **|Of course,|** Cynthia smiled, turning her right hand towards him so he could see the matching silver band. "Impugnamur eum in naribus accipiens eam in primo loco." **|Decked him in the nose for taking it in the first place.|**

A smug grin spread across Leon's face and he looked positively gleeful at the thought.

:) :) :) :)

It was calm in the dorm, everyone relaxing with no mission at the current moment. Even though everyone could speak english again no one was speaking, too relaxed and content with the ability to do what they please.

Holly was reading a medium sized book about vampires and werewolves in a century-long feud that needed to end to save both of the species- while curled up in a recliner with the book propped open on her knees, munching on a handful of almonds from a bag of mixed nuts she had propped up next to her.

Jay was asleep, lying on one section of the couch, the section reclined all the way back to make him more comfortable, his hoodie draped over his chest, the hood hiding his face and muffling his soft and rumbling snores. Bree was lying on her back next to him, she could almost pass off as being asleep as well if it were not for the versatile sunglasses she had on with the VR visor down and how she was tapping the right index finger of her gloved hands against Jay's thigh. Probably playing a game of sorts, a Bluetooth controller in her lap, her legs crossed over each other as she idly wiggled her toes.

Leon was lying on the other end of the couch, his part fully reclined as well, watching something through the small light weight computer screen -Bree had somehow managed to install into the ceiling so you could pull it down and adjust it how you wanted, having your own person tv screen while you were relaxing on the couch- a wireless earbud in one ear with a blanket messily strewn over top of him. Cynthia was half asleep lying next to Leon, her head tucked into the crook of his neck between his head and shoulder, one arm thrown lazily over his chest, left leg bent at the knee over his thigh, a wireless earbud replaced her comlink in her left ear, her blue eyes drooped every few seconds before they opened again as something in the movie they were watching startled her awake, but after few minutes the sapphire blue eyes slid closed and didn't open again, finally losing the battle of staying awake. Leon seemed to sense when she fell asleep as he positioned the blanket so that it covered his sleeping partner and settled a little more comfortably in the couch cushions, leaning his head on hers, amber eyes fixed on the movie he was watching. Leon and Cynthia had just arrived from being at their apartment for a few hours, doing who knows what, but they had returned with their packs ready for the next mission and had emptied out all of the storage discs they had with them, showing they were ready for the next mission and where ever they were sent to.

 _ **Annnddd it's a wrap! I love this world! I love it to pieces! Especially Bree and her technology! :D Isn't it cool?! Oh yeah, if you haven't deciphered it yet, Cynthia and Leon are married in this one :) :D :D :D**_


	66. Singing spinoff number 12 Miles Sings

_**Unicorn Brownies- I saw it and it looks really good so far! :D I can't wait for more! :D**_

 _ **Waterpool- I did for the german and french, I speak latin and greek along with English, but some of the phrases I had to use a translator for, not knowing how to phrase them XD I did my best though and tried to match everything! :D Lucky! I wish I could speak french! :D**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- It is? Huh, I didn't think it was more descriptive than usual but okay! XD Seriously? Huh… I'll have to write more of this world! :D**_

 _ **Featherflight123- YES! #LeonxCynthia4ever! :D I love Cinderblaze! XD Bree does seem to be a techy type of person, doesn't she? :D Thanks! ^-^ Fighting for Love And With Constant Hope is getting updates with those languages! :D**_

 _ **Hollystar- Do you have fun picking at my small mistakes? Cause it really feels like it. -_- Cut me some slack! TWO problems throughout an entire chapter that I was being rushed to finished, there were multiple languages, and I only speak, English, Spanish, ancient greek, and latin! Thank you for the compliment on my "language skills," but please don't harp on my small mistakes, it makes me sad :(**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- Bree is really really cool! :D She's just as cool in the rewritten version of Fighting For Love And With Constant Hope! :D**_

 _Bullying, I'm tired of it_

 _Flynx and Miles sing "Rhyme" by Scratch21_

 ** _Sorry about the code before, it keeps doing that and I have no idea why! :( I upload it like I do every chapter and it sometimes glitches into code! -_-_**

Miles stumbled, the sixteen-year-old covering his nose which was now throbbing, "Cleo!" He yelled desperately, desperately calling for his sister to help him, "help me!"

"Oh look," Tyson sneered, shoving the lanky teen to the ground and pinning him down with one foot, "He's crying to his sister," he mocked, "like she can help you."

Miles looked up at the older and stronger teen, baby blue eyes flashing with fear. He hated changing schools, the switch between a high standard high school and a new school was horrible, he was always teased and bullied with his twig like stature, tall, but thin with barely any muscle. "Cleo!" He spluttered through the blood getting in his mouth through his bloody nose, "Rix!" He was losing faith in his sister coming to help him, she had been busy lately, with what she wouldn't tell him, but for the past two weeks, she hadn't been able to stop the bullies from beating him up and teasing him mercilessly.

"Your sister can't help you, Miles," Tyson sneered, "Who's your sister anyway? A fashionista?" He and the other seniors laughed while Miles squirmed, struggling under him. The senior shook his head mockingly, "You're sister isn't coming to help you little baby Miles, besides," he chuckled, "A girl can't stop me."

"Oh yeah? Well, eat the dirt you jerk!" Cleo yelled as she came running from behind a part of the school, Leroy on her heels, both teens looked a little flustered and a little pink in the face, Rix was running next to Cleo, the big dog snarling furiously. Cleo body slammed Tyson, knocking him to the ground face first before pushing his head down against the grass, determined to fulfill her threat, "Eat it!" She growled, pinning him to the ground and not letting him up, "Hurt my brother and you will not like the consequences!"

Leroy headbutted one of Tyson's lackeys and the other teenager dropped to the ground, his eyes rolling back while Leroy brandished his small switchblade, his fingers covering the flat side of the blade, hiding it from other onlookers while the others could see it. "Scram," he growled, sunset eyes gleaming with anger, "get out of here." He gestured with the hidden knife and the seniors scattered from the sophomores, everyone besides Tyson anyway, Tyson was still struggling against the enraged girl, really not wanting to eat the dirt.

"Eat it you, coward!"

"Cleo, let him go," Miles coughed as Leroy helped him to his feet, "A teacher is looking through a window."

"He hurt you, Miles," Cleo said through gritted teeth, "he will eat the dirt before I let him go."

"Get off me!" Tyson struggled, the strong senior having issues getting her off of him.

"Eat the dirt and I will!"

"Come on L-Cleo," Leroy said, stumbling slightly over her whole name and not using the nickname he had for her, "We need to get out of here."

Cleo shoved him one more time, making him successfully eat dirt before getting off him and helping her brother while Leroy quickly hid the knife. She then grabbed Miles' hand and pulled him and Leroy away from the sputtering senior while Rix barked in his face before racing after them.

:) :) :) :) :)

"What took you so long?" Miles asked his twin, looking over at her and leaning forward from his position in the backseat of Leroy's car, the blonde currently driving.

Cleo shrugged, avoiding his eyes, "I didn't hear you till a few seconds before I arrived, sorry." She replied, fiddling with the zipper of her backpack, she was up front with Leroy, her backpack on her lap.

"You never take longer than a second of two, what happened?" Miles asked insistently, wondering why his sister took so long to come to his rescue.

"I was in the middle of something," Cleo replied, her voice frustrated, "I couldn't drop it and leave-"

"But you always do!" Miles snapped back, hurt that his twin didn't come to his aid right away. "You always drop everything to help me!"

Cleo's impulsive nature surfaced as she blurted out the reason she had been busy, "I'm sorry!" She exclaimed, "I was in the middle of a kiss with Leroy and I didn't want to break it! I didn't hear your yelling and I didn't know you were being hurt until Rix bit me to get my attention!" She exclaimed before slapping her hand over her mouth, green eyes widening as she glanced over at Leroy who was sitting straight and stiff at her words.

"Starclan, Cleo!" Leroy exclaimed, "You weren't supposed to say anything!"

"I'm sorry!" Cleo exclaimed, putting her hands back in her lap and arguing with him, "I didn't mean to!"

"It's a secret remember?!"

"I know that! If I didn't I would've told him a while ago!"

"My mom is going to kill me!" Leroy groaned, "So is Irene!"

"Who cares if Irene is ticked off? I tick her off just by being in the room!"  
"But usually you're not kissing me!" Leroy shot back, "Usually I'm not kissing my best friend instead of the girl I'm supposed to be engaged to!"

"Hey!" Miles interjected, "Stop arguing!" Cleo and Leroy went silent, neither of them looked very happy about stopping the argument. "First off, why in the world are you two getting involved with each other when Leroy is supposed to be engaged to Irene? Second, I don't care if you two act like lovesick dogs as long as you don't do it in front of me, and third, you have to do me a favor, Cleo."

:) :) :) :) :)

Miles stood quietly, strumming his guitar as he started the song in front of the entire school, his older brother at his side and his twin behind him on the drums. _'Finally, I can be done with the bullying. Finally,'_ he looked over at his siblings, both gave him a small encouraging smile. Flynx put one arm around his younger brother's shoulders and gave him a small noogie in the process, silently telling him he wasn't alone and that he wouldn't be bullied anymore. Miles took a deep breath and started singing, _**"Hold your breath**_

 _ **While you watch me fall,**_

 _ **It's easier to**_

 _ **Say nothing at all,**_

 _ **I need a friend**_

 _ **Playing pretend's not working,**_

 _ **These pills are useless**_

 _ **And the shadows keep lurking,**_

 _ **Let me go,**_

 _ **There's nothing left inside,**_

 _ **To run and hide**_

 _ **Is all I know to survive,**_

 _ **The nightmare won't end**_

 _ **This life grow colder,**_

 _ **Come wake me up**_

 _ **When it's all over."**_ Miles finished the first verse, closing his eyes as they broke into the chorus.

Flynx joined in, his much higher voice contrasting against his younger brother's much deeper voice. _ **"Some of us made it,**_

 _ **But no one deserved it,**_

 _ **I'm silent, I'm screaming,**_

 _ **Sticks and Stones was,**_

 _ **The rhyme that they taught us**_

 _ **To fight off our monsters,**_

 _ **To help numb the darkness,**_

 _ **But what they forgot was,**_

Is _ **you don't need to break my bones**_

 _ **For you to break me,**_

 _ **The voices won't stop**_

 _ **Don't let me be alone,**_

 _ **Please someone**_

 _ **I just wanna go back home…"**_ Flynx sang with his brother, standing beside him, proof of Mile's sincerity was in the form of the black eye he had, obviously, he had been bullied for a long time. For a few moments, the two brothers strummed their guitars while Cleo reached up over her drumset to put her keys down on the keyboard, preparing for the next verse, one hand on the keyboard, the other on the snare drum.

 _ **"Lock the door**_

 _ **I'm rotting in my room,"**_ Miles started the second verse on his own, his blue eyes open and gazing around the gymnasium at all of the seated students and even some parents. His eyes sought out his parents standing at the doors, having brought the equipment for the three siblings.

 _ **"I hope tomorrow**_

 _ **Doesn't come too soon,**_

 _ **My tears ran dry,**_

 _ **My heart's suffocating,**_

 _ **The bruises and I**_

 _ **Are slowly fading,**_

 _ **Make it stop,**_

There's _ **whispers in my head,**_

 _ **The mirrors echo**_

 _ **Everything they've said,**_

 _ **To rise and shine is**_

 _ **So hard to do**_

 _ **When all the light**_

 _ **Has been taken from you…"**_ Miles trailed off, allowing Flynx to sing the chorus while he took a few deep breaths to give himself confidence and to prepare him for the next part that wasn't even really a song.

 _ **"Some of us made it,**_

 _ **But no one deserved it,**_

 _ **I'm silent, I'm screaming,**_

 _ **Sticks and Stones was,**_

 _ **The rhyme that they taught us**_

 _ **To fight off our monsters,**_

 _ **To help numb the darkness,**_

 _ **But what they forgot was,**_

Is _ **you don't need to break my bones**_

 _ **For you to break me,**_

 _ **The voices won't stop**_

 _ **Don't let me be alone,**_

 _ **Please someone**_

 _ **I just wanna go back home…"**_ Flynx smiled encouragingly at his brother as he finished and Miles plunged into the next part.

 _ **"I remember every story**_

 _ **They wrote on my back...**_

 _ **Bruises like words tattooed**_

 _ **Into my skin in blue and black ink.**_

 _ **I remember every kitchen sink**_

 _ **Surgery where family had to**_

 _ **Stitch me back together."**_ That was a slight exaggeration, but true, Miles's mother usually had to call Jay and get him to come over and help them, sometimes giving him stitches for bad injuries.

 _ **"I remember every happily ever**_

 _ **After that never came to pass.**_

 _ **We didn't go to school**_

 _ **In fairy tales,**_

 _ **We went to school in all the gory**_

 _ **Details of a horror story while**_

 _ **Monsters made us victims**_

 _ **Of their comedy.**_

 _ **We, the recipients of their punch**_

 _ **Lines they hung insults around**_

 _ **Our necks like signs inviting everyone**_

 _ **To join in,**_

 _ **Their words were invisible ink**_

 _ **That they tattooed on our skin."**_ Miles finished and he and Flynx launched straight into the chorus, ignoring the wide-eyed students looking at them as they continued.

 _ **"Some of us made it,**_

 _ **But no one deserved it,**_

 _ **I'm silent, I'm screaming,**_

 _ **Sticks and Stones was,**_

 _ **The rhyme that they taught us**_

 _ **To fight off our monsters,**_

 _ **To help numb the darkness,**_

 _ **But what they forgot was,**_

Is _ **you don't need to break my bones**_

 _ **For you to break me,**_

 _ **The voices won't stop**_

 _ **Don't let me be alone,**_

 _ **Please someone**_

 _ **I just wanna go back home,**_

 _ **I know that I'm stronger**_

 _ **Broken heart of a fighter**_

 _ **My scars remind me**_

 _ **That I'm a survivor,**_

 _ **This life is a tough game**_

 _ **And I don't wanna play it,**_

 _ **I'm reaching for a hand**_

 _ **Help me make it,**_

 _ **But It's too much**_

 _ **So I give up,**_

 _ **Just please don't hate me,**_

 _ **My letter's on the pillow**_

 _ **With a kiss goodbye,**_

 _ **I'm sorry, mom**_

 _ **But I promise that I tried…"**_ Miles and Flynx finished, trailing off and ending the song before Miles spoke, looking out at the other students.

"It's not funny bullying someone," He said, his mixed voice easy to hear, "Nobody should have to be scared to go to school because of the people bullying them if the school is supposed to be such a safe place then open your eyes!" He exclaimed, "Open your eyes teachers and stop turning a blind eye to all of the bullying! Self-defense is acceptable, but bullying should not be! You all wonder why students drop out? Well partially it's because of the bullies injuring and scaring the hell out of them, I'm lucky I have a sister who would do everything in her power to help me, a lot of people don't have that and it's not fun getting bullied! People who do it aren't a cool as they think they are, it just makes them scarier and they act horribly so cut it out." His blue eyes flash, "Put a stop to it before someone gets really hurt."


	67. Flight And Fight (Songfic: Crystalfang)

_**Featherflight123- Thank you for the compliments! :D I love writing! :D And I agree, every writer makes mistakes, even the Erin Hunters! :D In one of the books, Cinderheart is mistaken with amber eyes rather than blue! XD You could've used a comma I guess, but who cares? XD**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro- Really?! That's awesome! Bat mitzvah sounds interesting! And I mean it literally! :D I know it's a Jewish custom and I'm a curious person in general so it sounds cool! I'll have to look it up! :D Hebrew is hard, that will be one language I probably won't use because it's so hard! XD I'm glad you liked both the chapter and the song! :D I love the song and play it on my flute! :D Happiness is great! Dresses in my opinion? Not so much. XD I'm doing good! Had fun writing a new chapter along with working on six other ones! :D :D :D :D :D Although school sucks as usual and I had to take fours tests (I only have four classes a day), T T How're you?**_

 _ **Waterpool- Cool! At least you can speak a little bit right?! :D I learned a little german, Russian (I hate speaking that language, it's a major pain in the butt!) still am learning Spanish, me and my brother learned and still speak Latin, Greek, and ASL(American Sign Language) fluently, my mom has fun trying to figure out what we're saying! XD**_

 _ **Nightpeltevil- Not too shabby eh? XD Keep reading if you like it! I'm glad to hear you like to read it! :D I try to update at least once a week! :D And I like smileys! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :) :) :) :) :D**_

 _ **This one is a bit different since no one is singing, it's more like a story that goes along with the song! :D Anyway, so I was bored and was taking a break from writing Boring Office Work, Welcome to the City Leon, and heard this on the radio, so I wrote this! :D :D :D It definitely tugs at my heart strings, but it's a good story, let me know if you want a sequel or a prequel! :D :D :D**_

" _I'm hit!" Leroy shouted, trying to pull up his jet in vain. "Cleo I'm hit! My jet isn't responding!"_

" _What?! Oh, my Starclan! I'm coming!" Cleo's voice was panicked and scared, "Try to land in the lake!"_

" _I have no control! It's going to crash in the woods!"_

" _Lixa! Lixa answer me! Leroy is hit and he's going down! I need help stabilizing his jet! Try to eject Leroy!" Cleo shouted through the radio system and Leroy saw her light gray and yellow jet get under part of his, attempting to pull up for him and trying to keep him from wrecking in the trees. "Lixa answer me!"_

 _Leroy pulled on the eject, but nothing happened, the ejection system was jammed. "Cleo get out of here!" He shouted through the radio, "Go or we'll both crash!"_

" _Lixa! Answer me! I need help stabilizing his jet!" Cleo shouted, her jet struggling to pull up the larger and bulkier fighter plane, "Lixa!"_

" _Cleo go!"_

" _No!"_

" _I don't want you to crash too!"_

" _I'm not leaving you to crash land, Leroy!"_

" _There's enemy fighters approaching your position Cleo!" Miles yelled, "Lixa's radio is off and she can't hear you!"_

" _I can't leave Leroy!"_

" _Cleo get out of here!" Leroy shouted, they were getting dangerously close to the tree line, "Go! Now!"_

" _No!"_

" _Cleo think!" Miles shouted, "You can't put yourself in danger like this!"_

" _I-"_

" _Go!"_

" _Cleo move it!"_

 _Leroy could see his_ _ ***I'm not sure what to call her XD Lover maybe? What do you call someone who is more than your girlfriend, but less than your fiancé? Hold on, gotta google this XD… … Ah ha!***_ _significant other's face, the uncertainty in her green eyes through the cockpit and visor of her helmet and jet, "go!" Finally, she did as he asked, putting on the brakes and making her jet stop and reverse, shooting backward away from the crashing plane._

 _Leroy's jet hit the trees with a jolt, throwing the pilot forward so he smacked his helmet covered head against the windshield and the last thing he heard before the blackness overtook him was Cleo's voice, screaming his name over the radio and her saying to stay awake, then blackness prevailed._

 **I remember tears streaming down your face**

 **When I said, "I'll never let you go."**

"Let me go, Cleo," Leroy said quietly, "I can't go back, don't waste your time on me."

"No, Leroy," Cleo said softly, turning back around to face him, her auburn hair gleaming in the setting sun. "I can't let you go," her green eyes were calm, hiding her pain and hurt as his words. "I'll never let you go." She stated quietly, her arms hanging at her sides, on hand resting on the combat belt resting around her hips. The black gear contrasting to the light gray military style jumpsuit the tactical fighter pilot was clothed in, her helmet dangling from a loop on the belt.

Leroy looked at her from his front door, tired sunset eyes gleaming with unshed tears, of course, she wouldn't, even after his resignation. After being shot down and nearly killed Leroy had completely dropped the W.E refusing to step one foot back into his fighter jet and had returned home without telling anyone. But she had tracked him down and now he wasn't so sure he wanted her back out there, without him.

 **When all those shadows almost killed your light**

 **I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone,"**

 **But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight**

"Stay here with me then." He said, almost pleading with her not to go back out there, "Stay with me here and away from the fighting, I don't want you hurt."

"I can't Leroy," Cleo replied, "you know I can't leave until my siblings will, and we won't until we find our parents."

"Cleo please…" Leroy pleaded, "Don't leave me here alone."

"I'm sorry," Cleo said, and without looking away from him, she unclipped her helmet from her combat belt and held it in front of her, waiting to put it on. "I'm sorry, Leroy," She put the helmet one, the visor up allowing him to hear what she was saying. "But I can't do what you are asking me." Reaching up to her neck she pulled on a golden necklace, breaking the chain before tossing it to him, "Remember me okay?" She gave a half-hearted smile and slid down the gray tinted visor before giving him a short and simple salute before turning and running over to her jet and jumping into the cockpit, the engines fired up a moment later and it took off, the wind ruffling Leroy's blonde streaked hair.

 **Just close your eyes**

 **The sun is going down,**

"Cleo no! Come back!"

 **You'll be alright**

 **No one can hurt you now**

 **Come morning light**

 **You and I'll be safe and sound**

Cleo didn't look back or turn the jet around, instead, she straightened up in her seat, tightening her grip on the controls. ' _I'm sorry, Leroy, but I have to find my parents. Please forgive me.'_

"You did a good thing," She heard her older brother Flynx say over the radio, "It's for the best."

"Maybe so, but that doesn't make it any easier." Cleo sighed, gently pulling on her jet's controls to have it gently rise up into the air and turn in a gentle arc towards where her siblings were.

"No, but we need you here with us, Cleo," her brother said quietly, "We have to find our parents and stop this war."

"I know," Cleo's gaze strayed to the small leather bracelet pinned next to her control panels, "and I'm with you guys all the way."

"Thanks, sis, I know this is hard for you."

Cleo took a shaky breath, "Hard is an understatement."

"I know."

Lixa joined in on the conversation, "We're making her choose between a life of love and a life of war Flynx, it's heartbreaking for her."

"I know-"

"Take it easy okay Cleo?" Lixa stopped her brother from speaking, "Settle your mind before you plunge back into the fighting okay?"

"No need," Cleo replied, steadying her voice and focusing on the task at hand as she pulled up next to her older sister's yellow and blue jet, the wings of the jet feet from her own jet's gray and yellow ones. "I'm focused and ready to engage the enemy, Lixa, like I said before, I stand behind my decision and I'm with you guys the whole way." ' _Even though my heart is breaking with the increasing distance.'_

"Only if you are sure. This is Relations Eagle team reporting ready to engage, please send coordinates." The radio was silent for a few moments before Miles contacted his twin over a private link.

"I'm sorry, Cleo," Miles said simply, knowing something nobody else besides herself knew.

"I'm okay Miles," Cleo told her twin in a quiet voice, the twenty-two-year-old women focused on the task at hand, "I'll be okay."

"It's not just you I'm worried about." Miles replied, his voice soft, "What about Junior there? How's he?"

Leroy looked up at the sky where he could faintly see the outlines of the W.E jets, a cluster of four up in the sky and waiting. ' _Come back…'_

 **Don't you dare look out your window, darling;**

 **Everything's on fire**

He could see smoke from some crashed plane or an area victim to a small missile strike, ' _Come back Cleo, Starclan please bring her back to me.'_

"He's fine," Cleo replied softly, one hand dropping from her controls to rest on the front of her combat belt, fingers barely brushing her gently rounded abdomen. "Quiet, but alive and kicking."

"Maybe he can feel the separation from his father," Miles commented.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Cleo replied quietly, sparing a glance down at Leroy's untouched home, the shimmering forcefield protecting his home and town reminding her of how safe he was and a lump grew in her throat, Leroy had no idea about their son, she hadn't had a chance to tell him and the locket was his only clue to it. She held firm to her decision even as she felt an urge to return to Leroy, hide safely under the forcefield and raise her unborn child away from the fighting. But she couldn't her siblings needed her skills in both the air and on the ground, and they needed to find their parents.

 **The war outside your door keeps raging on,**

 **Hold onto this lullaby**

 **Even when the music's gone**

 **Gone**

"Cleo, you can go back," Miles gently told her, somehow sensing her unease and confusion, "We won't judge you."

Cleo closed her eyes, steadying herself and shaking away the uncertainty tugging at her edges of her mind.

 **Just close your eyes**

 **The sun is going down**

"We've been given coordinates, are we all ready?"

"Ready, Lixa."

"I'm prepared."

' _Starclan help me.'_ Cleo thought as she reopened her eyes and firmly grasped her controls as she focused on the fight ahead of her. "I'm ready, let's go do this thing." She said, her voice determined and steady, "I can't leave my siblings to find our parents on your own now can I? I'm staying right here, with you guys."

 **You'll be alright**

 **No one can hurt you now**

 **Come morning light**

 **You and I'll be safe and sound**

Leroy watched with a heavy heart as the jets flew off, twisting in a seamless formation with a hole where his jet usually was, right at Cleo's right side. ' _Good luck Cleo, please come back to me, Lo.'_

' _Starclan help me survive this, I have to live through this.'_ Cleo thought as she flipped up a covering over a button on her controls and pressed the button, opening fire on the enemy pilots while doing a barrel roll to avoid being shot.

 **Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh**

 **La, la (la, la)**

 **La, la (la, la)**

 **Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh**

 **La, la (la, la)**

 **Just close your eyes**

 **You'll be alright**

 **Come morning light,**

 **You and I'll be safe and sound...**

 **Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, oh, oh**

' _I love you, Cleo, please come back.'_

' _I love you, Leroy, I'm sorry I never told you.'_


	68. Next Gen number 7

_**Featherflight123: I think I still like Cynthia singing the best XD but I agree, it's awesome when their kids all sing! :D The code thing is aggravating, isn't it? :(**_

 _ **Waterpool- Really?! Cool! :D The sequel will have the song "I'm Coming Home" iCarly cast lyrics (because there is no swearing and it fits the story line and the world better :D)**_

 _ **Guest- I updated it after you asked me to update ^-^ Sorry about the delay for that one, I was drawing a blank for a while! :D A Briarfeather one is next though! :D**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- I know right?! XD :D The sequel for that one is happier, though! 'Cause Cleo goes home to Leroy with their baby boy Christopher! :D Chris for short XD**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro- I am continuing it :D I can't just leave you guys all wondering if Cleo survives or not! :D We should both write versions of it! I'd love to see your take off of it! :D Really?! You should totally get an account! :D It's fun writing things for people to see! :D :D :D :D :D Let me know if you want more information on it such as their planes, what they are actually fighting in, their suits, gear, etc. :D Just let me read it and breifly mention that the original idea was mine and we're good! :D :D**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Emails! Yay! :D :D :D You're going to be getting a whole bunch more! *grins cheekily* I have a bunch of chapters to upload! :D I've glad you loved it! I did too! :D**_

 _ **:) :) :) :)**_

 _ **I meant to upload this chapter a while ago, but I forgot XD The next five (including this one) are essentially make up and "filler" chapters while I buckle down and attempt to finish Boring Office Work, Welcome To The City Leon I'm getting so close! :D :D :D I have the main scenes written, now all I need are connector scenes and more dialoge! :D :D I've been working on that chapter for too long! XD**_

 _I want a puppy Flynx_

Cleo coughed, looking at her older brother through tired and sleepy green eyes, disoriented after the second seizure that day. She mumbled something under her breath, the words slurred and inaudible, she felt clumsy and confused, her vocabulary nonexistent.

"Are you okay?" Flynx asked his younger sister, sitting next to the six-year-old and watching her worriedly.

"Yeano." Cleo mumbled, the inaudible words confusing to even herself.

"What did you want for your birthday, Cleo?" Flynx asked, attempting to distract her.

"Iwanapuppy," Cleo slurred, but her brother understood, his multicolored eyes softening at the hopeful tone in her voice, "I wanapuppyhelpme." She slurred, green eyes drooping slightly.

"You want a puppy?" Flynx asked her, the nine-year-old boy trying to keep his sister calm while Lixa went to find their parents. "You want a puppy to help you? What would he help you with?"

"Seizureanblindness." Cleo slurred, looking at her brother hopefully, "willyougemeapuppy?" she asked before seizing up again, making a gurgling noise. Flynx did everything he could to help his younger sister, not sure what to do while she had another seizure in the grass of the park after falling out of a tree.

"I'll get you a puppy, Cleo," He promised both of them as he heard Lixa yelling that she had found their mom and was coming with her to help Cleo.

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia paced the small hospital room, worried about her youngest daughter, not sure what Cleo had done to trigger that many seizures one after another, Miles and Lixa were sitting together on the floor, Miles sitting in his older sister's lap, now asleep after crying himself to sleep, Lixa was reading a book, frequently glancing over at her siblings. It was silent for a while, the only sounds were the hospital machines and Cynthia's pacing.

Eventually Flynx broke it, "She wants a puppy." The nine year old said quietly from his position sitting quietly in a visitors chair and bouncing his leg, "Cleo told me she wants a puppy for her birthday and I told her I would get one for her." He looked up at his parents, "She wants a puppy to help her with the seizures, can we get one mom?"

Cynthia and Leon exchanged looks before Cynthia looked back at her oldest son, "Sure, Flynx, we can get a puppy for her when she wakes up."

"I want to choose it," He said quietly, "I want to pick the puppy for her."

"Alright, we'll go look for one later today okay?"  
"Okay."

:) :) :) :)

Flynx walked with his mother through the dog shelter, looking for the perfect dog for his younger sister. He had seen many dogs so far, but nothing that his sister would like as a companion. "Mom, I'm not seeing any puppies," He said quietly, his unconscious sister still on his mind.

"I know, flynx, I know," Cynthia told him, "Keep looking okay?"

"Okay." Flynx kept looking, and few minutes later he found the dog he was looking for. A muddy looking puppy was sitting next to the cage door, looking at them through round chocolate brown eyes, it seemed to be a funny breed, with the body shape and thick fur of a husky, but the fur was longer and golden, and it was looking at him like it knew he would take it home with him. "That one." Flynx said, pointing to the muddy pup who was about the size of a miniture poodle, "Cleo would like that one, he's not barking, and he's looking at me like he has to take him home."

Cynthia looked at the puppy as well and noticed was he was saying as well, "Okay Flynx, we'll take him with us," She scanned over the information pinned to the cage, the puppy was a husky lab mix named Rix was was barely six months old.

:) :) :) :) :)

Cleo opened her eyes a day later, confused and completely exhausted, but she saw the husky lab laying at her mother's feet with Miles curled up against it's fur and sleeping. "Who's that?" She asked a bit groggily, looking at the dog who was looking at her through chocolate brown eyes.

"This is Rix," Flynx smiled at his sister, watching the dog get up without waking up Miles and jumping up onto the girl's bed, curling up next to her and putting his head on her stomach. "He's your new puppy, Cleo, happy later birthday!"

Cleo's green eyes widened and she looked at the dog who's tail as gently thumping against the mattress. "Really?" She asked in disbelief, "He's mine?"

"Yup,"

"Thank you!" Cleo grinned at her brother before hugging the dog and laughing as he licked her face over and over.

:) :) :) :) :)

Miles whistled loudly, hoping that it was loud enough for Rix to hear, "Rix!" He shouted. His sister needed her dog's help, and she couldn't get him on her own. Rix came bounding over to the eight year old, stopping next to him and looking around for his handler.

"Rix," Miles crouched down next to the dog, rubbing the dog's ears, "Find her, go." Rix took off, looking for Cleo with Miles running behind him. Rix nosed his way through the school doors and went to search, sniffing each classroom for his handler. He slipped into a classroom and gently took the hood of her hoodie in his teeth, pulling her away from the desks that would hurt his seizuring handler, nudging away other objects and nuzzling her face, rubbing his muzzle along one side of her face and gently making sure that her head was turned in one direction, keeping her from choking. When she had stilled he curled his body around her head and shoulders, licking her face and making a rumbling crooning noise, comforting Cleo and trying to wake her up.

:) :) :) :)

"Rix, this is Leroy," Cleo introduced her dog to her friend, "He's my friend." Rix sniffed Leroy and balanced up on his back legs, licking his face a times before dropping down as a puppy that looked just like him darted into the room, crashing into the door in the process. "And that's Rix's son, Rix junior." Cleo said with a laugh as the puppy crashed into her ankles before sitting down on her feet like his father used to when he was a little younger. "Rix is six years old, his son is six and a half months old." She said, leaning down to pet both other them, rubbing their ears in the same place.

"Are they your service dogs?" Leroy asked, leaning down and rubbing their heads as well, the two twelve-year-olds may have only met a few weeks ago but they acted like they had known each other for years. "Or are they your companions?"

"A bit of both," Cleo smiled, "technically they're registered service dogs trained for my issues specifically, but they're also my companions."

 _ **Info on Upcoming Chapters (For those who are curious)**_

 _ **The Things Sisters Do For Eachother**_

Have outline completed, four scenes written

 _Sneak Peek: "You have got to be kidding me." Cynthia groaned, letting her head drop down on top of her textbook, her phone clattering out of her other hand to be resting face down on the study table._

 _Leon looked up from his math work to look at his friend, "What's wrong?"_

" _Haliah and Paige have decided that they need help hiding from Brendan." Cynthia sighed, lifting her head to push her phone over to Leon and prop her head up on her arm._

 _Leon turned the phone over and briefly scanned through his friend's recent conversation with her sisters via text. "Oh come on!" He complained a few moments later, turning the device off and looking at her disappointedly, "you were supposed to be here with me for another few hours!"_

 _Cynthia sighed as she closed her textbook and put together the rest of her study materials. "I know, and I was looking forward to staying over here for a few hours."_

 _Leon pouted as he watched her stuff her books into her bag, "darn, I really wanted to watch that movie with you."_

" _Me too," Cynthia replied, getting to her feet and slinging her backpack over her shoulder before walking around the table and giving him a short chaste kiss._

 _Leon mumbled under his breath as she moved away and he got to his feet, "Come on, I'll walk you to the school," he said with a small smile, offering his arm to his friend. The whole friends with benifits thing had been easier as the days rolled by, and with a year of it tucked under their belts, it was almost natural at this point._

 _ **The Great Battle Humanized**_

Beginning, end, and part of the middle is written, along with the prophecy

 _Sneak Peek: "Always." She (Cynthia) decided, believing Leon's words and letting out a small laugh as his lopsided grin before it was cut off by Leon sealing the deal. As if on cue the lake behind them turned pink as the sun started to set, shortening their preparation time as it painted the sky a beautiful shades of pink, orange, red, and yellow; framing the two fighters in the pink light being reflected off of the lake's crystal clear water. What could've been the perfect moment was broken a moment later when Leon lost his balance and the two teenagers fell into the lake with a splash that startled them both apart._

 _:) :) :)_

" _Use your toes to balance Rose, You need to be able to fight no matter where you are. These warriors want to kill you!" Ivory advised, watching the ginger haired girl struggle to do as she asked._

" _How do we kill them?" Clark asked, turning his attention on the blonde giving out advice. "They're practically untouchable!"_

" _They are normal people with skills in fighting, kill them like you would a normal lunatic. But remember, outside of this battle there are no killing." Ivory stated calmly, pushing away the huanting memories of Alex's screams when she killed him to gain better status in the dark forest. During her efforts of pushing it away she hadn't noticed Brad giving out more duties until he called her name. With a sense of foreboding she did as she was told, 'They're going to ask me to tell them who's been training in the dark forest aren't they? Well too bad, I'm not telling you.' She thought snipily._

" _Which Thunder people are training with you in the Dark Forest?"_

 _ **Q & A With the Characters # 2**_

Cynthia, Leon, Holly, Jay, Bree, and Isa all have questions, Cleo and Leroy's questions are completed, so are a few of the others.

 _Sneak Peek not available at this current moment XD_

 _ **What Am I Suppose To Do?! He Likes Me!**_

Written up to where Paige and Trystan go on a date

 _Sneak Peek: Trystan leaned over the table and put his hand over top of Paige's, his green eyes warm and supportive. "I don't mind waiting for a while," he said softly, "I don't want to push you into anything that you aren't ready for Paige." He smiled at her reassuringly, "I know how nervous you are about this and honestly I don't mind waiting in the friend zone until I can show you that I'm not like Brendan and I only like you, your sister is your sister to me, nothing more."_

 _Paige smiled a slightly watery smile at him, 'he's so different, but in a good way.' She thought before she responded with a good response, "maybe if we just take it slow? One step at a time?"_

 _Trystan smiled, dark brown hair drifting in front of his face near his eyebrows, "Whatever you want Paige, I'm good with any way you want to do it."_

 _Paige's heart melted and she smiled wider, "Thank you Trystan."_

 _ **The Contest Results, Leon Wins!**_

 _Everything but the final scene is written_

 _Sneak Peek: "Hi," Bree mumbled sleepily when Jay entered the room, still groggy from the anesthesia used on her for the C-section, looking at him tiredly._

" _Hey," Jay replied, using one hand to guide him toward where she was, their newborn daughter nestled in his other arm, the baby girl's weight was strange and it made him that he was going to drop her. "How're you feeling?" He asked, his voice still as curt and grumpy as usual._

" _Like I got hit by a truck," Bree replied with amusement before struggling into a sitting up position, her amber eyes lighting up at the sight of their dozing daughter. "Ooh! Let me see her!"_

" _Calm down, you're supposed to be resting." Jay grunted, gently pushing her back down into the half sitting up position she had been in before. "You don't want to hurt yourself."_

" _Jay, let me see her!" Bree whined, not putting up a fight when he pushed her down, "please!"_

" _Okay," Jay carefully found Bree's arms and carefully placed their daughter in her arms, silently disappointed that he couldn't see either of them._

 _Bree seemed to sense hs dreariness and she spoke, describing the baby girl to her blind father. "She has a little but of fuzzy dark brown hair, a small nose, chubby hands, and freckles along her cheeks." Bree described her before letting out a small gasp when the baby opened her eyes and looked at her mother. Bree's amber eyes softened with love as she held the baby's gaze, "her eyes are an icy blue, lighter than yours."_

" _Caylee Caprice Bramble." Jay decided and Bree smiled, pulling him down to be sitting next to her._

 _ **THEY LEFT US IN THE FOREST! AU**_

kidnapping scenes, when they wake up, Cynthia cursing their bad luck, Leon and Cynthia's conversation, and Isa's argument with Cynthia that ends in a fight, are all written.

 _Sneak Peek: Cynthia shrugged casually, blue eyes gleaming with mischeif and cheekiness, "I don't think he'll care when he breathes my name in my ear in the middle of the night."_

 _Isa's blue eyes flash, "Cynthia!" She growled, pushing up her sleeves, a signal for a fight._

 _Cynthia reacted to her agression, smirking slightly and hunkering down into a fighting stance, "Isa," she mock growled, her sapphire blue eyes gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. This fight had been just waiting to happen since this morning when Cynthia and Leon had been splashing eachother in the river when they were supposed to be getting water for Holly to use._

 _ **Boring Office Work, Welcome To The City Leon**_

(This has been the hardest one to write for sure! XD) Leon moving to new york with his sister, his and Cynthia's first confrontation, him finding out that Cynthia is his sister's bestfriend since they were kids, him meeting Flynx, his and Cynthia's first kiss where Cynthia runs off afterward, the crash, he offends Cynthia when he finds out that Flynx is her son(not his btw), she tells him the story, Holly is shocked when he tells her Cynthia is trusting him with Flynx, the birthday party, Cynthia introduces him to the chemical lab, the walk back to Cynthia's flat (apartment), Flynx calls Leon daddy, and the werehouse incident are all written, just missing connector scenes and a few more deer in the headlights scenes with Cynthia (maybe)

 _Sneak Peek: "Maybe I'll show it to you one day, then you'll see why it cost so much." She said casually her voice holding a small playful tone, writing a few things down as she scanned through her file, looking at Leon out of the corner of her eye while she wrestled with her learned defensive attitude towards men, after a moment she succeeded and shoved it away, having resolved to deal with it later._

 _Holly was inwardly dumbfounded, her friend was casually talking to a guy? Maybe even flirting with him? Both were something that Holly hadn't seen more than a handful of times, and not in at least five years._

 _Leon on the other hand was also stunned and didn't know what to do, he wasn't sure if she was flirting with him or was just stating a fact so he decided to play it a little risky. "Sounds fun," he said with a small smile, "where did you learn the chemistry? I'd love to learn it too."_

 _Holly's eyebrows actually raised slightly when her coworker didn't brush off the comment, instead, the blue-eyed woman actually smiled, her blue eyes lighting up with amusement._

" _Maybe someday," Cynthia replied vaguely, looking at Leon, "who knows," she pretended to scrutinize him with raised eyebrows, "chemistry might be a hidden skill of yours."_

 _It fell silent after Cynthia's comment, Leon feeling a little warm a fuzzy, but he didn't want to push her any farther, from what he had seen over the past month, one wrong word and she would probably brush him off. Cynthia was quite confused on what had just happened and was seriously conflicted about it, unsure what was happening to her and dreading any more conversation, While Holly was silently wondering how bold and straightforward her brother was going to be._

 _ **Don't Worry Paige, It'll Work Out**_

Written up to Cynthia and Haliah comforting their sister and trying to reassure her.

 _Sneak Peek not available at this current moment. XD_

 _ **Jay, I Will Make A Visor If It'll Make You Happy (Fighting For Love And With Constant Hope)**_

Written up to Jay getting frustrated with his blindness and Bree resolving to make a visor so he could see.

 _Sneak Peek not available at this current moment. XD_


	69. Fighting For Love And Hope Moment 11

_Separation Agony_

 _Cynthia- 18_

 _Leon- 17 3/4_

Seeing the power couple after the rule of blocking their link was rare, they rarely ventured out of their flat room, to worried about each other and unable to reassure themselves unless the other was right at their side. But when anyone did see them they always had some kind of physical contact, wither it was by holding hands, Leon's arm around his partner's shoulders, or even Leon having one arm looped around his partner's waist, and they hated breaking the contact, the further away from each other they were the more panicked and paranoid they got, Cynthia had frequent panick attacks while Leon got physical, kicking, punching, throwing, anything destructive to rid himself of the panic and paranioia. The worst side affect was Cynthia's occasional revertion back to her cage fighter mindset where she'd enter a training room and completely tear it apart, destroying everything in her sight, dummies, mats, weapons, anything and everything.

:( :( :( :(

"Take me to my partner!" Leon roared, the golden blonde slamming his hands down onto the desk with his amber eyes gleaming with fury and panic.

Holly didn't even flinch, she kept sitting patiently in her seat and replied calmly, "Four minutes left." She replied with concern in her green eyes, the leaders had decided that to completely block the link, the partnership had to be able to be without eachother and have any issues, basically act like normal run of the mill partners with no feelings between them. The tests were designed to slowly increase the amount of separation between the partners, Holly didn't think they were getting anywhere and the entire thing was illogical and completely stupid. Every time nothing got better and instead she had to deal with Leon yell every threat under the sun while destroying the testing room, and deal with Cynthia pacing a hole in the testing room floor while rambling things that could've happened to her partner, stressing Holly out in the process.

"I don't care about your stupid test!" Leon yelled, "Let me go to my partner!" He kicked his chair, splintering one of the legs before glaring at his sister, amber eyes smoldering, "My partner is worried sick! Let me go and be with her!"

"I can't Leon."

"Why not?! You took my link with her away and now you won't let me see her?!" Leon shouted, amber eyes welling with angry tears, "You idiots keep giving her panic attacks and nightmares! Isn't that good enough for you?!" He kicked the chair across the room, hands clenched into tight fists, "is ruining our lives not good enough for you?!"

"Two minutes."

"Shut up!" Leon roared, slamming his hands back down onto the desk and making the wood splinter while Holly didn't bat an eyelash at her brother's destructive behavior. She knew that the link between him and Cynthia suppressed their tempers and gave them both a lot more patience, Leon had always had a violent temper, but it rarely expressed itself because Cynthia would sense it and quickly cool him down, whether it was by out loud communication or by mental, she'd calm him down and make his temper fizzle out.

"One minute."

"Shut up and let me go!" He shouted, storming over to the door and yanking on the doorknob, ignoring the volts of electricity shooting through his body, to worried and panicked to care about it.

' _I'm sorry Leon,'_ Holly thought as she watched her brother struggle with the door, ' _There's nothing I can do about it.'_

:( :( :( :(

"Cindy," Holly said firmly to her friend who's face was pale, her blue eyes wide and borderline panicked, "he's fine, he's just on the other side of the wall," she reassured her, trying to keep her calm for the test to finish. "I promise he's fine." Cynthia nervously licked her lips, blue eyes darting around the room, sitting rigid like a board, figdeting worriedly, worried to death about her partner who was in another room, their link blocked by the devices Bree had been forced to make. Holly put her hands on her friend's shoulders, "Hey, focus on me, repeat after me, Leon's okay."

"L-Leon's o-okay," Cynthia stumbled over the words, her british accent full and stressed. "L-Leon's okay." it didn't sound like she believed the words though, by the way she was constantly looking around and getting antsy, completely terrified that he wasn't okay and was injured.

"He's okay, just breathe Cindy," Holly tried everything she could think of to calm her friend's paranoia and worries, "he's safe in the base."

"Holly, I have to go find him!" Cynthia stressed a few minutes later, curling her hands into fists and fidgeting even more, "he could be injured, or be with another girl and ignoring me, Hannah could've gotten to him, or he could've been attacked!" The panic in her eyes was bright and drowning out everything else in the blue storm, "I have to find him!" She started rambling, gesturing with her hands as she stressed about what could've happened to Leon.

' _This is destroying her,'_ Holly thought as she struggled to calm the warrior down, ' _She's so used to knowing exactly where Leon is, what he's doing, and what he's feeling that this is like living in the dark with no sound. She's drowning in fear.'_ The worry and panic was too much for Cynthia and a moment later she fainted, Holly barely catching her from keeling forward into the floor. As if on cue, Leon stormed into the room, his amber eyes wide and panicked, which got worse as he spotted Cynthia's unconscious form in his sister's arms.

"What happened?!" He demanded, rushing over and taking his partner from his sister, standing in front of Cynthia's chair and keeping her moderately upright, "what happened? Who hurt her?!"

"No one leon," Holly reassured, "she stressed herself out to the point of passing out."

Leon glared at where he knew was a one way mirror before looking down at his partner who stirred awake with a small groan.

:( :( :( :(

Holly sat patiently in front of her flat room, waiting for her younger brother to unlock the door. She really didn't want to find out why he had it locked and had settled on sitting outside and waiting patiently after alerting the AI Blisse that she was there and waiting. She sat there for about half an hour before her younger brother unlocked and pulled open the door, not looking at Holly, avoiding her eyes, dressed in a light gray t-shirt and black basketball shorts. Cynthia was avoiding her eyes as well, sitting on her blue themed bed in a loose light gray t-shirt and black capris, a book haphhazardly open in her lap. Leon scratched the back of his head and went to his bed, pulling out his ipad and a pair of headphones before sitting on his bed with the intent of watching something. Holly sighed and went over to her area of the room, knowing full well that she had to repmrimand the duo for what she was sure had transpired, judging by the way they were both avoiding her eyes and focusing on the things currently accupying their attention. "Do I really need to get on you two again?" Holly asked with a small sigh, looking at them both, "is it really nessisary?"

"It's part of the rules," Leon shrugged, "No major physical interactions between the opposite genders in the flat rooms and what not." Cynthia kept quiet, knowing that if she spoke she would end up accidently using british words and screwing everything up.

Holly sighed, "I'll cut you both some slack," she said and they both looked at her in surprise and apprehension, "because I know how hard the missing connection is and how much you two need something to fill in the gap."

Leon smiled warmly at his sister, golden blonde hair tousled and extremely messy, "thanks Holly, we appreciate."


	70. Next Gen number 8

_Putting you foot in your mouth isn't an uncommon thing Flynx, I promise_

Flynx looked up at his sister, multi colored eyes tired and disapointed in himself.

"Flynx?" Cleo asked her older brother, looking worriedly at him, "What happened? You look dreadful!"

"You don't want to know." He mumbled. Flynx did indeed look horrible, his dirty blonde hair was ruffled and sticking up in every direction besides the back which was flat, like he had been leaning back against something for hours, he was soaking wet, his t-shirt and shorts were dirty, his tennis shoes muddy and he didn't have anything on him besides the silve cased phone sticking out of one of his pockets, besides that the nineteen year old had nothing, not even his car.

"Come on inside, you're going to catch a cold out there!" Cleo insisted stubbornly and pulled her brother into the house, pushing him towards the living room while she yelled up the stairs to their parents, "Mom! Flynx needs help!"

"I'm fine, Cleo." Flynx mumbled, not resisting his stubborn sister as she pushed him down to be sitting on a blanket on the couch. Leroy was stretched out on one end of the couch, although he was completely sitting up now and was looking over at Flynx, sunset colored eyes worried about his friend.

"Hey," He said, "Cleo's right, you seriously need a shower or something." His voice held a little amusement.

Flynx felt worse from Leroy's position no doubt he Cleo and Miles had been having a videogame or movie night, with the controllers on the coffee table, how Miles was sitting on the floor near the t.v, how Cleo had her glasses on rather than having contacts in, and Leroy's position how he still had his left arm resting across the back of the couch, his hand hanging off it. "I'll take one later." He mumbled, acting very out of character and abnormally mopy and unhappy rather than the usually energetic and hyper.

Cynthia appeared at the stairwell and her blue eyes widened, "I'm right here Cleo… Leon," she said slowly to the person on her heels, she recognized the look her son had, it was a similar to the one that Leon had had when she had ran away from him when he reassured him she wouldn't hurt him and asked if they could be a couple, crushed, and lost. "Take Flynx upstairs and find something for him to change into, I'm going to talk to someone really quick." She hurried over to Flynx and guided him to his father, before watching them make their way of the stairs, a half worried and concerned expression on her face.

"What's wrong mom?" Cleo asked, taking her earlier seat at Leroy's side, his arm curling around her shoulders, "Why is he so miserable?"

"I don't know, Cleo," Cynthia replied turning towards her daughter, a partial grim expression on her face, "but I have a hunch and it's not a good one."

:( :( :( :( :(

"What's up kiddo?" Leon asked after Flynx had taken a short shower and was now wearing something of his father's, a t-shirt and basketball shorts. Flynx stayed silent, rubbing a towel over his hair and keeping his multicolored gaze down at his lap. Leon took a seat on the bed next to his son, watching him and waiting patiently for his answer. "You can talk to me Flynx, I'm your father, I wouldn't tell anyone what you don't want known." He said supportively and waited for him to decide to answer him or not.

Eventually Flynx decided to answer, "I wish I had a relationship just like you two," He sighed refering to his parents' relationship and putting down the towel, looking at his father who seemed to think about his reply for a moment before cracking a smile and chuckling.

"Even your parents have arguments kiddo," Leon chuckled, reaching over and ruffling his son's damp and messy hair, "That's how relationships work."

"Maybe so, but at least it wasn't huge and you didn't put your foot in your mouth," Flynx muttered, and was startled when his father burst out laughing.

"I put my foot in my mouth on a daily basis, Flynx," He said with an easy smile, "your mother just doesn't blow up about it, while she would give me the cold shoulder or she roll her eyes and descreetly elbow me, she still gets upset when I do."

Flynx rolled his eyes, "Yeah right, you two just ooze love." He snorted, "unlike the other parents I've seen."

"After you've gone through what we have Flynx, you'd be just as," he grinned cheekily and squished his son in a bear hug, "lovey dovey." He finished and released him, going serious, "You aren't the only man to put his foot in his mouth, I do it too, even Leroy and Miles do. You should've seen earlier when Miles and Leroy were trying to prank me, they didn't warn Cleo about the prank and she set it off."

"What was it?" Flynx asked curiously, wondering what his sibling concocted this time.

Leon smiled a bit grimly, "a gallon of ice water dropped ontop of her head while pulling her feet out from beneath her." Flynx winced and Leon continued, "Yeah, she wasn't pleased about it and chased them around the house in her soaked clothing until your mother told her to get changed before she caught a cold. But my point is that both of them weren't thinking about the third part of their group and Cleo yelled at them both for an hour and half. They were dead silent while she was upstairs, probably scared she'd come back and actually hit them. A good demonstration of putting their foot in their mouths."

"What about you? I've never seen you do it."

Leon laughed, "Oh you saw it all the time when you were and kid and we were trying to adjust to having two kids running around. Ever wonder where the whole 'Will you go out with me tonight' thing came from?"

"Yeah, I have been curious about that," Flynx admitted. His dad was refering to a partial joke and partial tradition in their family, whenever his father decided to take his mother out somewhere on a date of some sorts, he always left a small bouquet of blue flowers and a pale blue card attached with it saying the words, 'Like how I asked you when we were young, I want to ask you something, will you go out with me tonight?' Sometimes his father actually asked her, always doing a mock bow and making his mother laugh when he did it. He envied his parents relationship, the equal roles, obvious love, and comfortability between them. It was something he probably wouldn't ever have with Hailee, despite how much he wanted it.

"Well the entire thing came from when I offended her big time and had to make up for it." Leon said, "being married isn't easy, especially when you have a set of stressed out new parents still in college. Lixa was probably around three months at the time, really really young, and very much of a mama's girl."

"How's this relevant?"

"I'm getting there, be patient, young grasshopper." Leon grinned and Flynx did the same before the former continued his tale. "Anyway, Lixa was a mama's girl, meaning your mother was often busy taking care of her while I was struggling with being a new father, a husband, a college student, and a professional basketball player. Now, don't think you're mother wasn't busy either, she was a full fledged intern for a chemistry company and a college student while caring for a fussy baby and not getting much sleep at all. Now take two very stressed people and shove them in the same room, it's not pretty. So I convinced Holly for watch Lixa for a night and promised your mother I would take her out to do something fun or relaxing, but I found out later that the game had been rescheduled to start at seven, which was the time I told you mother I would take her someplace. I didn't remember about the game until Trystan reminded me, and by that time I couldn't tell your mother anything because I had to run to arrive on time. See where I'm going with this?"

"Yeah, but tell me the whole story," Flynx said, looking at his father in a different light, Leon wasn't perfect, and his son was finally seeing that, the many flaws his father had.

Leon listened to his son's request and continued, "I had to go to the game and competed in it, we ended up winning and I completely forgot about what I promised to your mother. I called her and asked her if it was okay if I brought the team over and she told me it was okay and that she was busy with Lixa so she wouldn't be downstairs. I, being the idiot of a guy I was, didn't make the connection that she was upset with me and wanted to make me happy so she let me do what I wanted. So I spent the night with the team in a team sleep over like thing and ended up falling asleep on the couch. I woke up the next morning up in my room and your mother had left sometime earlier and was now avoiding me, pulling an excuse of needing to study for an upcoming test and had Lixa with her to keep her out of my hair while I was with the team. Of course, I didn't know any of that at the time and went downstairs. Holly called me around noon and asked why I didn't go over with your mother when she reluctantly gave her to her to watch for the evening and how come your mother had came back and picked Lixa back up half an hour later. I remembered about my promise and actually swore and hung up on her before calling your mother who had conveniantly forgotten her phone which was lying on the kitchen table face down. She avoided me for nearly the entire day, even after she got home, she went upstairs and didn't come back down, keeping herself busy with both Lixa and college. It took a day before she would talk to me, hurt and disappointed at believing in my promise, and it took another day before I found a way to ask her again, but a little more cowardly and silently. I bought a small bouquet of blue roses, put together something and put it where she would see it before I left that morning for classes. When I came back, the bouquet hadn't moved, but she had written something underneath it."

"Prat." Cynthia quoted as she walked back into the room, "I called him a prat and told him no." She sat down on Leon's other side, looking over at her oldest son, blue eyes gentle, "how're you feeling?"

"Lots better," Flynx smiled brightly at his mother before looking at his father, "So what did you do?"

"I kept asking her in the same way, eventually covering the entire dining table with the flowers and using a trifold poster as a huge card." Leon grinned at his son, "Eventually she gave in. I mean, who wouldn't?" His grin turned cheeky as he looked at Cynthia, "flowers, chocolate, mushy stuff and an apology works wonders." He laughed and leaned over, kissing his wife's nose before turning back to his son, who's multicolored eyes were gleaming brightly, his father's words giving him an idea.

"Thanks, dad," Flynx smiled, drumming his fingers on the edge of the bed, "you too mom." He got to his feet, "I gotta go and take care of something, don't let Cleo get a hold of my phone okay?" And he raced off down the stairs, running back out into the rain.

"You knew that was what he needed to hear, didn't you?" Cynthia asked Leon, leaning against him with her arms crossed over her chest, blue gaze directed towards the open door.

"Yeah," Leon replied with a smile, tugging her closer and wrapping his arms around her waist, "he needed to know his father was just as imperfect as he was," he rested his chin on the top of her head, "and that I make mistakes with you too."

"We both do," Cynthia murmured in reply, "a relationship isn't easy, and it takes a lot of time to perfect."

"I couldn't agree more."

:) :) :) :)

Hailee paced, biting her lower lip nervously, ' _I shouldn't have gotten mad at him, he didn't deserve it.'_ She groaned and inwardly hit herself, ' _he didn't mean to say anything to offend me I'm sure… or atleast I think so.'_ Her light blue gaze strayed over to a picture sitting on her bedside table, the picture was of her and Flynx, Flynx's sister had sneakily taken the picture while they weren't looking and Hailey's lips twitched into a small smile. Flynx had been in the action of kissing her forehead, his multicolored eyes gleaming with love and slight amusement, one arm curled around her shoulders and allowing her to hide behind his taller and broader build. The picture had been taken at the end of highschool last year, when all of their friends were teasing them about being a couple. Hailee herself was slightly ducking, her face pink and going pinker at Flynx's choice of comfort. ' _What have I done?'_

:( :( :( :) :(

Flynx carefully pulled open the front door of his dorm, sneaking in and hopefully not alerting Hailee of his arrival. ' _Thank Starclan for Lixa's drawing classes!'_ He thought inwardly as he flattened out a trifold poster on the floor of his dorm room and starting to draw ribbons, small decorative hearts, and other things that would hopefully melt his girlfriend's heart.


	71. Cat Special number 2

_A Situation With Many Consequences_

"Lionpaw!" Heatherpaw meowed, happiness displayed in her tone of voice, heather blue eyes, and body language.

"Heatherpaw!" Lionpaw rushed over to the WindClan apprentice, nuzzling her cheek, "Sorry I'm late, had to avoid a lot of suspicions."

Heatherpaw's ears twitched as she heard a bush rustling and she hissed as a silver tabby she-cat slipped out of the bush, sky blue eyes weary and tired of something or other. "What're you doing here?!" Heatherpaw hissed, unsheathing her claws and looking warily at the other she-cat.

"Woah, calm down Heatherpaw, it's okay, Cinderpaw already knows about us, she followed me a while ago." Lionpaw reassures his forbidden friend, licking her ears in a friendly way, "She told me she has something to tell us."

"Are you sure she won't tell?" Heatherpaw asked him in worry, unsure if Cinderpaw would keep their secret.

"I've been keeping your secret for moons." Cinderpaw meowed softly, "I haven't told anyone, I keep Lionpaw out of trouble for you."

"See, she'll keep it a secret." Lionpaw purred, amber eyes gleaming happily.

"I… have an idea to help you two." Cinderpaw meowed with hesitance, blue eyes hesitant and anguished. "The clan is getting suspicious with Lionpaw being so tired during training and suspect he's meeting a cat from another clan… So I was thinking, maybe you two could meet a little less, and I'll take his early patrols."

"How's that going to stop their suspicions?"

"That won't. But if he shows attachment to another she-cat then that would go away." Cinderpaw took a deep breath and let it out in a hesitant sigh, "I'm offering myself as that other she-cat."

"Why you?" Heatherpaw asked suspiciously, "You're not planning on taking him from me are you?"

"No, of course not. What Lionpaw does with his life isn't my decision." Cinderpaw replied softly, "I'm offering myself because I can return the attachment so it doesn't seem one sided and I know what's going on."

"I think it's a good idea." Lionpaw meowed to both she-cats, "But it's just pretending, right?"

Cinderpaw flinched but nodded, "Yes, you love Heatherpaw, not me." _'_ _Even if I love you to StarClan and back.'_

"Okay…" Heatherpaw hesitantly agreed, "We'll meet every other day rather than every day and Lionpaw'll act all Lovey Dovey around you."

"Right, I'll see you back at camp Lionpaw." Cinderpaw turned and calmly padded off, keeping her emotions squashed down at her paws.

"What're we going to do today?" Lionpaw asked Heatherpaw, purring loudly and winding his bigger body around hers.

:( :( :(

Wind ruffled Cinderpaw's silver tabby fur, the moonlight giving the tabby a silver look. ' _Why do you have to break the code… and why did I agree to this?'_ She asked herself as she closed her blue eyes, muzzle tilted up towards the sky, fluffy tail curled around her small paws. ' _This is the worst mistake I could've made. Hurting myself over and over… but… it's worth it I guess… to keep Lionpaw happy.'_ Her blue eyes opened as she looked brokenly at the stars, ' _Are you up there watching over me Starclan? Is this what I'm supposed to do? Torture myself to make him happy? I thought love was supposed to be easy, not hard and painful… Is this what you want?'_

Lionpaw watched the silver tabby from his nest, ' _Am I doing the right thing here? I love Heatherpaw not Cinderpaw, is it okay for me to do this to her? Make Cinderpaw feel loved when she knows it's a lie?'_ He watched the tabby as she turned and padded back into the den, blue eyes conflicted, tail drooping slightly. She settled next to him, putting her head on her paws, her fur brushing his, a forced purr rumbling through the her body. "Are you sure your okay with this Cinderpaw?" He mewed softly, amber eyes worried about his friend and the situation they were in.

"Course," She purred, the purr threatening to choke her, "Anything to make you happy." She nuzzled her nose against his cheek before putting her head back on her paws and closing her blue eyes.

"Goodnight then." He murmured, giving her a few licks on the top of her head before resting his head on the bottom of the nest, his ears brushing against the shallow walls.

"Goodnight Lionpaw." Cinderpaw purred, ears twitching slightly, the pain of her decision threatening to choke her along with the purr she was forcing out.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"Cinderpaw," Cloudtail hissed into the apprentice den, poking his white head in to look for his silver tabby apprentice. "You wanted to replace Lionpaw in dawn patrol last night so get up!" He hissed grumpily, he was so grumpy at waking up at the crack of dawn that he didn't notice his apprentice was curled up with a golden tabby tom curled around her. His apprentice opened her eyes and sat up, before twisting to give herself a quick grooming. Cloudtail pulled his head out of the den seeing his apprentice awake and moderately alert and Cinderpaw finished flattening down her sticking up fur. Lionpaw shifted as Cinderpaw moved and lifted his head, looking at the tabby through half closed sleep fogged eyes

"What's going on?" He meowed groggily, about to move and get up.

"Just a patrol." Cinderpaw meowed back, hesitantly licking his head between the ears, "Go back to sleep." She got to her paws and slipped out of the den while Lionpaw listened to her advice and put his head back down on the moss, going back to sleep within moments.

Cinderpaw fluffed out her fur against the chilly wind and focused on putting one paw infront of the other withouth tripping over herself and sending her to the cold earth. Hollypaw padded beside her, the black apprentice focused on keeping a look out for anyway warriors from the opposing clans. ' _I wonder if any of the other apprentices noticed Lionpaw and I sharing a nest, all of them were asleep by the time I came back into the den last night.'_ Cinderpaw wondered absent mindly, blue eyes slightly distant as she let her thoughts wander. ' _I still have to wonder if do this was the right choice…'_ She looked up at the rising sun through the gaps in the trees branches, ' _I could've let him deal with the clan on his own… but then I'd feel extremely guilty afterwards… This is so complicated!'_ She turned her gaze back to the ground in front of her, ' _Why couldn't I have chosen any other tom in the world to fall in love with?! Why couldn't it be Mousepaw? Or even the arrogant tom Berrypaw?! Even Berrypaw can't be as bad as the situation I got myself into!'_ She noticed Hollypaw looking at her expectantly and she shook the troubled thoughts from her head. "What Hollypaw? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She meowed sheepishly, flattening her ears with embarrassment.

Holly's emerald green eyes twinkled with amusement, "I knew you weren't Cinderpaw, you've been staring at the ground and ignoring the same question ten times. Where's your mind? Up in the clouds?" She purred with amusement, playfully cuffing her friend over the ears.

"You could say that," Cinderpaw purred, feeling amused at her actions as well, "Now what's the question you've been asking me?" She asked, her ears swiveling as she picked up on faint cat voices to their left.

"I'm been trying to ask you what's going on between you and my brother?" Holly murrowed in amusement as her friend ducked her head in embarrassment.

Cinderpaw's fur was burning with embarrassment, talking to her best friend about her interest in Hollypaw's brother was totally humiliating no matter the situation she was in. "Would you believe me if I said nothing was going on?" She asked in a hopeful tone.

"After what I saw this morning? Definitely not!" Hollypaw purred and bumped her shoulder against her friend's flank. "Something's has to be going on between you two. Usually, I'm stuck sharing a nest with that lump of fur, but I found him sharing one with you and curled around you no less!" She purred as her friend's ears flattened against her head in embarrassment.

"Sorry if I stole your heat source." Cinderpaw mewed, attempting to stall while she decided what to say, "He's quite the fluffy source of warmth." ' _What should I say? I know what going on but I don't want to admit it yet.'_

"I don't mind," Hollypaw purred, "Try sharing a nest with that furball during Greenleaf, he makes you feel like your dying of heat and wish you were a Riverclan cat!"

Cinderpaw purred at those words, she could believe that in a heartbeat, with how much fur that tom had it was a wonder how he even managed to get up and not die of heat. "It's complicated," She decided to say, looking at the rest of the patrol in front of them. ' _Now what?'_ She fumbled for what else to say, "I've liked him for a while though... and It's pretty nice." And it was, being curled up next to the one she loved was the best feeling in the world, excluding the fact she knew he was just pretending to love her and actually loved another cat from another clan.

"Are you kidding? I could tell you've liked Lionpaw longer than Honeypaw has liked Berrynose." Hollypaw murrowed in amusement, "but that was really unexpected, one moment you two were just close friends the next you're sharing a nest and everything."

"Yeah," Cinderpaw responded, her mew a bit distant, "Unexpected is fine with me though." Then the first part of Hollypaw's statement registered and she whirled on her friend, "Hey!" She meowed indignantly, "I do not moon over Lionpaw all the time like Honeypaw does to Berrypaw! I can't be that bad!... Am I?" She meowed, a bit timidly, blue eyes firey but also worried.

"Of course not," Hollypaw reassured her, the scents of the Shadowclan border reaching her nose as they neared the border. "You don't moon over him like your littermate does," She purred and Cinderpaw relaxed slightly, the fur around her neck laying flat along with her fluffy tail. "You just purr like a mouse-brain after he leaves and try to be less scatter brained with he's around."

Cinderpaw breathed out a sigh, looking at the Shadowclan territory, "I can't deny that now can I."

"Probably not," Hollypaw meows, "Unless you've suddenly become smarter than me."

"That's not happening, ever. Even when we're in Starclan you'll still be more senisble and smarter than I am Hollypaw, but that's okay, you be the sensible one and I'll be the scatterbrain with no clue on what's going on." Cinderpaw purred as the patrol stopped and marked the border, feeling a little happier after the conversation with her best friend. ' _I'll just pretend as well.'_ She decided silently, ' _If Lionpaw has to pretend that he's in love with me then I can pretend he loves me for real. I can do this, I don't want to be miserable for the rest of my life, if a lie is the only way I can be at all happy with this whole situation then I'll accept that lie.'_

:) :) :)

Lionpaw awoke to the smell of a freshly caught mouse under his nose and someone licking his ears a few times. Opening his amber eyes he saw it was Cinderpaw, her blue eyes sparkling with her usual cheer. He sat up and breifly grooomed himself while she pushed the mouse closer to him with a paw,

"Here, it's almost sunhigh and Cloudtail wants us to do battle training in the training hollow soon." She meowed cheerfully, leaning forward and licking down a tufts of fur was sticking up on his left shoulder.

"Thanks," His jaws opened in a small yawn before he leaned down to eat the mouse she had brought him. As he sunk his teeth into the prey he realized it was still warm, meaning it must have been caught not too long ago. "Did you catch this for me?" He asked around his mouthful, looking up at the she-cat who was sitting on her haunches a few mouse tails in front of him, licking a paw and drawing it over her medium gray ears.

"Yes," She mewed, pausing to lick her paw again and draw it over her right ear, "I managed to catch a rabbit for the nursery earlier on patrol with Hollypaw and figured you'd want something as well."

Lionpaw purred a thank you and gulped down the rest of the mouse, swiping his tongue around his jaws once he had finished and cleaning his whiskers. As the she-cat nudged her head under his chin he remembered the idea and plan that had been agreed on last night between him, Cinderpaw, and Heatherpaw. He licked her head between the ears a few times before getting to his paws and following her out of the den where he blinked the sunlight out of his eyes and followed her to where their mentors were waiting.

"Have you eaten Cinderpaw?" Cloudtail asked his apprentice, blue eyes twinkling, much more relaxed and good tempered now that it wasn't so early in the morning. "While I'm sure Hollypaw and Squirrelflight would appreciate that you made sure their son and littermate ate what about you?"

"I'll eat when I get back," Cinderpaw mewed cheerfully, "doing battle training on a full stomach makes me feel like a cumbersome badger."

Cloudtail purred with amusement at his apprentice's words, "Well let's get going, don't you agree, Ashfur?"

"Yes." Ashfur meowed curtly and got to his paws, starting out of camp towards the training hollow with Cloudtail on his tail, the two apprentices right behind the white thick furred warrior, fur occasionally brushing as they quietly chatted about different battle techniques and the different moves they both had small issues with.

:) :) :)

Lionpaw let out a murrow of laughter as Cinderpaw came into camp, more prickly than a thorn bush and moving awkwardly with a load of moss so big she was almost hidden behind it from the front. The silver tabby looked cross and annoyed as she made her way towards the elders den through the rain, trying to protect her moss from getting wet. Lionpaw got to his paws and bounded over to her, taking some of the moss from her and together they raced for the elders den, skidding to a halt inside the dry den and putting the mostly dry moss down onto the ground. Over the past two moons the whole thing between them and Heatherpaw had gotten much easier and almost natural, helping eachother out and acting like they were in love but too young to be mates. "I hope this is dry enough." Cinderpaw meowed to Mousefur, her pelt was tangled with thorns and thin branches from her long search for the mostly dry moss.

Mousefur prodded the moss with a keen eye, "It'll do." The female elder meowed in her raspy voice, "Why don't you finish your job and then you can go do what other apprentice duties you have."

Lionpaw could tell Cinderpaw was barely managing to hold her tongue and keep from snapping at the elder in a hissy fit born from having to spend most of the day looking for dry moss as her ears and tail tip twitched, so he intervened. "I'll help you Cinderpaw," He purred, nosing her left ear, making that ear twitch at the touch. He looked at Longtail, "Could you tell us one of your stories while we do this Longtail?" He asked as he and Cinderpaw got to work sorting out Mousefur's nest of the spoiled or hard moss.

"What would you like to hear about?"

"What about Firestar's arrival in ThunderClan?" Lionpaw requested, starting to make a pile of the spoiled moss.

"Well it was at sunhigh where we were all sharing tongues…" Longtail started, tucking his paws neatly under his chest.

:) :) :)

"Thank starclan that's over." Cinderpaw grunted as she and Lionpaw emerged from the elders den close to sun set, Cinderpaw's pelt still a mess of burrs, thorns, and twigs. As they stepped outside she complained more, "And of course it stops raining now!" She whined like a kit unable to go play outside, "After getting soaked, treking through wet undergrowth looking for moss, and becoming a hedgehog it stops raining!" She meowed, frustration displayed in her whining and the agitatedly twitching of her tail.

"At least you don't have to go out on dawn patrol in the rain right?" Lionpaw purred in amusement, pulling a twig from of his friend's silver tabby head and spitting it out onto the ground, "Let's go ask Ashfur and Cloutail if they have anything else for us to do, sound good?"

"If I have to do anything else besides getting this stuff out of my fur I'm not doing it." She growled, twisting to tug at a burr stuck on her shoulder.

"Now you sound like Jaypaw." He purred licking the fur between her ears flat before nudging her muzzle out of the way so he could pull out the burr.

"Good, cause that's totally what I was aiming for." She meowed sarcastically before they touched noses and parted, going to each of their mentors to get any extra duties that they were supposed to go do before they could go to sleep.


	72. Next Gen number 9

_A Scar And Sam's Unfair Revenge Led To A Love They Will Forever Cherish_

Sam froze and his scowl morphed into a magnificent grin, it seemed luck was with him tonight, even if it was there for only a few minutes. ' _It was foolish of me to think I wouldn't get my revenge.'_ He thought as his grin widened at the two teenagers about sixteen years old in front of him, from the game console controllers on the coffee table and the still on television, he could guess that they had been playing some kind of video game before they fell asleep, and right now they were both asleep, his enemy's daughter and his own son. The former was an easy target. ' _You will pay, Cynthia and Leon Bramble.'_ He grinned, moving over to the teenagers and grabbing the girl in a choke hold, jolting her awake with a startled yell, the sleeve of his leather jacket muffled the sound.

Leroy jolted awake as well and yelled in shock before struggling to make him release his friend. "Stop it!" He shouted, pulling on Sam's arms as Cleo kicked and struggled, the struggling started to weaken as Sam tightened his grip and as the seconds rolled by. Cleo's face was slowly going blue, making a raspy gasping noise as an attempt of breathing. "Let her go!" Leon struggled to pull Sam's arms apart, "Let her go!"

"I'm not killing her my son," Sam growled and Leon froze, he and Cleo locked eyes, shocked sunset to panicked and dulling green, before Cleo's rolled back and she slumped in Sam's hold, passing out from lack of air.

:( :( :( :( :(

Cynthia paced as she waited for the call to go through and when it finally did, she spoke. "Leon, Sam has the twins."

"What?!"

"He kidnapped Cleo while she was at Leroy's last night-"

"Just the two of them?"

"Yes-"

"Why were they alone?!"

Cynthia pinched the bridge of her nose, sometimes her husband's over protective nature really got on her nerves. "Because Miles had a chess club meeting and Cleo wanted to spend time with her best friend-"

"I don't-"

"Leon!" Cynthia stopped him from interrupting her, blue eyes flashing irritably, "we can discuss this face to face after we have stopped Sam!"

"Oh, right, I'll get off as fast as possible, do you have any leads?"

"Besides a shard of glass that contains traces of copper? Not really." Cynthia replied with half sarcasm, looking at the glass shard lying on the table next to Sam's note, her microscope, and other chemical solutions.

"What else?"

"I have a glass shard, Cleo's hoodie, Leroy's knife with traces of Sam's blood on the tip-"

"He carries a knife?!"

"Now isn't the time Leon!"

"Right, continue."

"-and a metal scrap that is only found in one place in the neighborhood."

"Sam's house?"

"Correct."

"Okay, I'll get off patrol as fast as possible, what're you planning on doing in the meantime?"

Cynthia's blue eyes darken, "I'm going to go stop him, and I'm dragging Isa with me."

"Uh, why Isa of all people?"

"Because he's Leroy's father." Cynthia replied darkly, "meaning she knows where the idiot is."

The front door burst open and Cynthia whirled around to see Isa run in and nearly fall on her face, "Leroy's gone!"

Cynthia's blue eyes narrowed, "and Leroy's gone too." She told Leon, "I'll meet you at Sam's house, okay?"

"Okay, but be careful Cyn, we don't want any bloodshed."

"He took my children Leon, nothing is going to stop me when it comes to getting them back."

:( :( :( :( :(

"Why don't we just leave?" Isa suggested weakly as they slid open the skylight hatch of Sam's house. "I mean, you hate me don't you?"

Cynthia sighed and glanced at Isa, "look, while we may hate each other Isa, but I'm not leaving your kid with that psychopath okay? Cleo likes him and that's good enough for me." She then jumped through the skylight hatch, dead set on finding her kids.

:( :( :( :( :(

Cleo wiped the blood from her lip, green eyes furious and scared, Miles watched her, baby blue eyes scared and worried about his twin. She hadn't talked to him at all since Sam had hit her after her bit him, instead, she stayed glued to Leroy's side, not talking to him either, conveying her fear and want of comfort by allowing him to hug her and not making a sound.

Leroy gently squeezed Cleo's shoulder, silently asking her a question, ' _You alright?'_ He asked with the action, and Cleo replied with a barely noticeable shake of the head along with silently signing one handed something to him with the hand clasped in his. ' _No, I'm scared sick.'_

' _Are you injured?'_ Leroy signed back, understanding that she either couldn't or didn't want to talk.

' _If you count my jaw being swollen shut from that uppercut, then yes.'_ Cleo signed back, scooting a little closer to him.

' _How bad is it?'_ He signed back and paused before continuing, ' _You're as beautiful as ever, a little more ferocious, but as beautiful as ever.'_

' _Aw, you're going to make me blush,'_ She signed back, her lips twitching into a faint smile. ' _But I probably look horrible, the bruising isn't visible from the front because he caught me in the soft spot behind my jawbone, and it hurts worse than when Miles missed hitting the baseball with the bat and hit me in the catcher's mask with it.'_

Leon gave a small wince, ' _Ouch, that bad?'_

' _Yup.'_ They broke the conversation as they heard a scuffle before Sam stumbled into the room and seized Cleo by the shoulders, harshly pulling her to her feet while holding a silver knife to her throat as Cynthia and Isa emerged. "Drop to your knees or the girl dies!"

Sam hissed, pressing the flat side of the knife to Cleo's throat. Cynthia did as he asked, slowly kneeling with her hands flat on the floor in front of her, blue eyes locked on her daughter's trembling body. Everyone waiting with bated breath for Isa to kneel as well, but she didn't. Instead, she lunged forward and pulled her son away from the lunatic, despite the consequences.

The knife slid across Cleo's throat and the teenager gurgled a howl before she went limp and hung her her head, held upright by Sam, green eyes glassy and unseeing, blood glinted on her neck slowly started to soak into her clothing.

"Cleo!" Leroy yelled, sunset colored eyes glimmering with tears, "No!" He struggled against his mother, "How could you?! Cleo!"

Cynthia just stared at Sam, not wanting to believe what he just did to her, a faint strangled noise emerged from her mouth, an attempt of saying something, anything. A moment later her blue eyes gleamed with rage as she pushed herself to her feet and tackled Sam, throwing the knife away from him and attacking him in a blind rage with a punch to the face, breaking his nose right away. "You killed my daughter!" She roared, blue eyes flashing dangerously.

Leroy broke free of Isa and knelt next to his friend who was now lying flat on her stomach, her blood staining the wooden flooring. "Cleo wake up!" He cried, temporarily ignoring his mother who was trying to pull him away. "I hate you, mom!" He howled, looking at her through tear filled sunset colored eyes, "you got my only friend killed!"

Miles was staring at the still form of his twin, unable to believe his eyes, his sister couldn't be dead! She couldn't be! But the proof was there, Cleo was lying limply on the floor, scarlet blood pooling around her neck.

:( :( :( :( :(

Cleo was limp in her father's arms as he rushed her to a hospital, her blood soaking the makeshift bandage around her neck. "Stay with me Angel," Leon spoke to his daughter, even as her blue eyes slipped closed once more, "you'll be okay Cleo, you'll be okay!"

:( :( :( :( :(

Cleo woke up in a hospital room, blind and unable to see a thing, even with her green eyes open.

"Cleo?!" Leroy's voice was worried and hopeful. "Are you awake?! Is the light too bright?"

"Leroy?" Cleo croaked, pain flaring in her neck as she croaked out a response, opening her eyes again, still seeing black, "is that you?"

"Yeah, can you not see me?" Leroy asked and noticed the glazed look in her green eyes, "oh, here." He took one of her hands and pushed his cheek against her palm, letting her know it was him.

Cleo shifted her hand so her fingertips were under his jaw, confirming it was him. "What happened?" She rasped, moving to drop her hand, but Leroy stopped her, covering her hand with his own and keeping the contact.

"Sam cut your throat open," he replied hoarsely, looking at her unfocused green eyes, "Leon barely got you here in time to save your life."

Cleo thought for a moment before she smiled softly, "Well you should thank my father," she rasped, "cause otherwise I wouldn't still be here."

Leroy cracked a smile that she couldn't see at the moment, "I will." He sobered up a little, "you know how your dad always says you never really know what you have until you nearly lose it?"

"Yeah," Cleo rasped along with a weak chuckle, "He says it way too often."

"Maybe so," Leroy leaned a little closer, "but it's true. I never realized how much I cared about you until I almost lost you."

The corners of Cleo's lips twitched into a faint smile, her left hand cradling one side of his face. "I know." She said quietly, "me too."

Leroy leaned closer to her ear, whispering something in her ear, "I love you."

Cleo managed a smile, her green eyes still distant and glazed. "I love you too." She croaked and closed her eyes when Leroy rested his forehead against her own, thrilled that he finally admitted it while her exhaustion urged her back to sleep.


	73. Fighting For Love And Hope Moment 12

_**Echo in the Whispering Wind- It was a lot of chapters! :D I happened to finish them all around the same time so I uploaded them all! XD I'm glad you like them so far :D**_

 _ **Yay! :D that one (Fighting For Love And Hope Moment 11) was one of the harder ones out of those five, expressing the panic and confusion going on was a little hard :D**_

 _ **Yay! Hilariousness! :D Leon's a good dad :D**_

 _ **It is kinda sad… want me to write a sequel?! :D :D :D I have it partially planned out already! XD although, Lionpaw is slowly getting closer to Cinderpaw and away from Heatherpaw, did you notice? :D**_

 _ **So many name mistakes! XD I'll go fix them!... eventually XD**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro- (I love your username, by the way, Spyro! :D) No problem! And okay! :D glad you like the chapter! ^-^**_

 _ **I'm sorry… :( Poor Cinder… ofcourse I can send a Cinderkit plushie! :D *gives you Cinderkit plushie from a box of plushies* be happy! :D**_

 _ **Okay! :D *hugs the loaf XD* it's probably not good for your family's ears anyway XD**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- the reversal of your name got me so confused! XD I know, I updated with way too many chapters! XD At this rate I'm not going to be finished with the Great Battle by 100 chapters! XD**_

 _ **I PMed you regarding your question :) but just for the kicks and giggles, I'll explain it a little here! :D Bucky and Orion think that their link and powers give them an unfair advantage out on the field, and with the upcoming Division games and Star Constants(A new thing), they want it even, even if it turns Cynthia and Leon's worlds upside down.**_

 _ **Flynx and Hailee's relationship is pretty interesting, not as interesting as Leroy and Cleo's, but it's pretty interesting if I say so myself! :D**_

 _ **Yeah… I noticed I kept messing up with the names XD want me to write a sequel? Cause I have one partially planned out :D**_

 _ **I called Isa a he? XD can you PM me on where it is? I can't find it! XD I'll have to go through that chapter again and fix mistakes XD I finished that one at three in the morning so I'm not surprised there are a lot of errors! XD They are adorable! :D Leroy doesn't completely hate her, I mean, she's his mother after all, he just doesn't trust her around Cleo anymore! XD**_

 _ **Unicorn Brownies- Next gen love! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I know right! :D It was a good chapter ^-^ It was sad though, what happens later is happy though! :D Isa's a cool character, keep on liking her! She needs some love from readers too! :D The reason she didn't comply with Sam's demands was because she was worried about her son's safety and didn't think Sam would actually do it, Cynthia did, she didn't. Yup! :D Crystalfang 4ever! :D (Oh! I drew Cleo in her Warriors Cat Form the other day! :D Maybe I'll write a oneshot about Cinderheart and Lionblaze's kits! :D)**_

 _ **I needed to take a break from Boring Office Work, Welcome to the City Leon. Because I've been working on it really hard and I'm dying from it! XD Although, I can say that I am getting extremely close to finishing it! :D :D I have a few connectors left and I'm done! Finally! XD I think there's going to be a sequel! If you guys like it anyway! :D So I wrote this! It's not particularly long, nor upbeat- well the end is, anyway, enjoy! :D**_

 _The Journey To Being Parents At Last_

 _(Fighting For Love And With Constant Hope World)_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 25_

The doors of the medical wing opened and Leon rushed over to the head medic, "How is she?" he asked Cyllia extremely worried about his partner, despite the many reassurances from everybody and from Cynthia herself before the surgery, he was worried about how it went and if it was successful or not.

Cyllia sighed and Leon's heart plummeted before he stopped his hopes from dropping and waited for her reply which she gave a moment later. "They really screwed her up, Leon," She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I'm not even sure if it'll work."

"So she's not sterile despite what everyone believes?" Leon asked, a bit confused and excited at the prospect.

"No, she's not sterile," Cyllia confirmed, "but the previous surgery for an attempt to make her sterile was extremely sloppy, so wither she'll be able to handle a pregnancy or not in unknown and you only have a year or two left of opportunities."

Leon lowered his voice, "What did they do to her exactly?"

"Without getting technical," Cyllia replied, "the previous surgery was done before she hit puberty and probably when she was six or so, they attempted to seal off everything, and when we tried to fix it it revealed a whole ton of scar tissue and other damaged tissue in the organs needed-"

"Meaning?..."

"It'll be a miracle if she can sustain a full pregnancy and not miscarriage," Cyllia replied a little gravely and Leon's face drained of color at the meaning of her words.

:( :( :( :(

Cynthia came around a few hours later, feeling like a truck hit her in the gut with an added attempt of bashing her head too. "Oh Starclan," she groaned, "I'm not moving for a few more hours."

"Yeah you are," Leon smiled from his position at her beside, having been waiting for her to wake up before touching her at all and activating their shared healing ability. "You're going home with me later." He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers in a short greeting kiss before continuing, "You've been out of surgery for three hours Sunshine and you've been asleep the whole time, quite unusual if you ask me."

"Well if you would stop interrupting me when I actually am sleeping then I wouldn't have to sleep so long after surgery." She said with a roll of her eyes. "What's the status with the whole surgery thing?"

"They aren't sure if it's going to work and Cyllia says it'll be a miracle if you can sustain a full pregnancy," Leon replied being completely truthful, not hiding anything from his partner.

Cynthia seemed to think about it for a moment before she spoke again, her voice now confident, "then I'll pull off a miracle. Somehow."

:) :( :) :( :) :( :) :( :) :( :) :( :) :(

' _Leon, get up, I need your help.'_ Cynthia told her partner mentally staring at the blood staining her sweat pants and hands, the liquid smeared on the bathroom tile from her moving around, her blue eyes welling with tears. ' _Now.'_

' _Huh? Okay, I'm coming…'_ Leon mumbled in return and she heard his footsteps as she tried to even out she uneven breathing, her emotions lying right under the surface. "What's wrong?" He asked out loud as he stepped into the bathroom while he scratched the back of his head before he froze, taking in the sight in front of him, "bloody hell!" He swore, Cynthia's British rubbing off on him, "are you okay?! Why is there so much blood?!" Cynthia was sitting on the floor in the middle of the bathroom, her hands and lower arms slick with blood, her sweatpants were also stained red and the tile beneath her had blood everywhere. Cynthia wasn't looking at him, keeping her head tilted down, black bangs swinging down in front of her face, she looked tired, scared, worn out, and distressed.

"Can you call Jay?" Cynthia asked in a small voice, her voice trembling, "tell him I miscarried."

Leon's amber eyes widened as he watched his partner dissolve into hysterical tears, hunching her shoulders and clenching her hands into fists, blubbering unintelligently, her heart breaking at the loss of their unborn child.

:( :( :(

Cynthia didn't let him touch her for an atleast a month, flinching every time he went near to her, feeling like she didn't just fail herself, but that she failed him too, that she couldn't give him what he desparately craved, the opportunity to be a father. The blue eyed warrior kept her distance, silently suffering at her failure and beating herself up for it, every time she noticed the slightly lost and broken look in Leon's eyes her gut clenched and she felt worse, feeling like the worst person in the world, she couldn't do something that was one of the easiest things in the world to do and the most primal and instinctal thing, she couldn't give him a child of their own. And when he said he wanted to try again a month and a half later she agreed, knowing that another loss would break her, but she wanted to do everything in her power to grant him his wish.

:( :( :( :(

Another miscarriage later and Cynthia wasn't at all prepared for Hannah and Isabella's onslaught of guilt tripping her.

"Again?" Isa mocked as the finishing argument, "Can't you be a normal human being for once in your life Cynthia?" She rolled her blue eyes, "You are a cripple."

Hannah snorted, "Crippled for life in general."

"You failed Cynthia." Isa sniped, "I can give him something that you can not, fatherhood."

Cynthia looked at them both, sapphire blue eyes dull, broken, and miserable. "I know," she said softly, "I know you can." She continued walking, tilting her head down towards the ground. "I know I failed him," she murmured as she passed them, her movements heavy and distressed.

:( :( :( :(

Cynthia silently suffered for the next year, silently dealing with the next few miscarriages and putting on a brave face for her partner, giving him someone to lean on while he suffered as well. Nobody really knew how badly the entire thing affected her until she finally talked to Leon about it and broke again for the fifth time.

At this point, Cynthia was used to waking up with a jerk at the painfully familiar feeling of painful cramping before she rushed off to the bathroom as the bleeding started again.

:(

Cynthia finished pulling her damp black hair up in a ponytail and sat down at her desk, staring blankly at the chemical solutions and blueprints spread out in front of her, wearing loose blue jeans and a light blue t-shirt, too drained to put actual effort into her appearance with the turmoil she was suffering through.  
"You're awake early," Leon said groggily, looking at his partner's sideways profile and noticing how her hair was damp and she wasn't in training gear or pj's. "What happened?" He asked, sitting up and looking at her with concern gleaming in his amber eyes.

Cynthia shrugged, picking up a pencil and examining it, "miscarried again. I'm sorry." She apologized sincerely, apologizing for failing him for the fifth time. "I'm sorry, Leo," She murmured as she heard him flop back down onto his back and stare blankly at the ceiling. "I'm sorry."

"I know," Leon replied simply and it was silent for a few moments before Cynthia offered an option.

"You could go have kids with someone else if you want." She said quietly, trying to find a way for him to live out his dream. "You can still be a father if you get into a relationship with Hannah or Isa, they'd love to be with you."

"Maybe," Leon replied, still staring at the ceiling.

Tears pricked at Cynthia's eyes again for the second time that morning, his vague agreement hurt more than she could say. "Well go then." She said, her voice tired and defeated, "go try with someone who isn't screwed up and can't give it to you." Her voice turned bitter at the end, starting to hate how screwed up her body was with a passion.

"What?"

Cynthia faced him, keeping her expression blank and her tone steady and calm, "Well, go on then, if you're that eager then off you go." She gestured towards the door, "I'm sure they won't care if you show up at eight in the morning while I stay here and pretend nothing happened." She turned back to her desk and picked up the pencil again, twirling it between her fingers, "maybe one of them will give you what you want." Leon didn't reply and Cynthia locked down her side of the link, blocking him from her mind and emotions as she bit her lower lip and averted her eyes further, looking down at her lap.

:( :(

"I'm giving you an out," Cynthia sighed, not wanting to fight with her partner, her part of the link still locked down, preventing him from feeling her despair and distress. "if you don't want to deal with another miscarriage then I would go strike up a relationship with Hannah or Isa this week." She said tiredly, "Cause I'm done trying and having my heart shattered to slivers every time it happens."

"It hurts me too Cynthia!" Leon snapped back at her, amber eyes flashing with anger, "It hurts to know I won't ever be a father with you and that we've lost so many already!"

"It hurts me more!" Cynthia roared, her patience snapping at her partner's selfish answer, "I'm the one who actually loses them! I'm the one who knows that they are there, inside my body! I'm the one who could feel them there, Leon! I'm the one who sees the physical proof stain my body that they were rejected by my own body!" Her blue eyes glaze over with tears, "I want to be a mother just as much as you want to be a father Leon! But I will never be able to feel it! I will never nurse a child! I will never get to hear anyone call me their mom! I will never be able to have a child who is my own flesh and blood!" she started sobbing in between words, "I tried my hardest to make you a father, I tried so many times despite how much I dreaded the possibility of losing another unborn child! I had my chance stolen from me when I was a kid Leon! There was nothing I could've done when they dropped me onto a medical table, put me in restraints and did a horrible job of knocking me out! You can still have children with another person, I will never get that chance!" She sobbed, backing away from him, blue eyes glittering with the tears trickling down her face, "I know I failed you, any of the children who you wanted, and myself, and I'm sorry." She then turned, scooped up her pack and ran out of the dorm room apartment.

:( :( :( :(

"Hooray," Cynthia drawled when Jay told her she was pregnant again, not that it meant anything, she was going to miscarriage and that would be the end of it, that simple. Leon was avoiding her now after her outburst and she hadn't bothered lowering her barricade at her end of the link since then, not wanting to receive any snippets of whatever he was doing, due to the possibility he was doing it with Isa or Hannah. "Don't tell Leon, I'm just going to miscarriage again and he's probably off gallivanting with Hannah or Isa anyway."

"I doubt it," Jay said, looking through his visor behind Cynthia, "since he's right there."

"Even better," Cynthia growled and she stalked off, able to smell the distinct smell of Isa's ridiculous perfume on him. "Go to your girlfriend Leon." She grunted, not in the mood to deal with him.

"Cyn-"

"Don't 'Cyn' me. I have other things to worry about, such as trying not to have a miscarriage again while you're off doing whatever with Isa and Hannah."

"What?"

"I can smell her perfume on you," Cynthia grunted, striding determinedly towards their dorm room, determined to go to sleep for two months.

"Oh, anyway, can you please drop the barrier?" Leon asked, walking alongside her

"No." Cynthia replied easily, "I do not want to witness any of your emotions involving Isa or Hannah."

"Why do you think I'm collaborating with them?"

"Because they, unlike me, can make you a father. That and you didn't exactly shoot down the idea."

"Cyndy-"

"I don't care what you have to say." Cynthia grunted, "do you want the ring back now as well? The ring I've had for six years?"

"What? Of course not-"

"Good cause I'm not wearing it anyway. You aren't particularly following your promise at the moment."

"Isa jumped on me! That's why you smell her perfume for Starclan's sake!" Leon said, getting frustrated with his partner's mood swings. Wait… mood swings? Before hand, Cynthia never had mood swings before. "How far along are you?" He asked her, looking at her weirdly, "Cause you are having some mood swings here."

"I have no idea, but I'd rather not know and lose them again."

Jay came jogging over, "If you two had stayed in the medical wing, I could've told you there." He turned his head in Cynthia's direction, "Four months, past the first trimester and the miscarrying stage." He grunted curtly, his voice a little more gentle than it usually was.

"What?" Leon breathed, looking at his brother in shock.

"You have to be kidding me." Cynthia said skeptically, "that's impossible."

"No, I'm not kidding," Jay grunted a confirmation, "but you are going on bed rest for the next five months till the twins are born."

"Twins?"

"Twins."

:( :) :) :( :( :) :)

Cynthia's blue eyes gleamed as she playfully chased after her daughter, the small child giggling madly as she ran and hid from her mother, green eyes bright and cheerful. "Huh, where's Cleo?" she said, pretending not to see her four-year-old daughter hiding next to the couch, she strode casually through the living room before turning when Cleo started giggling and scooped up the small girl, tickling her, "There she is!"

"Mama!" Cleo giggled, reaching up and tugging on her mother's watch, a reminder of the war her parents had grown up in. "I hungry!" She giggled, playfully pulling on the watch and looking up at her through innocent green eyes.

"Of course you are," Cynthia laughed, "Go find your brother first and we'll go eat okay?" She said as she put her down.

"Okay!" Cleo smiled before running off to find her twin brother Flynx _**(She can't have a son named Miles if her brother is alive! XD)**_ while Cynthia watched her speed off.

Cynthia couldn't tell if her daughter having her superspeed and her father's super strength was a good thing or not, luckily Cleo didn't know how to use the super strength, but she had been a handful when she figured out how to walk and couldn't control the super speed so she went everywhere and only her mother could follow her movements. Her twin brother had his mother's selective senses and somehow obtained a healing ability. Luckily, neither of them had their parents' link, something that only got stronger over the years and even more with the absence of the war they fought in or were involved with for twenty years. Right now she could tell Leon was asleep, having stayed up with the twins most of the night as an attempt to tire them out, not that it worked, seeing how they woke her up at six in the morning this morning.

"Hi, mama!" Flynx smiled, looking at his mother as Cleo pushed him towards her, a few of his toy cars held in his hands, obviously he had been playing a game before Cleo had interrupted with a want to eat. "Ceo says we eat now, right?"

"Yes, we'll go eat lunch," Cynthia smiled, picking him up while Cleo decided to hug her leg and grin,

"Ride!" Cleo chirped, eager to eat and have fun with her mother.

"Okay," Cynthia smiled down at her daughter before walking towards the kitchen, her daughter's weight hardly messing up her stride.

:) :) :) :)

Motherhood was strange for Cynthia, she had never had a normal childhood, so everything was new and exciting for her, her favorite thing about it was playing with her kids, having not seen most of the toys they liked to use and play with. The Bramble family had a rule of sorts, Cynthia would get them all kinds of toys if they allowed her to mess around with them too and Leon occasionally joined them, usually joining his son in racing the remote control cars Bree had created for Flynx's third birthday.

Leon yawned as he walked down the stairs, but grinned at the sight of his family all in the living room. Cynthia was with the twins, playing with both of them, racing Flynx with the remote control cars that she could control from a modified comlink and eyepiece while playing a pretend world of stuffed animals with Cleo, the girl's favorite kind of toy. "Hey," He smiled, sitting in front of Cynthia and joining her, picking up the other comlink controller and holographic eyepiece before putting it in his ear and turning on the third car to join his partner and his son.

"Hey yourself," Cynthia replied with a small grin, leaning forward and giving him a chaste kiss before moving back and laughing at the twins' grossed out expressions.

"Eww!" Flynx stuck his tongue out, multicolored eyes gleaming with both disgust and joy, while he didn't like the kissing he liked his parents showing they cared about each other.

"Daddy!" Cleo smiled, quickly getting over the disgust and flinging her short arms around her father's neck, "Hi!"

"Hello you two," He smiled, returning the hug and hugging his son as well, ' _I love you.'_ He mentally told his partner while greeting and starting to play with his two kids, his remote control car zoomed off to catch up with Flynx and Cynthia's.

"Daddy play with me too!" Cleo chirped, pushing a few stuffed animals into his arms, green eyes round and innocent.

"Cleo-"

"Come on Leon," Cynthia laughed, blue eyes twinkling, "are you afraid of a stuffed dog?" She switched to mental communication, ' _I love you too Leo, play with your daughter will you? She really wants to.'_

"Okay Angel," Leon smiled at his daughter, flooding his link with Cynthia with affection, "We'll all play together."

"Yay!"

 ** _Yay! :D Their kids! :D Maybe I'll write a family related one focused on Bree and Jay some day! :D_**


	74. Boring Office Work (cinderblaze focus)

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I will definitely write a sequel and write a Bree x Jay family moment! :D**_

 _ **Featherflight123- Well It's finally finished! :D Cynthia and Leon are destined together! :D Yeah, it was a little sad, but everything worked out in the end! :D :D :D**_

 _ **It's finally finished! :D :D :D 31 pages of AU! :D :D :D I hope you all enjoy this, I 've worked really hard on this one! :D :D :D**_

 _Boring Office Work, Welcome to the city Leon AU_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 21_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree- 22_

 _Haliah, Paige- 22 1/2_

 _Ivory, Diana- 20_

 _Flynx-3_

"It's noon," Cynthia told Holly, putting down her pen to look at her friend, blue eyes warm, "You should probably go pick up your brother, there's no harm in being a few minutes early, and you're not really getting anything done right now."

Holly put down her pen and smiled sheepishly at her friend, "Sorry Cindy, I'm just really excited, I haven't seen Leon in almost a year!"

Cynthia laughed, "So you've told me twenty times," Her blue eyes twinkle, "It's better than my record, I didn't see you for ten years after I moved to England for that long."

"I know, but he's my little brother, I worry about him."

"I'm sure he's fine, from what you've told me he seems to be the kind of guy able to take care of himself," Cynthia said, picking up her pen and continuing working on the file.

"Still… I can't wait!"

"Then go pick him up," Cynthia laughed, amused by Holly's unusually happy behavior, "I'll finish up what we have here."

"I don't want to bother you," Holly attempted to say before Cynthia cut her off.

"I can do this stuff on my own Holly, it's not too complicated, besides," She put down the pen once again. "I'm going home as well."

Holly's green eyes light up, "You're going home early to Flynx?"

"Yeah, I promised I'd take him somewhere this afternoon." Cynthia shrugged slightly, "Figured that if my partner is getting half a day off I might as well see if I can too."

"Can't argue with that logic," Holly chuckled as she got to her feet and pulled on her jacket, "I'll see you later then Cindy, say hello to Flynx for me."

"I will now go!" Cynthia laughed and her partner disappeared out of her office.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"Leon!" Holly greeted her brother, hugging her amber eyed brother, "You're so tall!" She said enthusiastically, looking up at her brother, the top of her head barely brushing his chin as she hugged him.

"Good to see you too, Holly," Leon laughed, returning the embrace and bending down slightly, "You haven't grown an inch," he grinned cheekily, "You're really short sis."

"I am not that short," Holly complained, pretending to be angry at him and slapping his arm, it was common knowledge that she was rather short despite being taller than average.

"No one is eye level with me Holly, all of you are short to me," Leon said playfully, picking up his backpack and slinging it over one shoulder

"Not everyone is that short!" Holly complained, punching his shoulder and starting to walk towards her car, "My partner at work is almost your height!" Holly shot back, she was a full foot shorter than her younger brother, being six-four he was much taller than anyone else she knew, Holly herself was five four.

:) :) :) :) :)

Adjusting to living in the large city of New York as a little hard for Leon, having lived in a small suburb area for twenty-one years, but he enjoyed the freedom of living with his sister rather than being stuck with his mother who had refused to let him go be a free adult. Which was why he was living with his sister at the moment. As he stretched his arms above his head, a small smile spread across his face. The flat was quiet, his sister was at work at the current moment, expected to be home in an hour or so, and he had enjoyed the uninterrupted peace for the past nine and a half hours, sleeping through most of it and playing on the PS3 he had brought with him for the rest of it. Of course, he knew he needed to start applying for a job, but at the moment he was enjoying the freedom. Next week he and Holly were going to visit their brother Jay and his fiancé Breanna Grayas, and he couldn't wait, Leon's parents had been divorced for the last fifteen years, splitting up so that Leon stayed with his mother Skylar while his older siblings went with their father to New York. While they could video call all the time, it wasn't the same as seeing each other every day. He had hated when their parents split, his sister had just lost her best friend to moving to England and the split up had made her even more upset, but the grumpiness had only lasted ten years because one day he had gotten a happy phone call from her saying eagerly that her friend was in New York and that one day he would have to meet her. At the time he had agreed, relieved that his sister was back to normal, and now, he couldn't help but wonder when he would meet her best friend. His relaxed musings were broken when the door was pushed open.

"I got you a job, Leon!" Holly grinned as she came into the flat and closed the door behind her, "It's been a week of you lazing about so I got you a job."

"What kind of job?" Leon asked slowly, sitting up straight and looking at his sister. "Not a desk job right?" he couldn't stand desk jobs, that's why he had become an investigative officer and went through a two-year-long training.

"It's a partial desk job," Holly admitted, taking off her jacket, "for now anyway. You're my assistant-"

"What?!"

-for the detective agency I work at."

"Okay, maybe I can handle this," Leon said, looking at his sister who grinned.

"You'll love it." Holly smiled confidently.

"I sure hope so, or I'm moving back to Florida."

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

"Put on the tie Leon." Holly huffed, narrowing her eyes as she pushed the black and white striped tie into his hands.

"No, I am not wearing a tie!" Leon retorted, dropping the tie and rolling the sleeves of his white button down up to his elbows before shrugging on his thin black vest that had the New York police emblem embroidered on the front right side.

"This is like fighting with a five-year-old!" Holly huffed, "fine! Look like an idiot!"

Leon grinned triumphantly, "I don't look like an idiot, I'm just not wearing a tie."

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Leon ran his hand through his hair, he hated tedious work like this, it just stressed him out and annoyed him to no end, and it bored him to death. He was converting paper files to electronic, basically doing boring filing. A moment later, the solution to his boredom walked in the door.

"Hey Holly," A black haired woman with blue eyes strode into Holly's office, a pen behind one ear, ink smudged on the side of her nose. "Can you help me with something?" She asked having not noticed Leon, her focus on the file in her hands.

Of course, that gave Leon time to stare at the woman in front of him and his jaw slackened, not drooling, but looking her overall the same. The woman had midnight black hair up in a messy bun being held together by two dark blue clickable pens that matched the one tucked behind her ear and deep sapphire blue eyes, currently narrowed and focused on her task at hand. She was thin, not particularly curvy and about half a foot shorter than himself, but looked confident like she was comfortable with her looks, unlike most women he knew who were insecure and worried about what people thought about them. Dressed in an unbuttoned medium gray colored blazer vest, matching slacks, a light blue button-down blouse and black leather ankle boots with a large and a small buckle on the outer sides, she was professional but didn't seem stuck up, rather, she seemed determined and intelligent, like his sister. But he didn't want to think of this person that way. Sure, Leon had had girlfriend's before and all the jazz, but he hadn't met anyone that he was truly interested in. This woman caught his interest and not in the way by looks, sure she was drop dead gorgeous and had extremely pretty blue eyes, but he was interested in her attitude, that one drive focus wasn't something he got to see very often and he liked it. ' _Who's she?'_

"Sure Cindy," Holly replied, putting down her pen and standing up before walking over to the mysterious women, "What's up? Oh, and meet Leon, he's my brother."

"He's the little brother you've been talking about?" The woman replied with an amused question, still distracted with her file, "Miles found traces of what looks like the chemical makeup of a chemical bomb on the glass in that strangely flat area, it's believed that it wasn't a normal grenade, it's probably a chemical grenade."

"Interesting, You should let Firen know, maybe he has an answer." Holly replied, looking at the file as well, "Leon," She introduced her brother, "this is Cynthia Lawson, head of the chemistry and science department."

Leon nodded, mentally trying the name out, ' _Cynthia… has a good ring to it, it suits her.'_ He watched as Cynthia took the pen from behind her ear and jotted something down onto the file, her movements decently fluid.

"I will, but this means that your idea about this being planned is extremely plausible." Cynthia said to Holly, "That chemical bomb in that soccer field wasn't a freak accident, someone put it there for a reason."

"Well I'm not usually wrong, we'll need to keep a better eye on the distribution of chemical compounds-"

"Woah, hold on a second," Leon interrupted the two of them, looking up from his filing duties, golden blonde hair messy from a stressed habit of running his hand through it, white formal button down long sleeve rolled up haphazardly at the elbows with his black active vest with a police emblem emblazoned on the front over top and unzipped. It was clear that Cynthia hadn't even noticed him by the way she jumped and nearly dropped the file she was holding, and Leon couldn't help but feel a little triumphant when he noticed her blue gaze flicker over to him for a moment, curiously looking him up and down before returning to her file, her cheeks a faint shade of pink. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," He apologized to his new co-worker, "But I don't understand, a chemical bomb went off in a soccer field yesterday?!" He blanched, confused on why a chemical bomb would've gone off in the middle of a large city.

Cynthia stifled a laugh as she put her pen briefly between her teeth, looking down at her file and turning the page while Holly gave her brother a dry look, pausing the thumbing through her file to look at him and give a validated response. "Leon, it's New York, are you really surprised?"

"Well I know about all the separate families and stuff, but a chemical bomb in a soccer field? That's a bit crazy." Leon shook his head in disbelief, turning back to his computer and winced a moment later as something hit him in the back of the head. Jerking his head up he found a dark blue pen lying on the ground near his desk. Looking over at the two women who were now discussing more information in their files and couldn't have thrown the pen he frowned, picking up the pen and rubbing the back of his head in confusion, Cynthia still had the pen she was holding in her mouth and neither of the pens in her hair was missing, so where had it come from?

Holly and Cynthia locked eyes, amused blue to humorous green as Leon went back to his computer, putting the pen on the edge of his desk. Cynthia looked at Leon out of the corner of her eye, he intrigued her, unlike most men who she could barely face for a few seconds before turning on her heel and disappearing out of the office. After her experiences with guys, she did not like putting up with them or being around them long enough that they could potentially hurt her, but this guy was different, she could tell.

:) :) :) :)

Holly yawned and came out of her room, walking down the hallway dressed in her work clothes, a light green long sleeve button down tucked into white slacks with white wedged sandals, making her a few inches taller. She jumped seeing her brother already awake and munching on a few pancakes at the dining room table, ' _What's gotten into him? He hates waking up in the morning.'_ She thought, walking over to him. Her brother was even dressed and ready for work with his golden blonde hair gelled partially flat with the top spiky, and the sides gelled flat and upwards. "What're you doing up Leon?" She asked, fetching a glass from a cupboard in the kitchen before turning on the tap and holding it under it. "It's not even six yet."

Leon started, nearly dropping his fork in the process, "I'm just excited to see Jay after work," He smiled, being half truthful. "Plus I figured if we're on time I can get finished with the filing faster and see what you two actually do besides filing."

Holly studied him for a few moments over her glass of water, having a few suspicions. "Uh huh, I guess that makes sense." She finished her glass before putting it into the sink and fetching her bag, slinging it over one shoulder before grabbing her phone as it vibrated on the coffee table. "Hello? This is Holly Bramble." She asked, watching her brother a bit suspiciously.

"Hey Holly," Cynthia's voice filtered through the device, "I'm not sure if I'm going to make it to the gathering tonight."

"What? Really? I was hoping my best friend would be there and would meet my brother." Holly frowned.

"I've already met him Holly, but I'm not sure because Flynx is still sick." Holly could hear the exhaustion in her friend's voice and felt concern wash over her, for the past week Cynthia's toddler son had been sick and she had missed a few days of coming into the office, preferring to work at home where she could monitor him.

"He hasn't met you, though," Holly put a slightly hidden meaning into her words, "I really wanted him to meet you."

"I know what you're implying and no I am not getting together with your brother. I'll come if I can get Paige to watch over him for an hour and a half, I'm working at home today."

"Right, see you then, Cindy." Holly sighed and hung up, looking at her brother who was now thumbing through the company directory and name list she had given him a few weeks ago when he started working for the company. She saw him hesitate on a page, lingering for a few seconds before turning the page, a strange look passing over her brother's face.

:) :) :)

Leon secretly sulked, running his fingers through his blonde hair in the process as he paused his filing to sulk about how boring it was at the moment.

"Leon," Holly sighed, "You're supposed to be working you dufus, get back to work." She could see him slacking off through her open private office door.

"I am," he replied, getting back to work and glancing almost hopefully at the door of the office door before frowning, ' _This is soo boring, and Cynthia's not here at all. Which makes it even more boring.'_

"Leon."

"Right, I'm going, I'm going." He mumbled, putting his hands back down on the keyboard in front of him and starting to get back to work.

He didn't notice Holly watching him, her green eyes thoughtful and curious, her brother already seemed to be developing feelings for her friend and their coworker, after only a week of being around her, judging by how he kept glancing up at the office door like he was hoping Cynthia would walk in the door.. ' _I never believed Skylar about the whole love at first sight thing, but I think I might be proven wrong soon.'_

:) :) :)

Holly looked up from her position sitting on the couch between both her brothers as someone rushed through the front door, black hair up in a sloppy ponytail, clothed in a t-shirt, skinny jeans, black fur trimmed hooded vest, and light blue running shoes. "I'm here," The person said through her slightly labored breathing, "Sorry about being late, Holly." She partially wheezed, leaning forward on her knees.

"Hi!" Holly smiled and got up, hugging her, "Leon," Her green eyes twinkled as she broke the hug to look at her stunned looking younger brother, "you already know Cynthia, but she's been my best friend since we were kids."

:) :) :) :)

Leon choked on his words, amber eyes widening slightly, the casual relaxed clothing fit the black haired woman for sure, but that wasn't what was making him speechless. The thing that was stopping him from speaking was the dark navy blue rimmed glasses framing her blue eyes, her eyes were even more blue from the rounded rectangular framed glasses. ' _Oh my StarClan, how…'_ He noticed the amused look he was getting from Bree and he formulated something to say, his voice a little strangled. "Hey, Cynthia, haven't seen the glasses before." He managed to say clearly. Over the last week, he had gotten to know his coworker a lot more but hadn't known that she was his sister's best friend.

Cynthia nudged the glasses farther up her nose with one finger on a lower corner, "I usually wear contacts," She shrugged before smiling and greeting both Bree and Jay, "Hey guys!" She went over to Bree and leaned down to hug her before giving Jay a high five and taking a seat on the couch, "Hello, Leon," She smiled, and Leon blinked before shrugging and fiddling with his phone in his pocket.

"Anyway!" Bree grinned, "You're finally here with the rest of us Leon!"

That broke the semi-awkward silence and Leon laughed, looking over at his other childhood friend, "My mom refused to let me leave her sight for the past twenty years, quite a nuisance if you ask me." He smiled, "She may be overprotective but I still love my mother."

Bree grinned, amber eyes twinkling, "Skylar's cool!"

"You think everyone is cool," Jay grunted curtly with a roll of his blind blue eyes, he was sitting next to Bree on the couch, his arm resting across the back of the couch behind her, sonar and infrared sunglasses perched on the top of his head, the LED on one corner blinking softly.

"Yeah, it that an issue?!" Bree asked excitedly, looking over at him with a grin, "everyone's cool in some way!"

"How is Skylar?" Cynthia asked Leon, blue eyes curious, "I haven't seen her in twelve-ish years."

"That because you abandoned us to go to England," Holly smiled and playfully nudged her friend's shoulder before looking at her brother, "How is our mom?"

Leon shrugged, tearing his gaze away from Cynthia and turning his attention to his sister, "As overprotective as always, she hasn't really changed much over the years, she's a bit more subdued after the whole separation thing," he shrugged, "but she's just as energetic as she used to be."

"That's good," Cynthia smiled, blue eyes twinkling with mirth, "she was the funny parent when it came to pranks and everything that we used to do."

Holly laughed, "Yeah, my mom wasn't pleased when you showed me how to blow up toothpaste bottles and containers."

"Yeah, probably not." Cynthia's smile widened into a grin.

Leon's amber eyes widened, "That was you?" He laughed, leaning back against the couch cushions, "every time I asked she who did it she just told me that I better not learn how to do it or I would be in huge trouble!"

"That was Cindy!" Bree giggled, amber eyes twinkling, "leaving two curious five-year-olds and a four-year-old with a reputation of blowing stuff up wasn't a good idea!"

"I still don't get how I outran her," Cynthia chuckled, "how a four-year-old out ran an ex-athlete works, I have no idea, but I outran her and hid under Holly's bed, scared of the ticked off mother."

"Remember when Sarah let you help her bake a cake?" Holly laughed, green eyes glimmering with amusement.

Cynthia blushed, "Not one of my better moments."

"Tell us!" Bree chirped excitedly and Cynthia shook her head, still blushing.

"No way," Cynthia exclaimed, "it was not one of my finer moments as a kid."

"Cindy!" Bree whined, "Please! Even Jay's interested!"

"True, I am interested," Jay replied with a grunt and straightened up, blind blue eyes a little curious.

Leon was looking at Cynthia, fascinated by the pink that stained her cheeks, curiosity apparent in his eyes. "Come on, tell us, Cyndy," he said, amber eyes curious, "I really want to hear it."

Cynthia sighed, "Okay fine, but if this gets repeated elsewhere you guys will not be happy." She relented, inwardly surprised at Leon's different take on her usual nickname.

"Yay!"

"Okay."

"Fine."

"Thanks," Leon looked at Cynthia with a smile, his amber eyes twinkled affectionately.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

"So the chemical bomb's composition leads to the possibility of a not so random terrorist attack?" Leon asked as he thumbed through another evidence file a few weeks after the small gathering he had and he was being half distracted by Cynthia's sitting position, she was leaning on her forearms, jotting down notes into a small evidence sheet inside her current file. "Didn't you say the chemicals are expensive or something?"

"Yeah," Cynthia replied, pulling her file over to him and pointing to a number total at the bottom of a list, "roughly about fifty-five thousand even, give or take a few cents."

Holly shook her head in slight disbelief and shock, "that's more than how much you paid for your entire chemical lab, Cindy," she said with a small laugh, "and that's saying something."

Cynthia rolled her eyes while Leon innocently asked his coworker and good friend how much her lab was, and blanched, staring at her when she replied.

"thirty-five thousand, and the company paid for the rest." Cynthia shrugged, moving back to her spot, making Leon a little disappointed when she moved away from him.

To distract himself, he asked her another question. "How much is that?" He asked, handing Holly another file to replace the one she just closed, now finished with it.

Cynthia looked thoughtful for a moment before she replied, leaning on the table once again. "Fifty thousand," she said with the traces of a smile, one eyebrow raised at his surprised look. "Maybe I'll show it to you one day, then you'll see why it cost so much." She said casually her voice holding a small playful tone, writing a few things down as she scanned through her file, looking at Leon out of the corner of her eye while she wrestled with her learned defensive attitude towards men, after a moment she succeeded and shoved it away, having resolved to deal with it later.

Holly was inwardly dumbfounded, her friend was casually talking to a guy? Maybe even flirting with him? Both were something that Holly hadn't seen more than a handful of times, and not in at least five years.

Leon, on the other hand, was also stunned and didn't know what to do, he wasn't sure if she was flirting with him or was just stating a fact so he decided to play it a little risky. "Sounds fun," he said with a small smile, "where did you learn chemistry? I'd love to learn it too."

Holly's eyebrows actually raised slightly when her coworker didn't brush off the comment, instead, the blue-eyed woman actually smiled, her blue eyes lighting up with amusement.

"Maybe someday," Cynthia replied vaguely, looking at Leon, "who knows," she pretended to scrutinize him with raised eyebrows, "chemistry might be a hidden skill of yours."

It fell silent after Cynthia's comment, Leon feeling a little warm a fuzzy, but he didn't want to push her any further, from what he had seen over the past month, one wrong word and she would probably brush him off. Cynthia was quite confused on what had just happened and was seriously conflicted about it, unsure what was happening to her and dreading any more conversation, While Holly was silently wondering how bold and straightforward her brother was going to be. The silence reigned until the elevator dinged and Leon's father stepped onto the floor, visible from Holly's open main office door. "Mrs. Lawson," Brad said briskly out in the hallway with someone Leon had never met before standing beside him, and the woman was leading a small toddler, the toddler's face was streaked with tear tracks and his multicolored eyes glimmered with more tears waiting to break free.  
"That's Sarah," Holly whispered in his ear as Cynthia stood up, putting the file she was working on down on the small desk and leaving the office, Leon and Holly following, Leon out of curiosity, Holly was just making sure he didn't make a fool of himself. "She's Cynthia's mother," Holly whispered in his ear and Leon nodded, focused on the scene unfolding in front of them.  
Cynthia walked over to Brad and Sarah, blue eyes calm and unwavering as she looked at Brad, "Yes Brad?" She asked politely and stiffly, keeping calm and collected despite the itching feeling to get way out of his range, her preferable distance was about ten feet to men, although she was confused on why Leon didn't bring up the same itching feeling to flee to her safe distance.  
"Sarah asked me to bring him up here to you," Brad replied, amber eyes softening as the boy tugged impatiently on Sarah's hand, sniffling like he was going to start crying.  
"I have to go with your father to a meeting," Sarah said to the black haired women a little stiffly, "I didn't want to take him with us."  
"Right, I'll take him, come here little on," Cynthia murmured softly as she leaned down and picked up the boy who sniffled and snuggled closer to her, putting the fingers of one hand into his mouth and looking at the people around him through wide multi-colored eyes. Without saying a goodbye to her mother, she turned back to Holly and Leon, walking back over to them before scooping up her file to return to her office.  
"Hey, you can't leave," Holly said, her voice serious, "We need to figure this out."

Cynthia's blue eyes flickered to the boy in her left arm, snuggled quietly close to her, his head resting on her shoulder as he fell asleep before flickering over to where Leon was sitting at the table again his light blue tie hanging around his neck like a towel, the collar of his white shirt unbuttoned as well. "You can do it, Holly, I'll email you any information I find regarding the case."

Holly noticed her coworker's unease with Leon being around the toddler held snuggly in her arms, but insisted, knowing she needed her help with the case. "I need your help, Cindy, you know I have no knowledge of chemicals or science, I have the math skills."  
"I'm just down the hall Holly," She spoke a bit stiffly, tucking her folder under one arm and shifting her hold on the toddler being held in her arm, "You can just come over to my office and we can discuss this when you're able to."

' _What's wrong with her?'_ Leon wondered, watching her leave, confusion gleaming in his amber eyes. He voiced his question aloud to his sister and her reply startled him.

"She isn't comfortable around guys," Holly sighed, taking off her black rimmed glasses and cleaning them before setting them down on the desk and rubbing her temples, "I can't tell you why, but I can say that you're an oddity, most men she completely ignores, avoids, and or doesn't talk to."

"Even her dad?" Leon asked in complete shock, his attention fixed on the closed creamy wooden office door separating them from the rest of the employees.

"Even her father." Holly confirmed, "You're the first guy I've seen her talk casually to in five years and she's your age." She then put her glasses back on and looked at her brother, her green eyes twinkled softly, "don't ask me why, cause I have no idea, but she doesn't mind you too much." She looked back down at the file, returning to her work mode. "Back to work, this can't be a normal terrorist attack, like Cindy said, the chemicals are expensive to get…"

Leon half listened to his sister, his heart soaring at his sister's words, ' _so Cyndy does like me,'_ His amber gaze drifted over to the dark blue pen that sat forgotten on the table, ' _and more than other guys, I have a chance with her!'_

At the time, Leon had no idea how right he was, and how hard it was going to be to get past her fear.

:) :) :) :)

"Leon, can you give this file to Cynthia to sign?" Holly distractedly asked her brother two weeks later as they sat in her office during a normal day of work, she slid a file across her desk while she poured over another manila colored file, "we'll be leaving soon."

"Sure," Leon replied and got up from his desk, he paused to stretch out his stiff muscles, before he picked up the file and left the office, closing the door as he did so. Walking down the hallway toward Cynthia's office he let his thoughts wander, the musings particularly focused on the few deer in the headlights moments between him and Cynthia that had been happening randomly, he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, the moments were usually initiated by Cynthia and it was like she didn't realize what she was doing, whether it was reaching up and making his hair lay flat by running her fingers through it, kissing him on the cheek, or occasionally lightly flirting with him, but the end result was the same the entire time, she always ran off and vanished. He shook his head slightly to clear it before knocking on Cynthia's office door.

"It's open," Cynthia replied and Leon stepped inside.

Leon blinked in surprise, Cynthia's office was drastically different to his sister's; while Holly's office was the standard office, white walled, organized and relatively boring, Cynthia's office was different, white walled, partially organized, and way more relaxed than Holly's. Cynthia's office had an open layout, the inner area with the main desk and a bookshelf weren't cut off from the rest of the office. One corner of the office held a small child sized bean bag with a short and small organizer shelf, the cubbies full of neat woven organizers that contained something probably child related. A large bookshelf stood in a different corner, full of many books, not all nonfiction related, next to the bookshelf was a desk like Holly's that had a sleek light blue laptop sitting on top of it with a few neatly stacked files and a small cup full of dark blue clickable pens. Cynthia herself was sitting at a large worktable, busy with a microscope, with a young man with blue eyes and black hair standing near her who paused awkwardly at Leon's arrival, in the middle of saying something about chemicals that Leon didn't understand.

"Tnt doesn't have the correct composition… You have a visitor Cindy." The young man said, closing the file he was looking at and tucking it under his arm.

"Yeah, I know," Cynthia leaned back away from the microscope and straightened up in her chair, "Look for a chemical with uses in propellants, has an oily texture, and is clear to a light brown in color."

"Alright, we'll get to work on it right away, thanks, sis." The young man smiled and thanked Cynthia. At Leon's look of confusion the young man held out a hand for him to shake, "My name's Miles Lawson, an intern for the chemical department, and I'm Cynthia's younger brother."

Leon cracked a small grin and shook his hand, "Leon Bramble, investigative officer, and the new guy here."

"You've been here for longer than a month, Leon," Cynthia rolled her eyes, facing the two of them, "You're hardly the new guy anymore." She made air quotes around the stupid nickname. "Anyway, what did you need Leon?" She asked as she got up and strode over to her desk, sitting at the desk and organizing the small pile of files on the top.

"Holly wants you to sign this," Leon replied, placing the file down in front of her as Miles left the office. "I have no idea what it's for."

Cynthia took the file and skimmed through it, "Chemistry stuff." She said simply and it was silent between the two friends while Cynthia read through the file.

"So Miles is your brother?" Leon broke the silence a little while later, noticing that she was more relaxed in her office than out anywhere else in the building.

"Yeah, he's a bit of a nuisance," Cynthia replied light-heartedly, signing the bottom of the file and writing a few notes at the bottom. "But all siblings can be irritating."

Leon grinned, "totally." he watched her close the file and get up, "how're you doing?" he asked a bit softly, amber eyes concerned as he remembered that Holly said that the case was bringing up bad memories for her.

Cynthia shrugged lightly, standing up and moving around her desk towards him, "fine."

"Are you sure?" Leon asked, watching her move towards him, a little more concerned at the brush off.

"Why are you asking me this?" Cynthia asked a little frustratedly, handing him the file.

"Because I care, Cyndy," Leon said sincerely as he took the file from her, his voice soft. "You're my friend too, and I care about you just as much as Holly does, probably even more."

Cynthia looked at him, blue eyes softening at his words, chin tilting up towards him, the soft evening light streaming through Cynthia's office window complemented the serene and soft tension filled scene and made it a little more fitting.  
Leon watched her, gazing into her sapphire blue eyes while subtly shifting a little farther forward, the file he had already given her to sign was forgotten in his hands, Cynthia's fingers still holding one edge with one hand. Neither of them moved for a few moments, staring at each other with varying expression, of either pensive hope or indecision. Then Cynthia moved, leaning towards him and gently pressed her lips to his.  
Leon's amber eyes widened slightly and he lifted one hand to her cheek, but the moment his fingertips brushed her cheek, the moment was broken and Cynthia broke away from him with a flinch that he could feel from the contact of his fingertips brushing her cheek. Cynthia stood in front of him like a deer caught in the headlines, sapphire blue pools scared and startled by her own actions and startled by the strength of her own feelings and emotions. She mumbled an excuse of some kind before slipping out of her office and disappearing down the hall.

:D :D :) :) :D :) :) :D

"You're staying home." Holly said stubbornly to her younger brother who had thrown up that morning, "and that's final."

"Fine," Leon mumbled, having gotten tired of arguing with her for the past ten minutes, he swore that he just had a small stomach ache, but she wasn't letting him go anywhere, and it was going to bore him to death. He had gotten used to living in the city of new york, all of the excitement, new things going on, the terrorist case, it all made his life interesting. While sitting around all day was fun back in Florida, it was going to be the death of him here in New York.

:) :) :) :) :)

"Care to tell me why my brother looked like he got hit with a sledgehammer when he came back from your office?" Holly asked Cynthia as the two of them worked on the case in her office, files scattered all over Holly's desk so it looked like a giant mess of paper, dark blue pens, pictures of the blown up soccer field, and the occasional container of thin mints. -Holly's idea.-

"No," Cynthia replied with a small scowl, crossing something out on a file in dark blue ink, the left side of her nose was smudged with the dark blue color. "I don't."

"What happened?" Holly asked incredulously, taking a thin mint out of the container and offering it to her, "you're acting like you used to when you were with Ashton."

Cynthia put down her pen, refused the cookie and leaned on her elbows before she started to rub her temples. "Sorry Holly, I don't really know what happened myself, I'll let you know when I do." She sighed tiredly, it was true, she wasn't quite sure what had possessed her to kiss Leon when he was in her office, and quite frankly it scared her. After her experience with Ashton, she was not eager to start anything with Leon, but she had to admit, she had enjoyed the kiss more than she probably should have.

:) :) :) :) :)

A knock on the door woke Leon from his boredom inspired nap and he lifted his head from where it had been squished against a throw pillow on the couch to reluctantly get up and get the door, wondering if Holly was back already and if he should go grab a shirt before he answered it, he decided against it and wished a moment later that he had.

Cynthia's blue eyes widened and she quickly averted her eyes to the ground, a bright blush spreading throughout her cheeks and across the bridge of her nose. "Jeez, are you trying to scare everyone who comes to the door?" She asked, covering up her embarrassment, despite the bright blush that he could plainly see.

"Sorry," Leon apologized, his amber eyes as wide as hers had been, "Wasn't expecting you to be here." He moved out of the doorway to allow her to step into the flat, along with his fascination with the pink staining her cheeks, it always fascinated him and it was extremely adorable.

"Well, neither was I until Holly decided I needed to come over and keep you company." Cynthia rolled her eyes as she stepped into the flat, carefully avoiding looking over at Leon. "She wants your help with the case so I brought some files to work on."

"Okay great, I was bored out of my mind anyway." Leon grinned, "let me grab a shirt and we can get started."

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"So Flynx's your brother? How does that work?" Leon asked incredulously, jotting down notes as he found anything in the files of particular interest. The two of them had been discussing things not at all related to the case as they worked, the conversation easy going and playful most of the time.

Cynthia snorted and rolled her eyes, her guard wavering as she relaxed a little and playfully bickered with Leon. "Flynx isn't my brother, he's my son."

"He's your son?" Leon asked, pausing his actions of sifting through files on the table to abruptly to look at her with wide amber eyes, a flash of horror and confusion passing through his amber eyes.

"Yes," Cynthia replied in a clipped tone, ducking her head back down so she could hide her face and continue sifting through the files, her voice showing him her hurt at his distrust, quickly throwing up her defensive walls and hiding behind them. "Flynx is my son."

Leon noticed the clipped tone but was at a loss of what to say, not sure how to handle the situation that had just gotten a whole lot more complicated. ' _What am I supposed to say? Oh Starclan, this is embarrassing.'_ He groaned mentally, ' _She's probably married and here I am having feelings for her and getting an encouraging response from her.'_ He racked his brain for what to say and said the first thing that came to mind, "H-how?" Leon inwardly cursed his stupid question, ' _now I seem like an idiot!'_  
"It's a long story," Cynthia replied stiffly, not facing him, choosing to look over at one of the walls and hunching her shoulders for protection, tugging on the thin silver chained bracelet around her right wrist, a bracelet her son had managed to make with his aunt's help.

' _Oh, something happened to her.'_ Leon felt bad disregarding Holly's well-placed trust in her friend and forgetting how trustworthy Cynthia happened to be, ' _Oh StarClan, I really put my foot in my mouth with that one.'_ He mentally groaned, ' _I just offended her big time. Holly's going to kill me when she ignores us tomorrow unless I can salvage this.'_ He studied her for a moment, studying her tense body language and slightly hunched shoulders like she was trying to protect herself from him. ' _I really hurt her…'_ He realized, he hadn't offended her like he had thought he had, he had actually hurt her, something he hadn't done before. His amber eyes softened and he searched for something to say, curious about the story and apologetic for assuming the worst. "We have time," He eventually said, watching her, still holding one of the files, amber eyes confused, concerned, and apologetic.

"I don't want to give that information to someone who doesn't trust me," Cynthia replied curtly and Leon flinched at the subtle jab but he knew he fully deserved it.

"I trust you," He said without hesitating, "I'm sorry if it seemed like I thought that way."

"I'll just go," Cynthia said, her tone still clipped, "I shouldn't have bothered." She got up, stacking the files in the process before picking up her jacket, pushing her arms through the sleeves and shrugging it on, hiding her eyes. She wasn't used to feeling hurt like this, hurt by someone she cared deeply about and maybe even loved, she wasn't used to feeling either of the emotions and right now it was getting the best of her.

"No!" Leon exclaimed, getting to his feet and catching her by the wrist, looking searchingly at her hidden face, "You don't have to leave, I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you like that, I just tend to assume the worst," He said, struggling to see her eyes and get a reading on her expression. "Please don't leave."

Cynthia hesitated, wanting to escape the situation, but not wanting to seem rude. She just stood there as Leon got closer, unsure if he was being truthful or not. She was saved by her phone vibrating in her pocket. Taking a few decently sized steps away from Leon she pulled out the device and answered it, "Hello? This is Cynthia Lawson."

"Hey, Cindy!" It was her sister Paige. "Are you off work yet? Flynx is with me and I really need to get going, I've been trying to call you for the past hour!"

Cynthia immediately felt guilty and it must've shown on her face when Leon looked worriedly at her. "Sorry, Paige, I'll be right over, got held up with a co-worker."

"Please hurry!"

Cynthia ended the call and tucked the device into a back pocket of her jeans before briefly studying Leon's face and saying a short goodbye, "I have to go, see you at the office Leon," Leaning up on her toes she instinctively pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek before leaving the flat, jogging down the two flights of stairs to where her car was parked near the curb at a hurried pace.

Leon stood still for a moment before going over to the door and calling a soft goodbye, one she probably couldn't hear, "Bye, Cyndy."

:) :) :) :)

"Cindy's coming over," Holly decided, fed up with the game of "hide and seek" between the two that had been going on all week at the office, she didn't understand why the two of them were avoiding each other, but she had had enough.

"What?!" Leon yelled in surprise, losing his balance from his position sitting on the couch and crashing to the floor in a heap.

"I invited her over and you two are going to get along. I don't know what happened between you two, but I want it to stop." Holly replied and closed her book as a knock sounded on the front door.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"You can cook?" Cynthia asked incredulously, doubtful that the golden blonde haired officer could cook, decently.

"Is it that hard to believe?" Leon huffed indignantly as he got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen with the intent of throwing something together for dinner, "Yes, I can cook, quite well if I say so myself."

Cynthia looked at Holly for confirmation, putting down Flynx's box of twistable crayons to look at her with an expression that said, ' _Seriously?'_

"Yeah," Holly nodded distractedly, continuing to color with Flynx, neatly shading in part of the racecar orange, "my brother's a pretty good chef, probably just as good as you are, Cindy."

Leon popped his head back into the living room, "Wait, you can cook too?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes, "yes Leon, I can cook. Did you think I made Flynx eat burnt food all the time?"

Flynx grinned at his mother, "Mama makes yummy food!"

"Well, I figured it was that or you took him out a lot," Leon replied and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Why don't you two work together?" Holly suggested innocently, green eyes gleaming with determination, "you both doubt each other's skills so why not work together?"

Cynthia seemed to think about it for a moment before she shrugged, "why not?" She got to her feet and strode into the kitchen where Leon was in the process of filling up a pot with water and sprinkling a pinch of salt into it. "A pasta dish?"

Leon jumped and the pot of hot water would've crashed to the floor if Cynthia didn't react, she rushed over and caught the pot, preventing the kitchen from being flooded with salty water. "Sheesh! Are you trying to scare the heebie-jeebies out of me?!" He retorted, regaining his hold on the pot and putting it down on the stove, turning it on in the process. "But to answer your question, yes, I was planning on making a simple pasta."

"Hm... well Holly decided that we should work together so what about a simple spaghetti?"

"With a salad of something?" Leon suggested easily, pulling out another pan for a sauce.

"Sure, I want to do the sauce." Cynthia insisted with a smile.

"I got the salad." Leon grinned at her, "Sorry about earlier, want to help me with this?"

"Sure," Cynthia grinned, "my pleasure."

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"He's falling asleep." Leon grinned, looking at the toddler falling asleep on his mother's lap, the small boy cuddled on his mother's lap, his head kept drooping until he rested his head against his mother's stomach, finally succumbing to sleep.

"Yup," Cynthia replied with a small yawn, tucking the toddler's blanket comfortably around him.

"You guys can stay over here," Holly smiled at her friend, "you and Flynx can borrow Leon's room and he can sleep on the couch."

Cynthia looked unsure, not particularly fond of making Leon sleep on the couch while she borrowed his room for the night. "I can just go home," she said quietly, "I don't want to intrude-"

"I don't mind sleeping on the couch," Leon promised, amber eyes kind, "besides, Flynx will be more comfortable on a bed than our lumpy couch."

Cynthia hesitated but Leon didn't really give her a choice as he flopped down onto the empty part of the couch that she wasn't occupying, his hands behind his head.

"Come on Cindy, he doesn't mind," Holly gently urged her friend and coworker.

:)

Cynthia's blue eyes softened when she noticed Leon, asleep partially on the floor and tangled in his blanket bound like a mummy with his arms pinned to his sides, his shoulders visible above the small blanket. Cynthia walked around the couch and into the kitchen before she took a cup out of a cupboard and filled it with water. She then leaned against the counter, quietly drinking the water, her gaze fixed on Leon as he squirmed in his blanket and mumbled something in his sleep. She adopted a gentle and pensive expression and watched for a few more moments before she put the cup carefully in the sink and walked back to where the blonde man was asleep. Carefully pulling the blanket away from his shoulders she got his arms free from the tangled blanket and pushed one of the throw pillows beneath his head. Cynthia moved to leave and Leon mumbled something else, his eyebrows furrowing together. Cynthia paused and looked back at him, wrestling with the unfamiliar emotions. After a few moments of Leon mumbling and softly snoring Cynthia decided, going back over to him. She brushed his messy bangs out of his face and leaned down to kiss his forehead, lingering there a few more moments than she would have for any of her other close friends, before drawing back and going back to the room she had been borrowing the previous night, feeling oddly calm and content.

:)

Holly went back to her room, a faint smile on her face, her brother was perfect for her friend, he could heal the deep scars that scarred her heart.

:) :) :) :)

Leon looked over at Cynthia as the kid's movie finished playing and Holly took Flynx to Leon's room, the toddler tired out after being up all morning. "Can you tell me the story now?" Cynthia looked reluctant and Leon gently urged her, "please?" he asked softly.

"Like I said before, it's a long story," Cynthia sighed, looking at him, leaning back against the couch cushions with her legs stretched out in front of her, feet propped up on the ottoman. "It's not that cheerful or a very good one."

"I want to hear it," Leon said softly, his shoulder brushing her own, looking over at her, amber eyes soft and concerned, "I want to understand you better Cyndy, and I want to know why you don't get along with my gender." He said in the same tone, "you're an amazing person and I don't understand what happened to make you shield yourself like this."

"Alright," Cynthia said with a deep breath, "I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to treat me any differently." Her blue eyes flash with something close to anger, "I'm no girl in distress and I can handle myself, I've gotten over it and I don't want you treating me any differently."

"I promise I won't," Leon said confidently, nothing could make him treat her like she was fragile, his sister had taught him that, to treat women with both respect and courtesy, but they weren't fragile and shouldn't be treated that way.

"Okay, it started when I was sixteen, my parents didn't know what to do with me, I was stubborn, hotheaded, an athlete, and a tomboy with no intentions of settling down my temper and wit. But that all changed…"

:(

"...when my parents introduced me to Ashton."

Holly walked to the end of the hallway and froze, listening to her co-worker and best friend talk quietly to Leon. ' _She's telling him already? It took me a year to get it out of her and he can get her to tell him after a month?... You've done the impossible Leon,'_ She thought looking fondly at her brother and noticing the way their shoulders were brushing, ' _You made Cindy fall in love.'_ Giving her brother and her friend some space Holly turned and went back down the hall to her room.

:) :(

"Ashton was a guy with brown hair and blue eyes who was three years older than me and my parents thought would tame my rebellious attitude, so they got Ashton to agree to get to know me not intending it to go any farther," Cynthia said, looking down at her lap, hands clenching into loose fists. "But it did. He started developing a crush on me which led to him spending a lot more time with me, keeping me away from my parents more often and trying to get me to return the feelings on my own."

"On your own?"

"Once he realized I wasn't going to have any feelings for him any time soon he started to get rough, at first it was just grabbing my wrists when he was talking to me, flicking me in the face when I back talked him, or guiding me by gripping one of my shoulders with a painful grip. I didn't care about it at the time, it just made me annoyed and frustrated at my parents for it being their fault that I met him in the first place. After about four months it had escalated, squeezing my wrists or arms when he was talking to me, putting me in a chokehold every time I back talked or snapped at him, and keeping a painful hold on my wrist to pull me along where he wanted to go. Being an immature teenager I got fed up with it and told him to stop doing that and that I wouldn't ever have feelings for him, not one of my better moments." She winced slightly, "He didn't like it and put me in a stranglehold, he kept me there as I struggled to get free from him, eventually I ended up overturning a table and got my sister Paige's attention from the ruckus, she ran upstairs to find me blue in the face and losing consciousness. She screamed and he released me, scrambling back while I crashed to the floor coughing. By the time my parents had arrived I wasn't conscious."

Leon looked alarmed, "He nearly killed you?"

"It gets worse than that." Cynthia scowled, "He pretended I had passed out from exhaustion and I woke up with him sitting next to me, fussing about how I had passed out and asking if I needed water or anything else. I didn't say a word, preferring to go to sleep and ignore him. I woke again, but that time I woke up screaming and not at my house."

"What?" Leon stared at her before Cynthia's expression told him to drop it.

When he did she continued, "He told my parents we were together the next morning and I didn't say anything about it, knowing the punishment for rebelling. My parents got their wish, the rebellious nature I had had was gone. Forever. For months things got worse for me, going from just his fists to a blade or occasionally his firearm."

Leon's amber eyes widened a fraction at the mention of a knife and a gun. "W-What?"

"He usually didn't use the actual gun, preferring to hit me with the handle to give me a concussion." Cynthia soothed a few of his fears, her voice flat, "the injuries were hard to hide normally, but with my sports it was worse, so I dropped them completely and did whatever I could to stay at my school, I took eight college classes a day on top of my high school classes and at the campuses and my school for sixteen hours a day, doing my best to avoid Ashton and have a good reason to why I wasn't ever around. It went that way for a year and a half until I graduated high school and started working on my internship here at Mconkye, working enough to earn the title workaholic when really I was just trying to escape my home situation. Up until this point Holly had no idea about any of this, she found out because my parents told her I was over at his house and she found me unconscious with a ridiculous cut on the back of my right leg, a design of sorts. Once she rescued me I had to tell her so I did, I told her about Ashton and asked her to keep it a secret, she hadn't wanted to at all but agreed to hide it when I told her nobody would believe her if she told anyone anyway. A few weeks after I had told Holly about the whole thing Ashton decided he wanted more, proposing to me in front of my parents where I couldn't disagree." Cynthia told him, blue eyes dull as she recounted the story for the second time.

Leon stayed silent, amber eyes gentle and he continued to listen to her story, feeling empathy for his friend, he knew about overprotective and obnoxious parents, when he lived back in Florida with his mom she constantly pressured him to settle down and have a family, the most annoying thing she had ever done.

"So I agreed to it and tried to tell my parents about how I didn't want it and what he was doing but they didn't listen and Ashton was furious when he found out what I had said. While my parents and sister Haliah gushed about the wedding I started working constantly, pulling all nighters three to five days a week and even working on the weekdays to stay away from the planning and Ashton, sometimes I would fall asleep in my office rather than going home and getting any sleep there. Holly found out about the engagement and how often I was staying in the office and started taking me to her house every other night to both treat any injuries I had and let me sleep without the threat of Ashton. After I turned eighteen my parents urged me to go live with Ashton and again I had to agree. It got worse after that."

Cynthia said, blue eyes darkening slightly, "I started feeling sick all the time and my parents chalked it up to nerves with the wedding a few months or so away. I repeatedly missed any rehearsals and sometimes didn't come in to work with how dizzy and light headed I felt at times, but I still worked as often as I could pulling all nighters all the time despite how much worse the headaches became. I already knew what the problem was but I was too terrified to consider it more than once. Holly convinced me to allow her brother Jay to check it out with an ultrasound and sure enough, I was pregnant with Ashton's son." Cynthia faltered slightly and Leon cautiously put one arm around her shoulders, his heart soared when she didn't push him away, instead, she leaned a little closer and continued with her tale. "I panicked and refused to leave Holly's house, too terrified to face my family, only Paige had a vague idea of what was going on with her previous interference when I was sixteen. It didn't matter in the long run, my mother went looking for me, asking Firen who my partner was before asking my said partner where I was. Holly reluctantly told her and didn't tell me before she brought my mother with her after work and gave me a scare. I argued with Holly before turning my anger on the parent who had pushed me into the entire situation and yelled at her, blurting practically the entire story and ending with that I was now stuck with his unborn kid and hated his father. My mother refused to believe me and actually smacked me upside the head saying I was lying and delirious." Cynthia scowled,  
"She then said that her other daughters were settling down as well and that I should be happy for them and myself, making me very temperamental, Holly stopped me from doing anything I shouldn't do to her and I fumed while she left, quietly coming up with a plan that would free me from the mess I was in. So I showed up to one of the planning meetings, in a foul mood and with Holly and Bree at my side. I pretended I was happy with the plans but made them switch a few things around while silently seething in my anger. Once everyone had arrived beside Ashton who rarely went to the meetings either, I snapped, pushing all of the stupid planning off the table and even crumpling up a few things. Everyone besides Bree and Holly started getting mad at me, confused and angry about how I had ruined all the planning they had been doing for months. I ignored it and got mad at them all, I proved I wasn't lying and revealed the pregnancy. A few weeks later we got enough evidence to take it to court and Ashton was put behind bars for a year and a half along with having a pay an extremely heavy fine. I had Flynx and couldn't give him up so I took care of him by myself. That the end of it really."

Leon briefly wondered what to say as he took in the whole story. ' _She's had a really hard time…'_ He said mentally, looking at her with gentle amber eyes, ' _but she hasn't given up and pushed through it. Learning this just makes me love her even more.'_ Suddenly something struck him and he decided to ask the question. "Did you want him to have a father?" He asked her quietly, wondering if she had ever thought of the possibility of Flynx having a father. He knew how hard is was, growing up without his father because of the divorce and wondered if she had thought about it as well.

"Yes," Cynthia said, her voice also quiet but contained traces of tiredness, "I've wanted Flynx to have a father, to teach him what I can't, but unfortunately I didn't find a guy I could handle being around with fearing for my safety and I don't want to be miserable and have to live with a guy who I can't stand."

Leon leaned a little closer, looking at her, neither of them noticed how he was absently playing with a lock of her black hair that was free of the bun it was usually up in. "I can teach him if you'd like and watch over him when you're busy."

"I…" Cynthia cut herself off, from instinctively rejecting him and put some thought into her response, ' _It's not a bad idea…'_ she thought, ' _he's easy to get along with, funny, usually a decent gentleman, cute, and treats me like his equal… Wait, cute? Where did that come from?'_ She pushed that thought away, intending to deal with it later, "I'd like that." She said sincerely, looking at him with a smile.

:) :) :) :) :)

"She's trusting you with Flynx?" Holly asked her brother in complete surprise as they drove to work the next morning, Holly was extremely shocked at her brother's admission, since Cynthia never let anyone besides her family, Bree, and Holly herself, to watch over her son, Miles and her father were excluded being men.

"Yeah," Leon nodded, running one hand through his golden blonde hair, "I asked her if she ever thought about Flynx having a father and said that I could teach him what she couldn't and watch him when she was busy, she hesitated for a moment, but completely agreed."

"Well I know the perfect time for you to offer to watch him," Holly said swiftly, "Next Wednesday, a few days after her birthday, she has to go to a family thing for the afternoon and most of the evening, you should ask her if she wants you to watch him for her."

"Her birthday's next Monday?" Leon asked his sister's sharply, amber eyes widening slightly.

Holly nodded, "September sixth is a Monday this year, next Monday to be precise."

"A warning would've been nice." Leon mumbled, "she's my friend too."

"Of that, I am well aware."

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"Leon!" Let's go!" Holly called to her brother as she impatiently waited for him so they could leave the store and go to Bree and Jay's house where Bree was hosting a small birthday party for Cynthia. "Cindy's going to get there before we do at this rate!"

Leon scowled, "Give me a minute you crazy person!" He had no idea what to get for Cynthia's birthday, work had been keeping the three of them super busy with the bombing case and because of that, he had been so drained when he came home from work that he had completely forgotten about Cynthia birthday until last minute. So he was running out of time. ' _What am I supposed to get? I don't know... Wait!'_ His thoughts came to a screeching halt as he remembered a tiny detail that could prove helpful for finding her a not so boring gift for his friend. His amber eyes locked on a small blue tulip located in an area designated for flowers. ' _Paige said that she likes blue tulips and anything science and chemical related, so a blue tulip and a vial set would be perfect! Now the only question is how I'm going to hide the tulip…'_

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"Happy birthday Cindy!" Bree squealed, excitedly enveloping her friend in a bear hug, "Jay! Come say hi!"

Jay kept cutting up the honeydew he was cutting, his movements natural, his fingers constantly against the flat side of the knife, preventing any cut fingers. "Hello, Cynthia, happy birthday." He grunted, scooping up the cut honeydew pieces and dropping them into a bowl with other cubes of watermelon, cantaloupe, and a few other fruits. "Bree, I'm using a knife, I can't just go over there and say hi." He rolled his blind blue eyes before focusing in Bree's direction, "I swear you are the blind one."

"Hey!" Bree whined and pouted before she released Cynthia to go help him, "I'm not blind!"

"Hey, Cindy!" Holly grinned, she and Leon had literally gotten there barely a minute before Cynthia did, and Holly blamed Leon.

"It's great to see you guys!" Cynthia smiled, picking up Flynx when he continued to whine about wanting to be picked up. "Having fun with the day off so far?"

Holly grinned and hugged her friend, being careful not to squish Flynx or make him uncomfortable, "Yeah, if Leon hadn't nearly made us late!"

"Hey!" Leon retorted indignantly from where he was helping his brother by cutting up a pineapple, "It's not my fault Firen's been working us all to the floor!"

Cynthia laughed, her blue eyes twinkled with amusement, "I have to agree with Leon on that one, it's not entirely his fault that every morning he's just about a zombie from lack of sleep."

"Hey! That's not what I meant!"

"Sure it wasn't, Leon." Ivory rolled her eyes from her spot relaxed on Jay's couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table, her sister dozing next to her. "Happy birthday Cynthia, hope your day's going better than mine."

Cynthia cracked a grin, "do I dare ask how bad could it be?"

"With my sister drooling on my shoulder?" Ivory rolled her eyes again before shoving her sister away from her, "it's pretty bad."

"Ow!" Diana yelped as the blonde crashed to the floor, "Ivory!" she whined, "what was that for?"

"You were drooling on my favorite jacket." Ivory replied simply, looking at the damp spot on the shoulder of her jacket with a face.

Cynthia laughed, "Okay, your day is going pretty badly."

"Hi!" Paige rushed over to her sister, enveloping her in a hug before kissing Flynx's forehead, "happy birthday little sis!"

"Thanks, Paige, it's good to see you too," Cynthia replied, returning the hug before grinning with amusement at her ability to see right over her sister's head, "There is no way you are going to outgrow me," her grin turned cheeky, "I can still see right over your head."

"Not fair!" Paige playfully complained, "why do I get the short genes?"

"I'm short too Paige!" Haliah reminded her sister as she came over and hugged her little sister as well, "happy birthday Cindy!"

"You guys are twins, the similar height thing isn't that unusual," Cynthia told them logically before busting out laughing as they both exclaimed indignantly and playfully pushed her a little.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Cynthia paused her conversation with her sister by her phone buzzing in her pocket. "Hold on Haliah, I have to answer this." She told her sister before getting up and pulling out her phone, walking down the hall while answering the phone call. "Hello? This is Cynthia Lawson…"

"I wonder who it is," Haliah commented with Flynx asleep on her lap, the crabby kid finally taking a nap.

"Probably someone at work." Holly sighed leaning back against the couch, "This case is insane, by far the craziest one I've ever seen so far. She might be being called in in regards to the chemical bomb."

"Probably." Bree said gloomily before cheering up, "but she won't be gone for too long if they are calling her in!"

"Sorry guys," Cynthia said as she reemerged, thoroughly put out. "I have to go to the labs and help out with a few things."

"Auh!"

"Oh well, I guess."

"Do you want someone to come with you?"

"Uh, sure," Cynthia nodded, her gaze flickering over to Leon, "Leon, you want to come with me? You haven't seen the labs and this stuff isn't confidential so if you want a tour it would have to be now."

Leon got up and pulled on his jacket, amber eyes curious and determined, "Of course, I'd love to see what you chemists get too down in the labs."

Cynthia smiled, her blue eyes lighting up in the process.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

"Chris, the problem in your microscope is the zoom function, use a screwdriver and tighten the adjusting knob, that should fix it," Cynthia said briskly as she briefly peered through his microscope before continuing through the lab, doing exactly what she was told to do.

"Okay, Cynthia."

"Alex, the dissolving chemical solution is neon green, not blue, doesn't dip anything in the blue unless you want it to burst into flames and knock out the entire lab," Cynthia commented as she noticed the error the blonde chemist was making.

"Oops, thanks, Cynthia!"

"Crystal, we're working on the bomb case, not making scented chemicals that had a chance of burning someone's nose."

"Sorry!" A black haired woman said sheepishly and started analyzing the chemical compound of the residual bomb.

:)

"Want to see my lab now?" Cynthia asked Leon after she finished making sure nothing was going to explode, catch on fire, melt, or turn into gas.

"Totally!" Leon smiled at her, amber eyes gleaming with excitement and curiosity, "I want to learn chemistry with you."

Cynthia smiled widely, blue eyes gleaming with excitement. She grasped his wrist and pulled him along through a short hallway to a white door. "This is my lab." Cynthia smiled, pushing open the white door to her chemical lab, the chemist relaxed more than Leon had ever seen before like the lab was where she was at home.

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"What do you think?" Cynthia asked him a little shyly, standing next to him and looking a little nervous, wondering if he liked the large open spaced lab, a place where she was the most as home and an area that barely any people had seen.

"It's awesome!" Leon grinned, looking around the white-walled spaced lab that was more of a cozy white-walled living room with wooden floor, a huge chemical station, a small t.v and a beanbag was tucked into a corner, along with a bookshelf covering one wall full of books and chemical organizers. "Totally your style."

Cynthia blushed, "thanks."

"How did you manage to pull this off? I mean, not many people have a custom lab or anything," Leon smiled, "It's really cool, though."

Cynthia shrugged, "I've been working here since I was seventeen, you work here for a while and you eventually get some really cool stuff. Holly has a library after all."

Leon grinned and Cynthia guided him around the large lab, her attitude extremely relaxed and laid back around him.

"Thanks for showing this to me," Leon smiled softly at her after about an hour of being around the lab, "I appreciate it."

Cynthia smiled back at him, not sure what to say. Instead of speaking, she seemed to think about it for a moment before she leaned up on her toes and kissed him without hesitating too much about it. Leon waited for Cynthia to jerk away as his fingertips brushed her cheek a moment later, but to his surprise, she didn't. Instead, he felt her fingers cautiously brush the sides of his face, her blue eyes closed. He enjoyed the kiss, enjoying the first kiss where Cynthia didn't jerk away from him and allowed it. A few moments later they broke apart and Leon watched Cynthia, worried about her reaction and wondering if she was going to run again.

Cynthia's blue eyes flickered with indecision before she smiled and leaned forward again.

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Cynthia slowly walked alongside Leon, her hands tucked in the pockets of her hooded vest, the two more than friends walking quietly together, their shoulders occasionally brushing. Leon put his hands in his pockets out of awkwardness before pausing as his fingers brushed something in his jacket pocket. Taking it out he realized with a jolt that he had forgotten to give her the tulip he been meaning to give her. Slowing to a stop he pushed the nervousness in his gut away and spoke up, "I have something to give you for your birthday if you don't mind," He said a bit nervously.

Cynthia blinked in surprise before she shrugged, blue eyes twinkling, "I don't mind."

Moving a little closer to her, Leon gently weaved the blue tulip into her hair, standing less than a foot away from her, looking gently at her, amber eyes soft and affectionate. "There," he said softly, "I meant to give this to you earlier but it didn't happen. Anyway, happy birthday, Cyn." He murmured softly to his coworker and friend, his left hand lingering in her black hair, his fingers lingering for a few moments on the stem of the tulip now weaved in her hair before he brought his arm back to his side.

Cynthia brought one hand up to gently touch the tulip petals just behind and above her right ear, feeling the delicate petals with her fingertips while looking at him with an almost indecisive expression for a few moments. Leon didn't dare move away, trying to preserve the moment. Instead, he glanced down at the ground, feeling a little shy and inwardly hoping she wouldn't reject him or run away again.

Cynthia shifted her weight a little before leaning forward and gently kissing him, resting her hands on his shoulders as she did so.

:) :) :) :)

"I'm trusting you with Flynx, Leon," Cynthia said, her voice wavering slightly, her blue eyes nervous, the mentioned toddler in her arms. She was about to go to her family activity, rather than her work clothing she was dressed in blue skinny jeans, a light gray t-shirt, a thin white windbreaker, light blue tennis shoes, and she had her hair up in a ponytail. "He means everything to me-"

"I know," Leon said quietly, his amber eyes understanding, "I'm not Ashton, Cyndy, I promise he'll be safe with me." he wasn't in work clothes either, instead, he was wearing a worn pair of blue jeans, a light orange t-shirt with the words, "More Stubborn Than A Mule," a grey and white plaid shirt tied around his waist, with white and black high tops.

Cynthia took a deep breath and nodded, she looked at Flynx who didn't understand what was going on. "Flynx," her voice shook a little before she steadied it, "This is Leon, he's going to be watching you, he's a boy, like you."

Flynx's multicolored eyes lit up, "He like me? He like cars?" Cynthia looked at Leon, she had no idea what he did or didn't like.

Leon smiled at the young boy and dug in his jeans pocket before he took out a small toy racecar, amber eyes gleaming affectionately, "I love cars, Flynx, wanna race?"

Flynx's eyes lit up even more and he almost asked his mother to let him down before he noticed the unease and hesitated on her face and he hugged her, "Mama, you want me come with you?" He looked at her through round concerned eyes, "I no like him if he scare you."

Leon's smile stayed in place and turned gentle as he looked at Cynthia, the black haired woman reluctant to give her child to a man, even if she trusted him full heartedly. He stepped a little closer and offered his arms, giving her the option of giving him to him. "He'll be here when you come home Cyn," He promised, using the nickname he had started using after the chemical lab incident, his amber eyes calm, supportive, and gentle. "Nothing will happen to him while I'm here."

"I know," Cynthia replied weakly before hugging her son, "no, you stay here with Leon, he doesn't scare me, I trust him."

"Okay mama," Flynx chirped and Cynthia gave him to Leon, watching them for a moment before thanking Leon and moving to leave.

"Thank you, Leon," she thanked the golden blonde, "I'll be back around six, Flynx, behave for Leon okay?"

"I will mama! Have fun!" Flynx chirped happily and Cynthia left to the family activity she had to go to.

"You're brave you know that?" Leon spoke to the toddler, smiling at him, "Making sure your mama is okay with me before coming over here so we can race."

Flynx broke in a wide toothy smile, "Really? I love my mama! She's the best person ever!"

Leon laughed as he shut the front door and started toward Flynx's room, "She is the best."

"Do you love my mama too?"

"Yes," Leon smiled at the toddler, "I love your mama too Flynx, very much."

"Yay! Let's race!"

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"Mama!" Flynx heard the front door open and scrambled to his feet, running over to Cynthia with a paper in his hand.

"Hi, Flynx," Cynthia laughed, picking him up and blowing a raspberry on his cheek, making the toddler laugh and giggle. "Whatcha have there?" She asked him, watching Leon emerge from the living room out of the corner of her eye.

"Is a picture!" Flynx grinned, pushing the drawing into his mother's face, blocking her vision in the process. "Is a wolf!"

Cynthia pushed it a little bit away from her face so she could see the whole picture and smiled, the drawing was a blue and green colored wolf, the actual drawing itself made her wonder who helped him draw the outline. "It looks amazing little one, did Leon help you draw it?"

"Yeah!" Flynx chirped as his mother walked towards the kitchen, probably to let him put it up on the fridge, "Daddy helped me draw it!"

Cynthia froze, ' _Uh oh.'_ She thought before continuing towards the fridge, she could hear Leon walking close by behind her but focused on Flynx, "Do you mean Leon?" She asked him as they reached the fridge

"No, daddy!" Flynx chirped happily and Cynthia reached up to grab the magnets she had stored in a cupboard almost out of her reach. "Daddy behind you!"

As Flynx said that Leon had reached over her shoulder and grabbed the magnets for her so when Cynthia turned around she nearly crashed into Leon, her nose making contact with his collarbone and startling both of them. "That's Leon Flynx," She said with exasperation, hiding the awkwardness she was feeling and moving back a step.

Leon took a step back and handed her the magnets, "Here," he said, keeping his tone even and normal, "I could reach it easier," He explained why he went and got it.

"Thanks, Leon," Cynthia said as she gave Flynx one of the multi-colored magnets before looking at Leon, finding it strange that she didn't mind Flynx calling him his dad if anything it felt natural to her. Leon seemed to be thinking the same thing, but she recognized his expression, it was the same look he usually had when he was going to kiss her.  
"Daddy watch me!" Flynx chirped to the blonde as he fumbled with the magnet and put his picture up on the fridge before looking at the two adults with pride, "See! I did it on my own!" He faltered a little, noticing that his mother was looking at the blonde with a strange look on her face, "Mama?" He asked, putting one hand on his mother's cheek.

"Sorry Flynx, I was distracted," Cynthia said as she broke the eye contact between her and Leon before looking down at her son with a wide smile, "Good job little one! You put it in the perfect spot."

"Yay!" Flynx threw his short arms around his mother's neck, hugging her tightly before looking at Leon, "group hug!" He chirped, making the two awkward adults reluctantly shuffle closer to each other so that Flynx could put one arm around each of their necks.

Cynthia looked at Leon over Flynx's head, blue eyes unsure, Leon looked back at her, his eyes calm, reassuring her about the whole Flynx calling him daddy thing, that she shouldn't worry about it. Cautiously he put one arm around her waist, inviting her closer with an excuse of Flynx being able to hug them both a little easier. Cynthia took the invitation, holding Flynx with one arm as she stepped closer and put one arm around his back, keeping enough distance to keep Flynx from being squished.

Flynx was oblivious to the confusion and stress he had caused, Leon was the first guy he had truly met besides his uncle and grandfather, and he could sense a connection between him and his mother, so calling him that was natural, if his mother was close to this man then he was his new dad.

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"Hey, Holly?" Cynthia poked her head into Holly's office, "can I borrow Leon?"

Holly looked up at her from her files, startled by the request, "What do you do need him for?"

"I have to go find files from the main file warehouse and he's tall enough to reach the shelves I can't reach," Cynthia replied simply, waiting patiently in the doorway for Holy to decide whether or not she could borrow her brother.

"I'll come help you no matter what she says, Cyndy." Leon cracked a grin, leaning forward slightly on his desk.

"I'm sure you would," Cynthia replied, raising her eyebrows slightly, "but it's advisable to ask your superiors first."

Holly laughed as her brother pouted and wilted and grinned at the two of them, "Well I don't have a choice now do I? Go on then, Leon, go help her get the files we need." She put down her pen and turned serious, "Do you have any new information on the case, Cindy?"

Cynthia nodded, stepping into the office and leaning on one of the walls, her arms crossed casually over her chest, "The bomb wasn't a simple, easy everyday chemical bomb. It wasn't even solid."

Holly's eyes widened, "A liquid chemical bomb? Do you know what the bomb's makeup was?"

"Yeah," Cynthia straightened up and walked over to Holly, pulling a file out of her satchel and sliding it across the desk, while flipping it open to a page with a bunch of chemical information. "Trimethylolethane trinitrate, an explosive usually used in solid propellants and is is about one and a half times as powerful as normal Trinitrotoluene, or TNT." She tapped on the name of the chemical at the top of the current page, "this stuff sometimes replaces nitroglycerin in propellants."

"Seriously?" Holly asked in surprise, scanning through the file, "I didn't think it was that strong."

"Yeah, a military grade explosive." Cynthia replied before she took the file and tucked it back into her satchel, "anyway, there are some other files that I need to go find and I'm taking Leon with me."

Leon got to his feet, "Let's go then," he said with a small grin, "Personally, I intend to go home sometime before nine tonight and before I'm falling asleep at my desk."

"Hey!" Holly retorted as they both left, knowing that the comment was directed at her. All she got as a reaction to her indignant retort was a short giggle from Cynthia.

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"So… I'm just here as your personal height advantage?" Leon teased and playfully bumped his shoulder against Cynthia's, amber eyes gleaming with playfulness as they walked through the parking lot of the main building to Cynthia's car, seeing how Leon had no idea how to get to the warehouse. After the whole tulip incident and Leon's breakthrough with her regarding her son Flynx, the two of them had been getting closer and Cynthia had been more relaxed with her guard down around him, making the strain in their relationship that had appeared after his had offended her a while back, ease and vanish.

"Definitely." Cynthia teased in return, blue eyes twinkling as she nudged him back, at ease in his presence. They were nearing her light blue Honda Civic, a small car that fit the chemical engineer rather well.

"Auh," Leon playfully whined, pulling open the driver side door for Cynthia before stepping around the front of the car and getting into the passenger side, "here I was hoping you like something besides my height."

Cynthia laughed, sliding into her seat of the car and starting the vehicle, "of course I like you for more than your height." She leaned over and briefly ran her fingers through Leon's soft blonde hair, "I like you for a lot of things, Leon." She said, blue eyes soft and affectionate. Before either of them realized what was going to happen, it happened. Cynthia kissed him. Like nearly every other time they had kissed, Cynthia jerked back and she straightened up in her seat, focusing on backing out of the parking lot and driving to the warehouse.

Leon looked out the passenger window, focusing his attention on the outside scenery as they drove towards their destination, a little disappointed in the by now, usual, deer caught in the headlights moment. As much as he wished Cynthia was comfortable about the whole kissing thing, he knew she wasn't and that it always spooked and caught her off guard, causing her to abruptly break the contact and run, but she hadn't been running lately, rather, she would try to pretend that it didn't happen, and Leon could only wait patiently for her to completely trust him and to trust that he wouldn't ever hurt her. He had a taste of what it was like when her guard was completely down on her birthday, and for now, he would just have to wait patiently until she was ready.

"I can reach the shelves on my own, I just wanted some company." Cynthia said quietly after a little while, breaking the awkward silence that had been reigning since the short kiss, "and Holly's boring when it comes to things like this." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and spoke a little shyly, "plus, I'd rather have you with me." Leon didn't shift his attention from his window, taking in the unfamiliar scenes of the new area, but she saw him smile through his reflection on the window.

:)

"How many files are in this place?" Leon asked as they got out of Cynthia's light blue civic, the company's main file warehouse looming up in front of them. "This place is huge!" he exclaimed, staring at the building with his mouth slightly agape.

"Oh, believe me, it's like a maze on the inside." Cynthia sighed, walking into the warehouse after a man unlocked it for them, "It's as big on the inside as it is on the outside, but the inside is stuffed with shelves of files."

:) :) :) :)

The lights went out. Both Cynthia and Leon paused their actions of thumbing through the many files they were looking for, "What just happened?" Leon asked, squinting to see a few feet in front of him.

"The lights just went out," Cynthia replied and Leon struggled to see her faint outline. A moment later her face was illuminated with blue light when she pulled out her phone and checked something, "No service, The phone lines are down." The light from the phone screen vanished, bathing them both in the pitch blackness. "And my phone's dead." Cynthia sighed, "How about yours?"

Leon took out his phone and managed to get it to turn on, giving out enough light to illuminate both of their faces. "Mine has juice… nevermind." He amended as the device turned back off and once again their vision was impaired. "Now I know what Jay feels like," he complained under his breath before squinting and trying to find Cynthia, hearing the rustle of cloth before he heard a liquid being shaken. "What're you doing?"

"Making light," Cynthia replied vaguely and Leon was about to ask what she meant before he got his answer as something started to glow, giving off enough light for them to scrape by with. Cynthia's face was illuminated by the soft yellow light, something was clenched in her palm, a short and stocky vial full of a glowing yellow liquid that she kept shaking.

"What's that?" Leon asked in awe, having never seen her use her knowledge in chemistry before. He could see her face and a decent amount of the rest of her body, he could see his hands in front of him and even his front and his shoes, the light wasn't quite strong enough to completely illuminate the table to his left, it just helped them see the edges of it.

"It's a chemical, I'll tell you about it later." Cynthia replied, hurriedly putting the files they needed into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, "Go put that box away-" They both heard the sound of footsteps and even the sound of a pebble rolling along the cement floor. "Get down!" She hissed, taking control. Yanking Leon by the front of the shirt, she pulled him down to be hiding with her under the table, tucking the glowing vial beneath her blazer vest, the light most vanished, leaving only a glowing spot on Cynthia's chest that she covered with her arms, trying to hide the light.

"You know what we're here for!" They heard someone hiss, "Find it!"

Cynthia and Leon looked at each other, exchanging glances as they heard the footsteps spread out and they both started carefully creeping towards the door. Cynthia lurched forward, her foot catching the edge of one of the chairs. Leon caught her around the waist and the vial in her pocket slipped out, Cynthia blundered to catch it but missed and the vial shattered on the ground, the glowing liquid splattering all over the ground and lighting up a wide area of the storage room.

"The chemist is here!" Someone yelled, just out of range of the light from the glowing liquid.

"Bloody hell!" Cynthia cursed under her breath and grasped Leon by the wrist before pulling him into the maze of shelves and into the darkness, her heart racing. Pushing him against a shelf they waited with bated breath as someone passed the shelf and kept on going. Cynthia rummaged through her bag for a moment before taking out another vial and vicious shaking it, it glowed a faint green hue before she peeked around the corner and hurtled the vial into a small group of people, the vial shattered with a soft bang and a green gas turned clear before rising into the air from the vial. The poor souls standing near the vial dropped to the ground out like a light.

"Get them!"

"What was that?!" Leon asked Cynthia in complete shock, staring at her faint outline in complete surprise.

"A knockout gas, useful when you're a detective and need a quick getaway." Cynthia replied in a hushed tone before she pulled him along, farther through the maze, "now ssh!"

:)

Cynthia's heart was racing, her breathing slightly labored as they continued sneaking through the maze, it was lucky that she had her arsenal of chemicals with her right now, she didn't usually bring it and when she did it was usually a few for her detective work, but this time something in her gut told her to bring them all, so she had, and it was going to save their lives. ' _Unless somehow Ashton is one of them.'_ She remembered inwardly, ' _He knows how to put them all out.'_ Pulling Leon behind the corner of a shelf she squinted, noticing movement, ' _One… two.. No, three, no, four, there's too many to count, more than enough for a fireball.'_ Pulling out two vials she mumbled under breath as she carefully added a few drops of one to the other, "Knockout gas plus illumination equals…" She capped both vials, and shook the modified one, feeling the glass starting to heat up in her hand. "A small fireball." She hurled it at the floor where she had seen movement before hiding back behind the shelf as a small fireball erupted, lighting the people's clothing but miraculously leaving the files untouched.

"They're over there! Get them!" A flurry of footsteps signaled they were being chased.

"Leon run!" Cynthia pushed Leon forwards towards the door and followed him before being cut off and having to run a different direction, a chill ran down her spine as she heard the telltale sound of a gun's safety going off, a very familiar gun. ' _Oh, StarClan.'_ The sound of the gun was almost enough to make her freeze in her current position, she had seen the barrel of the weapon too many times to count and knew how much it hurt to be hit in the temple with the handle. ' _Ashton's here.'_ Someone tripped her and Cynthia hit the ground hard, landing on her wrist funny, sending pain shooting up her arm. ' _No, no, no, come on! I have to get out of here before he find me-!'_

"Hello, Cynthia." A cool masculine voice made Cynthia attempt to get up but her wrist twisted painfully and she slid back to the ground, looking up at the half shadowed man in front of her. With the soft light from her illumination chemical, she could see messy light brown hair with random darker areas, icy blue eyes, a tall stature, broad shoulders, and a strong build, which made her gut clench in fear. It was indeed Ashton, the man who had made her life miserable until her parents woke up to his actual personality. For three years she had suffered by his hand, forced to marry him when she turned eighteen and not able to say a word about his true colors from the moment her parents had introduced her to him when she was sixteen and after she turned eighteen.

"A-Ashton," Cynthia said, her voice shaking on the first syllable. Luck wasn't on her side today.

"Did you miss me?" Ashton asked in a low voice as he crouched in front of Cynthia, relishing in the obvious fear in her blue eyes. "Bring the boy over here," He told a dark-skinned man with black hair and dark brown eyes, "tell him I have his partner." Ashton's mouth stretched in a crazed grin and he brushed the back of his fingers over Cynthia's cheek, making a chill go down her spine and causing her to tremble but she didn't dare to move away from him, too locked in her fear to defend herself. "What's his name?" He asked her, keeping the low tone and looking down at her.

"L-Leon Bramble." Cynthia's voice shook but she gave up the name, flinching as he moved to touch her face again.

"good."

:( :( :O :O :O :O :O :( :(

' _Where's Cynthia?'_ Leon noticed Cynthia wasn't behind him and turned to find a bright flashlight shined in his eyes, blinding him. Swinging blindly he felt his knuckles scrape the edge of someone's jaw and punched again, but a little higher, his knuckles connected with someone's face with a loud crunch and he heard yelling in pain to accompany the crunch. He kept swinging blindly, doing his best to fend off the people trying to kill him. A searing pain in his cheek made him freeze and he lifted one hand to the injured cheek and pulled it back, smelling and feeling sticky blood coating his fingers. Baring his teeth he blinked away the spots and slammed his fist into one person's gut, elbowing another.

"Leon Bramble!" Leon froze at the strange voice, unsure how he knew his name. "I have your friend Cynthia over here with me, care to join us? If you don't you might as well start whining about her death right now."

Leon managed to find the person and found Cynthia there was well, the woman was on the ground, staring at the mysterious man with wide fearful blue eyes, obviously, she knew him. "Who are you!" He demanded, anger bubbling in his chest as the other man tugged on the pens holding Cynthia's messy bun.

"You know who I am, boy." the man replied coolly.

"Well, obviously I don't! Who are you?!"

"You don't know?" The man cackled, looking down at the woman at his feet, "You haven't told him?!" he cackled, "You were always a coward Cynthia darling." He maniacally crooned before looking at the younger man, "You naive boy, I am this pretty thing's husband."

Leon scowled and narrowed his eyes, hands tightening into fists as he refused to believe his words. "Yeah right!"

"You don't believe me?" The man mocked a state of shock before pulling on one of Cynthia's ears in a half crazy half playful manner, "You tell him then Cynthia."

Cynthia narrowed her eyes, snapping out of her fearful state, her feisty nature rearing its head. "You were! Not are, you forced me to agree! And you know it."

Ashton rolled his eyes, "You still have my last name darling."

"Since when?!" Cynthia snapped, edging away from him and closer to a shelf, "I've always been a Lawson, not a Ligara!"

"If you want to be stubborn like that then be my guest." He growls at her before shrugging, blue eyes lighting up with an insane fire, "but my son's last name is Ligara like my own."

Leon's amber eyes flash at the mention of Cynthia's toddler son and his hands clench into fists, "His last name is Lawson! Like his mother's! You aren't her son's dad!"

"Then who is?" Ashton drawled, "I am his father by birth, which makes me his dad as you so eloquently put it."

"Has he ever met you?!" Leon snarled, distracting Ashton while Cynthia got to a safe distance, "You are not his dad!"

Ashton's blue eyes flash with anger, "I am his dad! He roared, pointing his gun on Leon.

"Ashton!" Cynthia directed his anger at her, able to withstand it, she was farther away from him than Leon and the shot wouldn't kill her like it would kill Leon. "His name is Flynx Lawson! He has my last name!" Her blue eyes flash, she was baiting him, a dangerous game of baiting to make him attack her and not Leon.

With an angry roar, Ashton didn't notice the other people leaving as the gun went off and Cynthia shrieked before Ashton pulled down the closest shelf to her and she actually screamed before the shelf collapsed on top of her, the sound stopped abruptly as she was knocked unconscious by falling storage boxes. Ashton snarled at Leon before he turned and vanished, leaving the storage room.

"Cynthia!" Leon yelled, running over to the pile of boxes, amber eyes flashing with terror

:) :) :) :) :)

"I love you." Leon murmured a bit nervously, unsure how she would react. After a week of Cynthia recovering from the incident, she was finally back at her house, with Flynx, and under Leon's supervision.

Cynthia's blue eyes widened and she stammered something inaudible, rambling for a moment before covering her face with her hands, her face pink.

Leon smiled softly, trying to calm down her uncertainty and fear at hearing that he loved her, a familiar phrase that always ended up with her physically hurt and emotionally broken. "I'm not Ashton," he spoke quietly, gently taking her hands away from her face before taking them in his own, "I will never do what he did and I'm not in charge of our relationship," his amber eyes softened, "you are. We'll go at whatever pace you want us to."

Cynthia's blue eyes softened and Leon could see flickering traces of love in her blue eyes, an emotion that spurned on his next movement. He cautiously leaned forward towards her and paused, waiting for her to realize what was going on while he studied the faint subtle silver flecks in her sapphire colored eyes. A few moments later he took the no moving away as consent and finished the action, he soundly kissed her, and Cynthia kissed him back.

Cynthia breathed heavily as she paused the kiss to breathe for a few moments. After she finished catching her breath she crashed her lips to Leon's once again, her arms winding around his neck and inadvertently pulling him off balance as she fell backward, her back hitting the couch cushions.

Leon stopped himself from completely falling on top of her, vaguely remembering her broken ribs and healing shoulder, being gentle and giving her the respect she deserved.

:) :) :) :)

"Mama," Flynx mumbled sleepily as he staggered down the hallway into the living room where Leon and Cynthia were, the former was half asleep while stretched out on the couch with her head in Leon's lap, blue eyes mostly closed.

"Mhmm?" Cynthia replied in a murmur, her hands clasped on top of her t-shirt, she found how Leon ran his fingers through her hair strangely nice and relaxing.

"I wanna stay out here," Flynx mumbled, climbing up onto the couch and lying down on the empty spot next to his mother, his eyes drooping closed barely a second later.

"Only if you go to sleep," Cynthia replied, gently ruffling her son's hair with her eyes still mostly closed, one of Leon's hands clasped in her free one.

"Kay Mama," Flynx mumbled and snuggled close to her side, out like a light.

Cynthia adjusted the toddler's blanket without opening her eyes, perfectly content at the given moment, her mind peaceful, lips still tingling from the earlier kiss, the third one that she hadn't run from.

Leon was looking down at Cynthia, gently running one hand through the silky strands of her black hair, his amber eyes soft and loving, after their earlier conversation and intense kiss, Cynthia had actually said she loved him. Of course, afterward she nearly panicked and had no idea what to do with the knowledge and he had to calm her down, but she had said it sincerely and that's what mattered to him.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

 _Epilog, Sort of…. Okay, it's really just an introduction to the time frame of the second part I'll write… eventually XD_

"Leon! Is Flynx nearly ready to leave?" Cynthia asked in a raised tone from where she was sitting at the table in their flat -which was technically Cynthia's- poring over a file for work while Leon was supposed to be getting Flynx ready.

Speaking of which, the toddler, nearly four years old, was finishing pulling his chosen t-shirt over his head and grinning at his not quite stepfather, "See! I can do it, Daddy!"

"Yes!"Leon called back to Cynthia and grinned at Flynx before he ruffled his hair, having paused the tying of his tie to praise the toddler, "good job bud, do you have everything else? Ready to go greet your mama?" Flynx nodded and the adult pulled on his accustom black sports vest with the police logo embroidered on the upper right breast pocket before leading the toddler out of the bedroom and to the dining room where Cynthia was putting a bowl of Flynx's favorite cereal on the table with a spoon.

Flynx climbed into a seat and started munching on the dry cereal, a trait that Leon joked was genetic, since Cynthia hated milk in her cereal too. "Hi mama!" he chirped around a mouthful of cereal.

Cynthia ruffled Flynx's hair, abandoning her file to give her son her attention, "Hi, little one!"

Leon fetched his own bowl of cereal and sat down at the table before he leaned over and greeting Cynthia with a greeting and a kiss, "Hello, Cyn," he smiled before giving her a kiss and speaking through it, "You're looking as beautiful as ever."

Cynthia laughed and playfully pushed Leon after they broke the kiss, "Hey, yourself Leon, full of flattery are we?"

Leon playful winked at her, "It's not flattery when it's true Sunshine."

Cynthia playfully rolled her eyes at him before responding, blue eyes warm and gentle, "I love you, Leon." She said, the phrase now easy and natural to say.

"What about me?" Flynx complained, pouting with big multicolored puppy eyes, "Do you love me?"

Cynthia laughed, getting up and affectionately hugging her son, blowing a raspberry on his cheek, "I love both of you, silly!"

"Yay!" Flynx giggled, "mama loves me too!"

 _ **Finally! It's written! :D :D :D :D You guys have no idea how long I've been writing this! :D This is twice as long as any of the other chapters and even twice as long as any Fighting For Love And With Constant Hope chapters! :D :D :D :D :D :D Let me know if you want a sequel that is more focused on the actual case, it was hard to write the relationship between Cynthia and Leon :D :D :D**_


	75. I'm Sorry I Can't Do This REWRITE

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- It's one of my favorites too! :D :D :D :D**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I'm glad you liked it! :D I agree, Cynthia's story that she tells Leon is really sad :( I agree! I think I have progressed as a writer! :D What do you mean for mature? I'm just curious :D There will be a sequel to this piece for sure, I have a plan and an outline for it ^-^ yes, Ashton does make an appearance, in fact, we see more of his and Cynthia's past, and speaking of that, I am writing a story for it! :D after I finish a high school one as per your request! :D that isn't this one! :D :D**_

 _I Can't Do This Leon… I Just Can't!_

 _(I'm sorry… I can't do this. REWRITE (cause I wanted to :D))_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 15 ½_

 _Haliah, Paige, Brendon- 17_

 _Hazel-16_

 _(Takes place before Cynthia's injury)_

 _ **Heads up! This one is quite different, after developing the characters so much, the original doesn't make sense, so I rewrote it, and it's a little more involved with their relationship! :D It's a little short, but that's okay! :D I like this version better :D**_

 _Cynthia's blue eyes flashed as she got up from where her sisters were comforting each other, "Brendon!" She shouted across the courtyard, barreling over to the idiot who had just broken both of her sisters' hearts, "You are going to get it you jerk!" Brendon's eyes widened and he turned to run, but Cynthia was faster, a moment later Brendon was howling on the ground with his hands cupping his broken nose while Cynthia scowled at him, blood streaking her knuckles._

" _Cindy!" Hazel gasped, "Why'd you break his nose?!" She asked as she helped her brother to his feet, "I get your angry, but breaking his nose? That's a little too much!"_

 _Cynthia's blue eyes widened at the blood covering Brendon's face and the blood streaking her calloused knuckles. "I… Sorry…" She managed to stammer out before turning and racing into the woods and away from the other students._

" _Cynthia!" Leon shouted after her and glared at Hazel, the glare deadly, "He deserved the broken nose Hazel! She didn't need a reprimand for defending her sisters!"_

:( :( :(

"Cyndy?" Leon called, looking for his friend and interest, Cynthia Lawson, while she did tend to use violence as a form of communicating her emotions, she wasn't a bad person, despite how much she thought she was. ' _Will you ever get over your brother's death?'_ He wondered, he knew that she was responsible for her brother's death and that it affected her every day, but he couldn't help but wonder when she would finally get over the guilt and live her life not out of fear and caution. Out of the corner of his eyes he caught sight of her sitting in a tiny clearing full of bright and healthy grass, a tiny stream trickling nearby. Of course she was here, this was the place they, -he and Cynthia- had been going to for years when they were upset, shaken, or simply wanted a place away from everyone else. "Cyndy, there you are," he sat down on the grass in front of her, sitting cross-legged next to her.

Cynthia shoved her hands beneath her legs, pinning them against the grass as a precaution of hurting her close friend. "Hi," she murmured under her breath, "what're you doing here?"

"Comforting a friend." Leon replied before he nudged her shoulder playfully and winked at her, "who's maybe something more."

Cynthia blushed and didn't look at him, attempting to pretend that her cheeks weren't a gentle pink color at the given moment. "Well Mr. Comforter, you're welcome to stay if you want to, I'm afraid your services aren't really needed, but your presence is always welcome."

"Well I'm glad I'm welcome, but my services are needed I think." Leon said, moving so he was sitting in front of her and gently pulling her left hand out from under her, brushing the grass off of her thin hand, blood still streaked the knuckles of her dominant hand, "Brendon had it coming for him, I mean, breaking both Paige and Haliah's hearts? That's unsafe territory and he knew that. Besides, you only broke his nose and bruised his ego, you protected your sisters and didn't hurt him too badly. Of course, he'll sound like a nasally nerd for a while, but hey, that's an improvement from his normal voice." He was pleased to hear a faint chuckle from his friend and continued after he laced the fingers of his right hand with the fingers of Cynthia's left. "And you aren't the only one to have done it before," he grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "I punched Tyler when he made our friend Bree cry, and you know how hard it is to make that bouncy ball of a girl to cry."

"Yeah, but I've killed someone Leon, that isn't controlled, that's out of control. And I can't stop it." Cynthia sighed, playing with their laced fingers, not minding the unusual contact.

"You have been getting a lot better over the years at controlling your strength Cyndy," Leon pointed out, "you just broke Brendon's nose, not his skull or anything right? He doesn't even have a concussion." He rubbed his thumb over her hand, "Not everyone is perfect Cyn, but you're pretty darn close."

"Thanks Leon."

"My pleasure Cyndy."

Cynthia looked at him for a few moments, her mind currently at ease from his words. Leon seemed to be at ease too as both of them leaned toward each other without giving it much thought a few moments later, Cynthia's blue eyes slid half closed as she got nearer to him while Leon did the same.

Just as the gap between them vanished, a robin squawked and startled them both, making them jolt apart like they had been burned.

Cynthia scooted away from him, blinking a few times and touching her lips stunned that that had even happened.

Leon was just as surprised, he knew how skittish his friend was when it came to couple like things, -one of the reasons he hadn't asked her to any of the dances for their school, nor asked her to be his girlfriend, not to mention she was also skittish around titles, she just didn't like them.- and the fact that she initiated it shocked him. He watched her for a moment, finding how stunned she was and the small giddy smile pulling at the corners of her lips, very adorable. "Do you think we could ever be in a relationship?" He asked her quietly, already guessing her answer.

"Maybe." Cynthia replied distantly, before it registered what she had just said and she stammered nervously, "I mean no… maybe… I don't know!" The teenager rambled nervously for a while before she finally exclaimed, "I can't do it! I just can't!" She scrambled to her feet and attempted to flee the scene.

"What do you mean?" Leon asked, getting up and managing to catch her by the wrist.

"I can't risk it! If I screw it up it would ruin our friendship and I'd end up hurting you! I can't! I just can't Leon!" Cynthia cried before pulling her wrist free of his grip and fleeing deeper into the woods, leaving Leon watching her disappear with a heavy heart and full of disappointment and understanding.

"I'm sorry for confusing you," Leon sighed as he watched the spot where she had disappeared, "I'll remain happy in the friend zone if it'll make you happy, Cyn, I promise. I just want to make you happy." He sighed once more before sticking his hands into his pockets and slowly starting to walk back to the school.

Cynthia stood with her back to a tree, she had heard everything that he had said, and she touched her lips again, ' _I- I'm sorry Leon, but I don't want to ruin everything, even if every kiss felt like this one, I can't risk hurting you so bad that you won't be my friend anymore, I love you too much to never have you around ever again.'_


	76. High School Collection Of Two! :D

**_Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I know right? It's so cute! :D Leon would wait forever if that's how long it took for Cynthia to be with him :D adorableness!_**

 **:) :) :) :) :)**

 ** _So Featherflight123 asked for a high school centered short story so I did two and put them in the same chapter! :D One is an AU the other is in the normal world! :D :D :D_**

 _High school collection_

 _Brendon, did you learn your lesson?_

 _(Singing Talent World)_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 16_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree- 17_

 _Haliah, Paige, Brendon- 17 ½_

" " **I believe it," Cleo chortled, Brendon's nose was crooked now, He never told anyone the reason for it besides saying that he didn't deserve it. "He always says he didn't deserve it."**

" **Oh he deserved it, it was a very nice moment before he had crashed into us, turned on his heel and ran, yelling how Cynthia Lawson and Leon Bramble were kissing in the hallways the first time. The second time was worst," Cynthia visibly shuddered, "The second time he caught us, he snuck up behind me and tasered me. Let's just say that I've never jumped higher, Squealed louder, nor punched him harder in my life."**

" **Ouch!" Cleo laughed, "Why were you two doing that there anyway?"**

" **I had my reasons." Cynthia shrugged casually. "**

 **-From** ' _ **She takes after her mother, Cynthia, she's just like you'**_ **part of the conversation between Cynthia and Cleo**

Brendon snuck up behind Cynthia and Leon, silently dreading what he was supposed to do, he had gotten dared to taser Cynthia without her seeing it coming and boy was it hard, the only time he had managed to not get caught by her was now when she was occupied with Leon, the two athletes may not completely be together, but they pretty much acted like it, with the constant affection, Leon's nicknamed for Cynthia that consisted of shortening her name to three letters, and the occasional and casual kissing, like they were doing right now. Brendon glared at Fin who had given him the dare and mouthed, "I'm going to get you back to this one day!"

Fine just grinned and flashed a thumbs up.

Brendon waited for a moment to gather his courage before he took a deep breath, and tasered Cynthia.

Cynthia jolted, shoving Leon away from her with a jump and a high pitched squeal none of them had heard before -besides Leon,- before she whirled around and instinctively punched whoever had tasered her with all of her strength. Her fist collided with Brendon's nose with a loud crack and he careened backward into a row of lockers with a howl of pain.

"My nose!" Brendon howled, cupping his hands over his broken nose and sliding down the lockers to the floor, "it was a dare!" he yelled, "why did you break my nose?!"

Cynthia looked blankly at him, "you interrupted me, the punch was instinctual, and you tasered me, you deserve it full-heartedly."

"Cindy!" Haliah came running down the hall, Paige at her side, "What happened now?"

"She broke my nose!" Brendon spluttered through the blood covering his nose that was dripping down his chin, "because of the dare I was given!"

"Cindy!" Paige looked her sister who wilted a little at their irritated looks.

"I didn't break his nose, I fixed it." Cynthia shrugged, lacing her fingers with Leon's as he recovered from both her shove and his silent laughing fit.

"Not funny, Cindy!" Haliah snapped at her as she helped Brendon up to his feet.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Cynthia apologized, "but he interrupted me while I was with Leon and he tasered me! He's lucky I didn't hit him more than once!"

"You might as well have!" Brendon spat out a glob of blood that had gotten into his mouth. "You broke my nose!"

Cynthia looked at him for a moment while she weighed out the pros and cons of kicking him, eventually, the pros won and she promptly kicked him, aiming for his knees.

Unfortunately for Brendon, he moved a little too far to the left and the kick missed, it made contact with his body, but not in the intended spot. Brendon dropped to the ground once again and groaned, his voice a pitch too high, "ow! StarClan that hurts!" Everyone in the hallway -including the one who kicking him- winced at his voice and the injury. He rolled on the ground a little while Paige and Haliah snapped at their sister.

"Cindy!"

"Why'd you do that?!"

"He said I hit him more than once so I did." Cynthia replied smoothly, "Believe me, I was aiming for the knees, he's the one who moved too far." Standing Next to her, Leon snorted and got a light smack on the arm from Cynthia herself.

"I moved too far? What kind of excuse was that?!" Brendon asked as he got to his feet with a hunched posture.

"Do you want to be kicked again?" Cynthia asked blandly, "cause you are facing me in the perfect position for another kick."

"Cindy, I think he's had enough!" Bree giggled, amber eyes gleaming with amusement, "while he deserved it for interrupting your moment with Leon, I think he got the message!"

Jay, who was standing behind Bree and was leaning casually on her wheelchair spoke up in a gruff tone, "Leah's in the nurse's office."

Holly smirked, she was standing next to her twin brother, her arms full of books, "Did you learn your lesson, Brendon?"

Brendon kept hobbling down the hallway, Haliah and Paige walking near him, worried about him. "Yeah, don't ever let Fin give you a dare and never taser Cynthia if you value your sense of smell."

Everyone laughed and scattered at the sound of the lunch bell while Cynthia and Leon stayed in the hallway the two teenagers not in a particular hurry to join all of their friends in the loud cafeteria. "Well before Brendon's interruption," Cynthia sighed, keeping her voice low, "it was a nice moment."

Leon grinned, "I agree," he leaned forward, resting his arm above her head, "Do you want to continue it? Or go join everyone in the cafeteria."

Cynthia gave him a bland look, "really Leon? Really?"

"What?" Leon asked innocently, amber eyes gleaming with pretend innocence.

"Did you even need to say the second option?"

"Yup," Leon's grin widened, "'cause there's always that option right?"

"You need to stop talking," Cynthia said, rolling her eyes while resting her upper arms lazily on his shoulders and loosely clasping her hands together while half closing her eyes.

"Make me," Leon smirked and so she did.

:) :) :) :)

 _Bree, are you rich or something?!_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 17 ½_

 _Bree, Jay, Holly- 18 ½_

 _Brendon, Haliah, Paige- 19_

 _Finli- 19 ½_

Bree rolled into the cafeteria, a large drawstring bag on her lap, "hi everyone!" She greeted the cafeteria happily and dug into the bag on her lap, starting to distribute the stuff she had gotten for other students and staff. "Here's your pocket knife, Tyler, the new notebook for Hazel, fantasy book for Dawn…"

"Do you guys ever wonder how she gets all of that stuff?" Holly asked from where she was sitting next to Finli at a table with her siblings, best friend, and a few other thunder students. "I mean, some of that stuff can be pretty expensive."

"I've never really thought about it," Cynthia responded to her friend, blue eyes going curious as she looked over at the cheerful brunette, "I don't know, she probably works for it."

Leon mumbled something inaudible from where he was actually lying on the table bench with his head in Cynthia's lap, tired out from the many active classes and early morning sports practices he had had that morning.

"Hmm?" Cynthia looked down at Leon, "I have no idea what you just said, Leo." She said with amusement, brushing his golden bangs out of his face.

Leon spoke clearly this time, keeping his eyes closed and not shifting his position, "Where, though? She's also paralyzed remember?"

"True," Paige acknowledged his short statement and watched the happy teenager crack a few jokes and cheer up the gloomy students, "I don't know, maybe she has the money?"

"I doubt it," Holly said, not noticing when Finli closed her book and tentatively grasped her hand, for she was focused on their unique friend, "With her paralysis being incomplete and all, there are a lot of medical stuff her family has to pay for, so the money probably isn't just laying around." She laced her fingers with Finli's, accepting the contact from her boyfriend.

"Well none of us are rich kids, so I guess we wouldn't know." Diana sighed, "although it would be totally amazing if we were!"

"If we had any more money than we already have, you'd be spending it all on clothes." Ivory deadpanned, brushing her platinum blonde bangs out of her eyes as she did so, "and I'm sure that Ben would agree."

Diana looked over at her boyfriend who smiled sheepishly, "I have to admit that your sister's probably right, not that it's a bad thing or anything, but it's true."

Diana pouted, "I guess so…"

"My dad's rich," Cynthia commented, "not that I live with either of my parents anymore, but he is considered rich." She shrugged, popping a grape into her mouth.

"Yeah, our family's rich," Paige supported her sister's comment, "and Cindy still gets some of the money, all of us do, although we don't really use it that often."

"Yeah, most of it just sits in a savings account and isn't touched." Haliah shrugged.

"Kind of a waste really." Paige finished for her twin before she took a small bite of her sandwich.

Most of the table stared at the three sisters, only the Bramble kids didn't since they already knew about their friend's occupation.

"What?" Cynthia spoke up at Diana's disbelieving look. "Just because I don't look like I have the money doesn't mean I don't you know. How else would I manage to get my leg reconstructed?" she rapped her knuckles against her right leg where a muffle ring of metal was heard.

"I always did wonder how you managed that." Ivory mused with a light shrug of her shoulders before munching on a few gummy worms.

"Why're you eating those?" Diana asked her sister with wide eyes. "They're full of sugar!"

Ivory looked blankly at her, "because I want to and I'm active enough that it won't do a thing." She shrugged and continued eating the candy while her sister looked at her in horror.

"What do you think Jay?" Diana asked her cousin, "she's your girlfriend and all."

Jay, who had been silent through the entire conversation, swallowed his mouthful of his lunch before he spoke up, "She works for it." he replied before taking another bite of his lunch, which consisted of leftover spaghetti that he had had at his house last night for dinner.

"How?" Diana asked curiously, "she's paralyzed isn't she?"

"Yes." Jay grunted after his swallowed again, "she's as paralyzed as I am blind."

"So?... where does she work?"

"Many places."

"Come on Jay!" Diana whined, "can't you just tell us without us having to ask a million questions?"

Cynthia interjected, "Hey Jay? We're curious how Bree gets the money for all of the different things that she gives out to people, do you know how?" She rephrased Diana's question into a form she knew he would answer better than Diana's, keeping his personal relationship with the mentioned teenager out of the question.

Jay put the lid on his container with the fork inside so the lid was propped open and looked at Cynthia through blind blue eyes, "Bree fixes computers, laptops, PCs, phones, tablets, apple junk, all of that stuff. She fixes them and repairs any damaged circuitry and broken programming, she's pretty good at it." He replied in a gruff tone, "why do you think every day at school she's carrying a different laptop or electronic device? She's repairing it."

"Wow," Diana breathed, watching the brunette finish up giving things out and tuck the bag into the backpack hanging on the back of her wheelchair. "Who knew?"

"Well if you'd ask her she'd tell you," Jay grunted, opening his container and continuing to eat his lunch.

"Hi, guys!" Bree chirped happily as she rolled over to the table, "how's it going?"

"Hi," Jay greeted grumpily, his voice a little affectionate and amused, "done being a store?"

"Yup!" Bree grinned happily and hugged him, "and I'm not a store!"

"Sure you're not," Jay rolled his blind blue eyes, giving her a short one armed hug and a short kiss.

"I'm not!" Bree complained as she leaned back and pulled her lunch from her backpack on the back of her wheelchair, amber eyes twinkling happily at her boyfriend's cheerful mood, as displayed by the unprompted affection. "What up with Leon Cindy? He's practically sleeping!" She asked with a smile, directing her attention to the younger couple.

Cynthia rolled her eyes, "Oh he's asleep alright. He had way too many sports practices this morning before school and he already fell asleep on me in science and nearly knocked over all of the chemicals on our lab desk."

Bree giggled with a smile, "but you don't really mind do you?"

"Not really," Cynthia replied with a smile, "as long as he doesn't wake up and be a grumpy bear worse than Jay. I can't decide whether I prefer the grumpy bear or the exhaustion drunk prat who doesn't leave me alone and insists he's bored and that I'm the solution." She mused and the table laughed at her words, all of them had seen both moods before, a grumpy Leon was really annoying, but a sleepless Leon was just as bad.

"I feel for you!" Bree chirped, nudging Jay affectionately in the side with her elbow, "this one's just as bad!"

"I don't have the problem," Holly smiled cheekily, "Finli doesn't get that way."

"Lucky you," Cynthia snorted, "remember last summer?"

Bree's smile widened, as did everyone else, "yes!"

"Summer Camp couldn't have been at some worst time," Cynthia sighed, "he sure gave me a scare that day."

"Are you guys talking about when Leon jumped into the lake to get your attention, Cindy?" Diana asked curiously, "and he can't swim?"

"Yes!" Bree giggled, "he jumped in and Cindy just about had a heart attack!"

"I was trying to play a game of basketball with some of the other campers and low and behold, Leon had to be a bloody prat and give me a panic attack." Cynthia sighed, shaking her head slightly while she continued to run her fingers through Leon's blonde hair.

"Hey! At least you didn't have Jay get ahold of thin mints and scare you so bad you fell off your bed and nearly broke your nose!" Bree chirped, pressing a kiss to Jay's cheek as a way to tell him there were no hard feelings.

"That was Holly's fault." Jay grunted, "she had the thin mints."

Holly smiled sheepishly, "Sorry about that."

"I'm just saying," Bree grinned before she suddenly remembered something, "of yeah! Here Finli!" She rummaged through a pocket of her backpack before pulling out a brand new smartphone and sliding it across the lunch table to him, "it's got unlimited text, a decent amount of data, and it has Holly's number on it! It has the rest of the group's numbers as well so you can be included in our group chat!" She chirped happily, "now you won't be left out!"

Finli stared at the sleek black phone with wide green eyes, "I… thanks, Bree." He finally said, looking at her with gratitude.

"No problem!" Bree smiled, "Sorry it took so long, I wanted to get a really good one like the rest of us have!"

"So Bree…" Holly looked at the brunette, "you're good with electronics?"

"Yeah!" Bree smiled widely, "my phone is completely my own design!"

The rest of the table looked at Jay who shrugged, "her secrets are her own." He just put one arm around her shoulders, which was to that particular couple as good as holding hands, since Bree needed the use of her only functioning limbs.

"I love technology almost as much as I love dealing with people!" Bree smiled widely, leaning into Jay's hold, "there's so much inside the pieces of technology it's really cool!"

"I believe you," Holly chuckled, "technology is fascinating."

"Chemicals are better." Cynthia interjected her own opinion, "technology is confusing."

"That it is!" Bree chirped before she dug into her lunch, determined to eat something before lunch ended.


	77. Fight or Flight Pre (songfic:Crystalfang

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Yup, you gotta love Bree! :D :D Jay and his sarcasm XD :D**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I'm glad you liked them :D I had fun writing them and Bree is amazing! :D Do I describe her more than I do the others? I don't know if I do! XD**_

 _ **Ah, I get it! :D the "has discussed deeper themes :)" thing is because I'm not as awkward as I used to be :D I've always had the skills I've just been super awkward about it XD XD**_

 _ **:) :) :) :)**_

 _Flight and Fight Prequel_

 _(The song is Mine by Taylor Swift)_

 _ **Uh, oh, oh**_

 _ **Uh, oh, oh**_

"Run! He's going to catch us!" Cleo exclaimed, catching sight of her father's golden blonde hair, "Hurry!" She grasped Leroy's wrist and bolted out of the room.

Leroy ran after her, laughing as his friend's father spun around at the sound of his youngest daughter's voice.

"Cleo!"

 _ **You were in college working part time waiting tables**_

 _ **Left a small town, never looked back**_

 _ **I was a flight risk with a fear of fallin'**_

"Hey, Leroy!" Flynx greeted the golden blonde teenager as he walked into the hanger, he had just tuned up the other teen's jet, "How's it going?"

"Good," Leroy replied with a smile, he was wearing his new flight suit, since he had outgrown the old one. "I can get up in the sky again."

Flynx grinned, briefly looking him over, "I see why Cleo couldn't keep her eyes off you when you got the suit yesterday, it's more tight fitting like mine is."

"Hey!" Cleo interrupted indignantly, her cheeks flaming, "I was not staring at him yesterday!" She crossed her arms over her chest, she was in her flight suit as well, not that she had ever touched her fighter, too scared of heights to actually fly.

Flynx leaned against the outside of the cockpit of Leroy's plane, "sure you weren't," he grinned cheekily, "if you weren't then you were drooling over him, sis."

"I was not!" Cleo snapped, raising her voice in the process, "I wasn't drooling over him!" She exclaimed, her face warm enough to fry something on.

Leroy looked amused and decided to save his friend from the embarrassment, "I know you weren't Cleo, Flynx's just being a pain."

Cleo huffed and ignored her brother, standing at Leroy's side and not going near any of the planes.

"Well, come on then Leroy, let's get this fighter back into the sky!" Flynx grinned before the grin turned into a smirk, "go ahead and take a passenger as well." his multi-colored eyes flickered over to his sister and he raised his eyebrows.

"Okay, who's the passenger Flynx?" Leroy asked with an identical smirk.

"Cleo's your passenger today!" Flynx grinned, "Let's go!"

"What? No!" Cleo exclaimed, catching on a little too late. Leroy flashed her a cheeky grin and Cleo barely had a second to say, "Leroy, don't!" Before the fifteen-year-old pilot scooped her up bridal style and ran towards his jet where her brother was standing inside the cockpit. "Leroy! Put me down!" Cleo shrieked, "I'm not getting inside that plane!"

"Not your choice sis!" Flynx grinned as Leroy tossed Cleo upward towards him, he caught her and waited while Leroy took a moment to jump into the jet himself, before dropping her onto the blonde pilot's lap and leaping out of the jet, shutting the cockpit as he did so.

"No! Leroy, please don't!" Cleo begged and twisted to look at him, green eyes wide with fear.

"It'll be okay," Leroy encouraged, kissing her on the forehead before settling her in his lap while he reached around her for the controls, "I promise," he said warmly before suddenly taking off.

Cleo threw her arms around his neck and hid her face in his neck while shrieking in fear.

Leroy busted out laughing, his body shaking at the strength of his laughter.

 _ **Wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts**_

"Cleo, you can open your eyes now," Leroy gently encouraged his friend, "we're going slow now."

Cleo tentatively opened her eyes, lifting her head from his neck to slowly open her and look out of the plane in front of them.

"See? It's not too bad," Leroy smiled they were right under the lowest cloud layer, the clouds brushing the fighter's top fin. "It's nice isn't it?" He was surprised she actually opened her eyes, he and Flynx had been forcing her to fly with him for the past week, trying to get her to get over her fear of heights. He knew she would be a really good pilot, she had been training to be one with him since they were ten, but the fifteen-year-old had never stepped foot into a fighter and gotten off the ground. In the simulator, however, she had the highest score that beat her mother's, a feat since her mother had held the record for twenty years.

"It's okay," Cleo replied, looking around at the clouds and the ground below them, her arms still looped around Leroy's neck, "I… I could get used to it." she eventually decided, looking at Leroy.

"I'm glad," Leroy smiled letting go of the controls with autopilot engaged and resting them around his friend's waist, "It'd be cool having you in the squad Cleo, you're a natural pilot."

Cleo smiled and with the excuse of distracting herself from how high up they were, she leaned forward and kissed him for the first time.

 _ **I say, "Can you believe it?"**_

 _ **As we're lying on the couch**_

"Can you believe that Cleo used to be afraid of heights?" Flynx asked Lixa over their radio frequency as they watched Cleo crouch on Leroy's plane wing, the former had been training for this for the past four months, and she loved it.

"If we go by what we're seeing here? Not at all." Lixa replied, watching as her sister jumped off of the plane, shooting downwards at an insane speed before flinging her arms out and jerking upward as she glided to slow her descent. "I mean, she's an air to land fighter," Lixa pointed out as she continued watching her sister shoot downward faster than any of their planes could, "She jumps out of her plane onto Leroy's and literally skydives down on top of the enemy before Leroy swoops down and gives her an air current to back up on, it's amazing really."

Cleo landed, and briefly stumbled before she swung at the person she was supposed to fight, a moment later the dummy was on the ground and she was back in the air, gliding on an air current up to Leroy's plane who opened the cockpit and she crashed down on top of him.

"Although the recovery needs some work," Lixa spoke with amusement, "I can't tell if that's an accident or on purpose."

"Totally on purpose," Flynx laughed, "if it was an accident Cleo would've smacked right into his cockpit."

"Good point."

"Sorry!" Cleo came over the radio, "I missed the plane wing!"

"And I didn't want her to break my windshield," Leroy defended himself.

"Hey! I'm not that heavy!"

"I didn't say you were, you were going about fifty miles an hour, you'd totally smash my windshield."

"I guess."

"Just find Cleo's plane and get back to the hangar," Lixa sighed with a roll of her eyes, "it should be circling above you guys, Flynx and I are going back to the hangar, over and out."

Cleo flashed Leroy a grin and kissed him while Leroy put the plane on autopilot and returned the affection.

"What're they doing Flynx?" Lixa asked a moment later as they turned and started flying back towards the hangar.

Flynx laughed, "kissing! That was totally on purpose Lixa!"

' _Of course, it was, they're in love with each other, it's obvious.'_

 _ **The moment I can see it.**_

 _ **Yes, yes, I can see it now.**_

 _ **Do you remember, we were sitting there by the water?**_

Cleo swung her legs off of the dock, creating small waves as she swung her legs, her ankles, and feet in the cool crystal water. "Hey Leroy," she greeted her friend in a murmur as she heard his footsteps, "I want to be alone right now."

"I know you do," Leroy replied, sitting on the dock and pulling off his socks and shoes before rolling up his pant legs and sitting next to her, dipping his feet into the water as well, "but I also know I'm excluded in the 'I want to be alone' statement."

Cleo gave a weak smile and kept looking at the medium sized house near the dock and the shore, her childhood home and the home of her now captured parents. "I guess you're the exception," she said in a murmur, looking sadly at the house.

Leroy was silent for a while, letting her mourn over her captured parents, before he spoke up again, pulling the other sixteen-year-old into his lap and resting his chin on the top of her head, "what're you thinking right now Cleo?"

"I'm thinking that I miss my parents." Cleo sighed, leaning back against him, "I'm thinking about how my mother seemed to know that they were going to be captured, how their planes returned with no pilots, my father's cockpit was covered in blood, wondering what I'm supposed to do without them, and I'm wondering what's going on between us." She gestured to their clasped hands in her lap, "I know this isn't friend like behavior and it's more like how my parents act with each other."

Leroy sighed and looked at her, looping his arms around her waist, "I know what's going on here, but I don't want to change anything while you're upset about your parents, Lo."

Cleo shrugged, her heart warming at the nickname he had given her a while back, "I'm not upset, I'm determined, I'm going to find my parents one day, even if it's the last thing I ever do." She looked up at him, "what's going on with us?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm in love with you," Leroy spoke quietly, "this behavior is like your parents because your parents love each other Cleo, and I don't know if you love me, but I love you with all my heart."

Cleo was silent for a moment, thinking, ' _Do I? I know I love him in some way, but romantically like he does? I don't know…'_

"Just think about it okay?" Leroy asked, "before you say anything anyway, just think about it first."

' _I don't know… this reminds me of the conversation I had with my mom a few years ago…'_

 _*"Mom, what does it feel like to be in love?" Cleo asked her mother curiously, the question had been bothering her all day and she really wanted an answer._

" _Hmm… that's a good question, Cleo." Cynthia said, drying her hands and turning around to look at her daughter, leaning back against the kitchen counter, "It's a feeling that is different from everything else and unusual for sure. Being in love with someone makes you feel happier around them, they are your central focus, the thing you worry and care the most about." She said, trying to explain it to her daughter, "You'll know if you're in love with someone Cleo, you want to make them happy, not matter what the circumstance."_

" _But how can you tell?"_

" _The easiest way is to think of it as this way," Cynthia explained, "imagine that the person you think you're in love with loves someone else, would you let them go because they'll be happy? Or keep them to yourself and make them miserable. If you answered with the first answer then you're probably in love with them." She said simply._

 _Cleo frowned, "are there any giveaways?"_

" _Well… there's a lot of affection and trust between two people who're in love, Cleo..." Cynthia replied and trailed off as Leon came in the front door, looking tired and a little worn out. "Hey Leon," Cynthia greeted her husband who went over to her before going anywhere else._

" _Hey, yourself," he grinned, the smile widening as Cynthia herself smiled. "What's going on in the crazy house?"_

" _Lixa and Flynx are still at the base, Miles is upstairs playing a game on the computer, and Cleo's helping me around the house," Cynthia replied, her voice held a tone that Cleo noticed she only used when she was talking to her father._

" _What about you?" Leon asked and gave his wife a chaste kiss before letting her answer._

" _Perfect," Cynthia replied with a warm smile, blue eyes gleaming with love._

 _Cleo understood what her mother had been trying to tell her, being in love meant you'd give up everything for the person and that they meant the world to you._

Cleo shook her head to clear it before thinking hard, ' _Would I give up everything for Leroy? Yes, Can I imagine being here without him? No. Thanks, mom, your the best.'_ She looked up at Leroy, green eyes gentle and soft, "I'm in love with you too Leroy," she said softly, "I love you to the ends of the world and back."

 _ **You put your arm around me for the first time.**_

 _ **You made a rebel of a careful man's careless daughter.**_

 _ **You are the best thing that's ever been mine.**_

 _ **Flash forward and we're taking on the world together,**_

"Leroy on you left! Nine 'oclock!" Cleo exclaimed into the radio, sharply turning her fighter and opening fire on the enemy fighter that got too close to her boyfriend for her tastes.

"Thanks, Cleo," Leroy's voice was rushed and tense but it held an underlying touch of a tone he only used with her.

"Lixa," Cleo contacted her sister, "this quadrant is empty, the enemy has been taken down and neutralized."

"Good job Cleo, Leroy, head over to Flynx, Miles, and I, I'm sending you coordinates right now."

"No problem Leroy, just be a little more careful alright?" Cleo said through their private radio frequency, her voice softening, "I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either," Leroy spoke, his jet flying over to hers so they were next to each other, "so heed your own advice will you?"

"Of course, I love you, Leroy."

"I love you too Cleo."

 _ **And there's a drawer of my things at your place.**_

"Lixa, Cleo's severely injured, I'm returning to the base," Leroy spoke, his voice tense and strained, Cleo was lying sideways on his lap, having just returned from an air to ground attack with a really bad gash on her lower back. "She'll be with me until she recovers."

"Understood Leroy, Flynx, take Leroy's place and neutralize the threat there."

"Roger Lixa, send me your coordinates Leroy, I'm on my way."

"Sending them now," Leroy replied and did so before turning and flying back towards the base, the seventeen-year-old lying unconscious in his lap, her blood staining his flight suit and the cockpit of his plane.

:( :( :( :(

"She'll be fine," Kia smiled encouragingly at her cousin's boyfriend, "Cleo's a tough cookie."

"All cookies break Kia," Leroy replied worriedly, staring at the red light signaling he couldn't go in.

"Yes, but it's a flesh wound, easily treatable and easy to heal with Bree's device, you know that."

"Yeah, but you never know how long it'll take to heal it and for her to recover."

"She'll recover overnight, just keep her with you for the night so you can monitor her to satisfy your fear, and she'll be fine in the morning."

"Leroy Sheridan?" A doctor asked, stepping out of the room as the light on the door turned green, "she'll be fine, just do as Kia says and keep her with you for the night, she'll probably sleep through the entire thing, she's asleep right now, but you can take her to your flat if you are that worried."

"Thank you!" Leroy smiled at the doctor and slipped into the room. Cleo was lying on her back, the seventeen-year-old was wearing the usual white t-shirt and sweatpants the medics put the injured pilots into, her eyes were closed and she was softly snoring, a usual occurrence. Leroy went over to her and carefully picked her up, her head resting against his chest. He nodded to the doctor before walking out of the room and down the hallway, Cleo still asleep and tucked in his arms.

:) :) :)

Cleo opened her eyes to Leroy's chest and she jumped, falling off of his bed with a yell of surprise. "Ah!"

Leroy jolted awake and peered down at her through sleepy sunset eyes, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Cleo replied and pushed herself to her feet before dropping back onto the bed, lying on her side facing him, "I was just startled, usually I wake up in my flat room with you and Lixa pacing holes in my floor, not curled up next to you."

Leroy dropped back on his back and shrugged, stretching his stiff muscles, "it's one of the perks of being in a relationship," he replied as he finishing stretching before rolling onto his side facing her, "it's not a bad thing I hope?"

"No, just surprising," Cleo replied, studying him curiously.

"Having fun checking me out?" Leroy asked her in amusement a few moments later.

Cleo blushed, "I wasn't doing anything of the sort, don't fool yourself," she replied indignantly, "I'm just curious, I haven't seen you shirtless before so I'm naturally curious, have a problem with it?"

Leroy grinned a lopsided smile at her, "Nope, curiosity is great."

 _ **I learn your secrets and I figure out why your guarded,**_

 _ **I say we'll never make your parents' mistakes.**_

"You have parents Leroy," Cleo smiled at him, "my parents love you to death."

"Yeah, I guess…" Leroy replied, taking a page out of her book for the reply, "it still hurts to know that my parents were idiots who didn't love each other at all and just dumped me on my grandparents."

Cleo's green eyes softened and she rested one of her hands on his chest in a comforting fashion, "we won't make that mistake, I'm confident we have a relationship with my parents. They may be captured right now, but I have no doubt that they are together and worrying about us all right now." She leaned up on her toes and kissed his cheek, "we won't make the mistake that your parents did Leroy, I promise."

Leroy smiled at her, "I love you," he said simply, his voice soft and loving.

"I love you too," Cleo smiled and wrapped her arms around him, nestling her face into the other eighteen year old's shirt.

 _ **But we got bills to pay,**_

 _ **We got nothing figured out,**_

Leroy looked at Cleo, sunset colored eyes warm and gentle as he watched her green eyes droop shut from her position curled up next to him. The air fight the two-twenty-year-olds had gone through today had been extremely stressful, and Leroy himself was still shaken up by it. It all started by a troop from the enemy had dropped onto his fighter and had started cutting through the glass…

 _Thunk!_

 _Leroy jumped and stared at the enemy crouching on his windshield, using some device to cut into the glass. "Someone's on my windshield! He's trying to break the glass!"_

" _I'm coming!" Cleo exclaimed, "just don't do any barrel rolls!"_

 _A moment later Leroy heard another thunk and he saw Cleo land on the man's back, knocking him off balance and smashing his face against the glass. "Cleo, hurry I can't see what's ahead of me!"_

" _I'm working on it!" Cleo said as she stumbled when Leroy shifted his plane's position a bit. "I can't fight if I can barely stand!"_

" _Sorry!"_

" _Get over here you… I don't know, what's a mean name that isn't swearing?"_

" _Idiot?" Leroy suggested, watching as Cleo tackled the man._

" _Good enough, Come here you idiot!" Cleo then tackled the man off of Leroy's plane, sending them both into the air. A moment after she tackled the man off she opened her arms and started gliding, that's when disaster struck._

 _The man panicked and grabbed onto Cleo's foot, weighing her down. "If I'm going down, you're going down with me!" the man cackled and slashed at the flaps of cloth that made her glide, causing the lightweight fabric to tear violently and causing Cleo to start free falling._

" _Leory!" Cleo shrieked as she fell, flailing her arms like it was going to help, "He cut the wings of my glider! I can't control anything!"_

" _What?!" Leroy quickly jerked his plane into a dive, pushing it to the limits to catch Cleo before she hit the ground, "I'm coming!"_

" _Cleo!"_

" _Leroy hurry!"_

" _No!"_

 _All three of Cleo's siblings exclaimed, pausing their fighting to stare at their falling sister and her significant other's race against time to catch her._

" _Leroy!" Cleo shrieked, the ground was getting closer and her fear was rising, "Leroy!"_

 _Leroy got near her and opened the cockpit, the air rushing past him and making his golden blonde hair messy as the wind blew through it. "Grab my hand, Cleo!" They were getting closer the ground at an alarming rate, "Grab on! Hurry!"_

 _Cleo finally kicked off the man holding onto her leg and she reached for Leroy's hand, her gloved fingers less than an inch from his own, "I can't reach!"_

" _Try harder Cleo!" Lixa shouted through the radio, "you can't hit the ground!"_

 _Leroy lunged, strapped into his plane, he lunged forward and grabbed her wrist, yanking her into his plane and pulling out of the dive, stirring up the loose dirt and other objects on the ground in the form a huge cloud as he shot up into the air, Cleo safely aboard his plane._

Leroy wrapped his arms around Cleo and pulled her closer before he buried his nose into her auburn hair, squeezing his sunset eyes shut as he returned to present time. "That scared me," he breathed, knowing she was still awake, even if just barely.

"It scared me too," Cleo mumbled, her eyes still closed, "I really didn't want to leave you."

 _ **When it was hard to take,**_

 _ **Yes, yes, this is what I thought about.**_

 _ **Do you remember, we were sitting there by the water?**_

 _ **You put your arm around me for the first time**_

 _ **You made a rebel of a careful man's careless daughter**_

 _ **You are the best thing that's ever been mine.**_

 _ **Do you remember all the city lights on the water?**_

 _ **You saw me start to believe for the first time**_

 _ **You made a rebel of a careful man's careless daughter**_

 _ **You are the best thing that's ever been mine.**_

 _ **Oh, oh, oh, oh**_

 _ **And I remember that fight**_

 _ **Two-thirty AM**_

 _ **As everything was slipping right out of our hands**_

"I don't care what you have to say Leroy!" Cleo shouted at him, green eyes glistening with tears, "I am going to find my parents no matter what you have to say!" She snapped at him, hands tightening into fists, she hated fighting with him, it always reduced her to tears, tears that made the twenty-one-year-old feel weak and useless. "Don't argue with me!" She glowered before she turned on her heel and ran as she tried to escape him.

 _ **I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street**_

 _ **Braced myself for the "Goodbye."**_

' _ **Cause that's all I've ever known**_

 _ **Then you took me by surprise**_

 _ **You said, "I'll never leave you alone."**_

"Cleo wait!" Leroy ran after her, chasing her down the hallways of the base to the front door of her squadron's flat, he stopped her from entering the flat by loosely grabbing the twenty-one year old's wrist, "I didn't mean that I was going to leave you for wanting to find your parents…"

 _ **You said, "I remember how we felt sitting by the water.**_

 _ **And every time I look at you, it's like the first time.**_

 _ **I fell in love with a careful man's careless daughter.**_

 _ **She is the best thing that's ever been mine."**_

"Remember back at the dock where you said you miss your parents and you were wondering if they were okay? Well this is how you can find out, I know you miss them and I want to help you find them," Leroy's sunset eyes softened at the tears gleaming in Cleo's eyes, "I fell in love with a very brave and beautiful girl those six years ago, and I intend to helping that girl fulfill her goal of finding her parents, after all," he locked eyes with her, "you're the best thing that has ever happened to me, Cleo."

Cleo's green eyes watered and she hugged him, crying into his shirt out of relief.

Leroy wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her closer, "it's okay, Cleo," he soothed, "there's no need to cry Lo, there's no need to cry over this…"

"I love you," Cleo interrupted him, looking up at him, green eyes glistening with tears, "I love you so much."

Leroy seemed to realize that she was crying out of sadness and the twenty-one year old's sunset colored eyes gleamed with love, "I love you too Princess."

 _ **Hold on, make it last**_

 _ **Hold on, never turn back**_

 _ **You made a rebel of a careful man's careless daughter**_

 _ **You are the best thing that's ever been mine.**_

 _ **(Hold on) do you believe it?**_

 _ **(Hold on) we're gonna make it now.**_

 _ **(Hold on) and I can see it,**_

 _ **(Yes, yes) I can see it now (see it now, see it now...)**_


	78. Half Finished Stories

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I'm glad you like it! (Fight or Flight Pre(songfic: Crystalfang):D I'm half finished with the original's sequel! :D It is really cute! :D Oh no! Don't die of cuteness! XD**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- That chapter (Fighting For Love And Hope Moment 12) does have a cute ending doesn't it? :D**_

 _ **What do you mean? I don't understand XD Do you like Boring Office Work's world better? I agree that it's really cool! But I personally prefer the original world :D What about you?**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- No! Don't die of sadness! I'm sorry! T T**_

 _ **I'm planning on rewriting how they get together, will that bring back up your mood?(Reply to Review for: I'm Sorry I Can't Do This REWRITE)**_

 _ **You're the only one who likes the first one the best! :D Everyone else likes Bree's Rich? One better! :D I like the first one better too :D (Reply to Review for: Highschool Collection of two)**_

 _ **Did I make you speechless? Yay! XD No! Don't die from cuteness! XD (Reply to Review for: Fight or Flight Pre(songfic: Cyrstalfang))**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I know right? All of the guys have special names for their significant other, even Jay, despite how grumpy he is :D**_ ** _and yes, the switch between 'careful' and 'careless' is intentional, Cleo is a whole lot more impulsive and careless than her father, especially in this AU world that I'm calling Fight Or Flight, Leon's a little more cautious in this world :D_**

 _ **Hey, guys! :D I have a bunch of half-finished short stories and I need to know what ones you want to see and what ones you don't! :D So here they**_ _ **are! :D (I'm working on a chapter right now, by the way! :D)**_

 _Sick Day Extravaganza_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 16 ½_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree- 17_

 _Haliah, Paige, Brendon- 17 ½_

"How is is possible that all four of you are sick?" Skylar sighed looking at the four teens who had barely managed to stumble down the stairs five minutes ago when she yelled they were going to be late for school. All four looked at her with confused and fever-glazed eyes, Holly didn't look too bad, just the fever glassiness in her green eyes, coughing, slightly pale and red tipped nose. Jay looked as well as his sister was, his pale skin paler, blind blue eyes glassy with fever, shivering slightly, sneezing, and his nose was also red. They probably only had a small virus or something, while their younger sibling and their friend looked dreadful.

Cynthia was lying on the couch under a blanket that Holly had thrown over the top of her, one arm over her eyes with her feet propped up on Leon's lap, she looked sicker than a dog and probably felt worse than one too. Being pale, her face flushed red from fever, shivering slightly, and coughing every few seconds, she had already thrown up a few times since she'd been awake. Leon had stolen part of her blanket so his shoulders and feet were covered, socked feet propped up on the ottoman; he had his head tilted back, resting on the back of the couch with one arm over his eyes, the other resting above the blanket on his friend's ankles. He had the same symptoms as Cynthia and had thrown up as well.

"I don't know mom," Holly told her, her voice slightly nasally from her currently screwed up sinuses. "Don't ask me." She stopped and listened as Cynthia mumbled something that was muffled by her arm covering part of her face. "What Cindy?"

Cynthia lifted her arm revealing glassy blue eyes and poked Leon's shoulder. "He got me sick." She grumbled in a raspy and scratchy voice.

"Not my fault." Leon retorted, lifting his arm from over his eyes so he could see her, "I didn't know I was sick." Cynthia narrowed her blue eyes at him and he went silent, getting the message she was trying to convey. ' _I told you that you were sick but you still kissed me.'_ Leon put his arm back over his eyes, in apology. "I'm sorry." He muttered apologetically. The whole friends with benefits thing was a tightly hidden secret between just the two of them, nobody else knew and so far they'd been extra careful to make sure nothing put them in the spotlight. But with him getting sick and unknowingly making her sick as well might be an issue.

"How'd he make you sick Cynthia?" Skylar asked her, "By kissing you?" She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

"No, of course not." Cynthia grumbled, not at all reacting to the sarcastic reply, "He sneezed on me yesterday, full on the face."

"Of course he did." Skylar sighed, easily accepting the lie with the knowledge that the two skirted around each other too much to be doing anything like that. "Let me go call Leah, maybe I can take you four over there and I can go to work."

Jay's phone went off and he answered it, picking it up and bringing it to his ear. "Yes?" He winced and sneezed, "Sorry Hadara, I'm not coming to school. Yeah, I'm sick with something. I'm sorry, but I can't go to the movie later alright? No, I don't need you to come visit, I have company, my siblings are also sick. See you, I know, bye, have fun at school." He then hung up and gave a violent sneeze. "Blegh."

"Well get your stuff together, I'm taking the four of you to Leah's, Bree's also caught something and Haliah and Paige are there to help out when I take you guys there."

Holly and Jay nod while the other two let out a complaining groan before Holly pulled Cynthia to her feet and pulled one of her best friend's arms around her shoulders and help her towards the stairs, Cynthia more like a dead weight than a help. Jay did the same with his brother but nearly collapsed beneath his weight. "Lay off the dessert Leon!" He grunted as he heaved him up the stairs, "You weigh more than the couch you couch potato!"

"I do not!" Leon complained, "I'm not that heavy!"

"OOph!" Holly yelped as Cynthia careened backward and tripped on the stair, crashing back against Leon who purposely tensed and stood like a rock, not wanting either of them to fall down the stairs. Holly helped her friend once again and they managed to fetch all their stuff.

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Bree met them at the door, smiling happily despite her pale face and the red color of her nose. "Hi!"

"Hey, Bree." Jay grunts, his knees nearly buckling under his bigger and taller younger brother.

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 _Fighting For Love And With Constant Hope AU (of that world)_

 _Cynthia- 17_

 _Isa- 16_

 _Hannah- 16 ½_

Cynthia narrowed her eyes as Isa, blood gleaming in in a thin tendril as it trickled down from her mouth, down her chin, and neck to disappear into the collar of her half sleeve light blue hoodie. Using her fingers to wipe the red liquid away she studied the other girl. "Violence won't change anything." She said in a cool tone, blue eyes calm and patient, flicking the blood off her fingertips. "Trying to beat me in a fight isn't going to change Leon's mind, Isa if anything it's going to make you embarrass yourself."

"If I can beat you he'll see!" Isa snarled, her actions spurred on by rage and fury, "He'll see you're not the perfect little person he thinks you are!" She stood in an angry defensive stance, wanting to beat her rival at something for once, "You're not good enough for him!"

"You don't think I already know that?" Cynthia rolls her eyes, "I already know I'm not good enough for Leon, he's way out of my league-"

"I'm good enough for him!" Isa snarled, "I can do everything you can and do it better!" She growled, tightening her grip on the steel bladed knife in her hand.

"Look, I'm not going to stop you from trying to fight me," Cynthia told her patiently, "but I'm trying to spare you the embarrassment, I'm older than you are Isa, I've been in the warrior program for longer than you, and I've been taught by Ivory." Isa's blue eyes widen slightly at the mention of the easily ranked top warrior despite being a lot younger than most of the other warriors in the program. "I'm sparing you the embarrassment from failing and getting injured," Cynthia said and Isa heard the rustling of her backup, Hannah from the wind division.

"Never!" Isa lunged at Cynthia, Hannah lunging at the same time.

"If that's what you want." Cynthia jumped, grabbing hold of a branch above her and swinging around to kick Hannah squarely in the back, causing her to stumble into the other girl so they both crashed to the ground.

 _(Isa's View)_

Getting a faceful of mud isn't what I have planned for. ' _Gosh dang it! I forgot she's versatile!'_ Being a versatile warrior happened when a warrior couldn't settle on what area they wanted to stick to, so they learned many different styles, trying to find their specialty. Cynthia was one of them and that detail had completely skipped my mind in my jealousy and anger. I was a sneaker, trained in stealth and pyrotechnics with the ability to cobble up a flashy explosive with just about everything, sneakily take down opponents, and move in silence, they were skills I held in pride. Something exploded at my feet and I quickly slapped my hand over mouth and nose, attempting not to breathing the gas in, this is what I had been expecting. Cynthia's main skill was in long range or distance attacks, she was the creator of the knockout bullets, a glass bullet that exploded at your feet or wherever the shooter aimed for, containing an almost lethal nearly clear knockout gas that expanded when exposed to oxygen and was extremely potent. Pulling on the air regulator all of the thunder warriors were required to have because of Cynthia's bullets, I jumped into the tree as well, starting to climb up to my rival where she was perched up on a branch with her elbows on her knees, quietly waiting for me.

Remember when I said she was versatile? Yeah, well I also forgot that to include her skills in a department I didn't have. Patience. She could stay in the same position for hours on end, me? Not. At. All.

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 _AU What's going on?!_

Leon's feet make contact with the wooden flooring of the cabin as he sat up on his bunk and stretched, putting his arms behind his head. Going to spring camp was one of his favorite activities, he always had a good time, enjoyed the cool events, and he couldn't forget about all the junk food.

"Geez Leon," someone spoke, making Leon open his eyes, "did you not sleep at all during the year or something?" The speaker was a black haired girl with sapphire blue eyes about half a foot shorter than Leon himself. She was one of Leon's best friends and archery companion named Cynthia Lawson.

"Of course I sleep," Leon rolled his eyes, "If I didn't I think I'd be dead Cindy." He put his arms back down, feeling the stiffness in his arms dissipate.

"Then how come you're sleeping at six in the evening?" Cynthia inquired in return, plopping down on the bunk across from him and putting her backpack on the floor, pushing it beneath the bunk. "You sleeping in the evening is like keeping Holly away from a book for an hour."

"Hey!" Another black haired girl emerged from the lounge area of the cabin, a book tucked under one arm, "I don't read that much!" She walked over and climbed up onto the bunk above Cynthia.

"I'm sleeping because riding a plane for eighteen hours makes you sleepy, I'm not like you Cyn who lives on the shores and is only an hour drive away." Leon answers his friend's question, "and this bunk is comfortable." He flopped back onto his back, putting his hands behind his head and half closing his eyes.

"Seriously?" Cynthia asked skeptically, "These things are always hard like bricks."

"Ya, but it's not uncomfortable or anything… Wait," Leon's amber eyes pop open and he sat back up, "When did you get here Cyn? You weren't here when I fell asleep, were you?"

"Nope, although it would've been hilarious if you hadn't noticed that I was there." She pulled back the sleeve of her hoodie and glanced at the time on the thin silver faced watch she had on, "I've been here for… maybe ten-ish minutes?" She looked at Holly for confirmation.

"Yeah, that seems about right." Holly was laying on her back, her head leaning on the edge of the bunk, the book held out in front of her about a foot away from her face.

"It's six you said?" Leon asked, "Did something come up? You got here pretty late."

"Ugh, Haliah and Paige were whining about who gets to take Brendan to the dance at camp, I had to finish up some song recordings and had an unexpected archery practice." Cynthia groaned, "Totally screwed up any plans of getting here early and pushing you into the lake again." She finished with a cheeky smile.

"While I'm glad you didn't get to push me into the lake," Leon said accompanied by rolling his eyes, "It would've been fun if you could've participated in the water war that happened at noon, it was epic!" He grinned at her, "Fin got everyone drenched, even Firen!"

"No way!" Cynthia smiled in surprise, eyebrows raised, "Seriously?! I didn't think anyone could get Firen without getting into a heap of trouble!"

Leon grinned widely, "Fin got him and Firen just joined the fight, no getting into trouble at all!"

"Darn, I wish I could've seen it!" Cynthia complained, leaning back on her arms, "I was supposed to have nothing to do today but that obviously changed." She rolled her eyes at the statement.

"Yeah…" Leon agreed, it was a bit disappointing that she hadn't been able to participate if she had been the two of them would've creamed the other team. But he didn't blame her, Cynthia was a busy person, with being a popular singer on youtube and doing a few live concerts every once in a while, along with the many sports she did and the different tours her parents took her and her siblings on all balanced together with archery, sports, and high school.

"Seriously disappointing." She pouted for a moment and the three of them stayed in semi-awkward and semi-comfortable silence.

"Hi, guys! I'm so glad to see all of you!" A girl in a wheelchair sped over to the three of them, looking super excited and hyped for spring camp. "I'm finally back!" She squealed in excitement, "I can't wait for the activities!"

"We're glad to see you too Bree," Leon laughed, the girl's excitement was infectious. Bree had been crushed underneath a falling tree at summer camp three years ago back when they were around thirteen, and hadn't been allowed to come since; being here was a miracle for her.

Bree grinned widely, dark brown hair up in a low ponytail, amber eyes gleaming happily. "It's so good to be back! I haven't seen you guys in what feels like forever!" She squealed, throwing her arms into the air happily.

"That's cause it's been a while," Cynthia laughed, sapphire blue eyes twinkling, "you haven't seen any of us for quite some time, Bree."

"Besides Jay of course," Holly inputted, looking down at Bree, black hair dangling down off the edge of her bunk, head hanging over the edge. "How's that medical boarding school with my grump of a twin brother?" Jay was Holly twin brother that looked partially like her, with black hair and blue eyes, but he was blind and had so many premature streaks of gray that he was often described as he had black and gray speckled hair.

"He's not that grumpy," Bree defended her best friend, "and it's a lot of fun! It's really cool learning about the different remedies and ways to fix things!" She grinned happily. Bree went to a medical boarding school in Oregon that specializes in most areas of the medical field, after her accident with the tree her dream was to design and create ways for doctors and medical personnel to more efficient ways to help people no matter the problem. "I can't wait to finish my project!"

"What project?" Cynthia asked curiously, "I hope it's more interesting than my boring musical." She snorted and everyone laughed at the comment. Cynthia was as busy as Holly, with her hopes set on being a singer more than a youtube singer and a chemical engineer, the girl was really busy, so busy she did most of her schooling online. The schooling she didn't do online was usually her different clubs and chemistry which were taken in Washington at the same high school Leon and Holly went to.

"You mean the musical that all three of us got dragged into?" Holly sighed, "I don't like singing!"

"Well, I got permission to work on that chip that would allow me to think about what my chair should do and make it do it!" Bree grinned happily, "But that's not what we're here for! It's spring camp!"

"If I'm so grumpy then how come I'm the only one to get my brother something from dinner?" Jay grunted, walking into the cabin and kicking off his shoes before going over to them all, a paper plate in his hands, piled with food Leon would eat.

Cynthia grinned mischievously, leaning forward across her bunk, "Because I didn't get to eat here." With that statement, she leaned further forward and pressed her lips to Leon's in an innocent kiss. Leon could vaguely taste chocolate through the kiss and nearly laughed. Cynthia was Leon's girlfriend as well as one of his best friends, while they didn't see too much of each other besides camps, math class, and a few clubs, the relationship that had started last year was still going strong if anything it was stronger than ever. But they weren't often couple like preferring to stay with one foot in the friend zone and one foot beyond and keeping most of their couple actions in private and to themselves and a select few of their friends.

"Your sisters gave you Belgium chocolate again didn't they?" Leon chuckled as she moved back to her bunk with a smug grin, the taste of the rich chocolate that was Cynthia's favorite candy vaguely registering in his mind, "What'd they decide to surprise you with this time?" He asked, accepting the plate Jay was grumpily trying to offer him.

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 _Pretending_

 _(Cinderblaze)_

Cynthia slipped into the house and froze, having been gone at swimming practice for a few hours she had no idea that Hadara's parents had come over. "Oh, hello," she smiled a bit nervously, obviously unsure why they were staring at her like that. She skirted around the coffee table over to Leon and Holly, Leon's amber eyes fixed on the few water droplets tracing her facial features and dripping onto the vest she was wearing over her t-shirt.

"Dad," Hadara spoke softly, blue eyes gentle and kind, but also slightly concerned. "This is Cynthia."

"How come she's here?" Her father asked in a gruff tone.

Jay opened his mouth but nothing came out. Moments later Holly saved him from getting on Hadara's parents' bad sides.

"She's Leon's girlfriend." Holly quickly made up as Jay floundered for something to say. Leon's amber eyes widened and he briefly glanced at his sister, almost paling at the made up story. Holly's green eyes glittered with a plead that only he and Cynthia could see, pleading for them to go with it. Cynthia looked between them both for a moment before she hesitantly went along with the lie, leaning over the back of the couch and pressing a short kiss to Leon's cheek before greeting him, blue eyes hiding confusion and alarm.

"Hey Leo," She murmured, a bit uneasy as she propped her head up on her arms folded on the top of the couch.

"Hi Cyn," He responded as affectionate as he could, returning the brief cheek kiss before flicking a water droplet away from one of her blue eyes.

After it was silent for a moment with Hadara's father still looking protective and menacing, Cynthia got to her feet and picked up her swimming gear duffle bag once again, "I'll be right back, come on Holly, you too Leo."

"Okay Cindy," Holly sighed and followed her friend, Leon on her heels.

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"You want us to act like we're a couple?!" Leon almost shouted.

"Holly are you insane?! We can't pull that off!" Cynthia exclaimed, she looked like she was ready to either pass out or pinch herself to see if she was dreaming.

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 _Boring Office Work, Cynthia and Ashton Background_

"No!" Cynthia snapped at her mother, blue eyes gleaming furiously, "I'm not dropping all of my sports just because you want me too! I'm handling all of the expenses on my own and you don't have to do anything!"

"It's distracting you from your schoolwork!" Sarah replied cooly, irritated at her daughter's stubborn refusal to drop a few things and free up her schedule.

Cynthia rolled her eyes, "one 'b' out of eight a's isn't going to kill my GPA or anything for StarClan's sake! And I'm sorry about it but it's not at all sports related! Hello, are you blind?!" She exclaimed gesturing frustratedly, "I'm sometimes busy with my college classes too mom! And I don't know about you, but I think they are more important seeing how I can get a degree with them!"

Miles glanced between his sister and his mother, it wasn't uncommon for his mother to get into an argument with his favorite sister who was the middle child and hated being told what to do, usually he would just wait it out, but the preteen had a soccer practice starting in ten minutes and he knew Cynthia needed to go to the library to finish an essay she had to write. "Hey, mom?"

"If you flunk high school then you can't go to college, Cynthia!"

Cynthia spluttered indignantly, usually, she had a near perfect GPA, but she was still adjusting to having both high school and college classes, a part-time job, and a chemistry degree course she had just started last month.

Miles got to his feet and grabbed his bag, "Mom! Cindy's taking me to my soccer practice! Come on Cindy!" He grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her out the front door toward her car.

"We will finish this when you get back Cynthia!" Sarah called to her youngest daughter

"I have other things to do!" Cynthia snapped back before she got into her car with a short roll of her blue eyes and buckled in before starting the vehicle. She then started reversing out of the driveway, her temper quietly simmering beneath the surface.

"I'm sorry, she wants you to drop all of your sports." Miles said quietly from his position buckled in the backseat on the passenger side, "you don't deserve it."

"Well with a pair of twin sisters older than me that got full ride scholarships to their colleges she's decided she has to have a daughter who has a perfect high school GPA and all that other bullocks." Cynthia shrugged, driving towards Miles' practice and hiding how upset she really was.

"You going to the library?"

"Yeah, Holly's meeting me at the library across from the soccer field," Cynthia told her younger brother easily, "So when you're finished with practice can you walk over to the library? Or do you have your phone on you?"

"I'll walk over, Mom has my phone," Miles replied disappointedly, "I didn't score last game and she's had it since."

"You should've told me." Cynthia sighed, glancing at her brother through the rear view mirror, "I'll give you my spare if your team goes somewhere after practice let me know and I'll pick you up afterward." She said as they slowed to a stop next to the field, she pressed a small button on the roof near her rear view mirror and a compartment for sunglasses popped open, revealing her spare phone.

"I'll never understand how mom hasn't found out that you have that." Miles shook his head slightly and caught the small smartphone when she tossed it to him.

"Oh she knows I have it," Cynthia shrugged, "but she can't take it away seeing how I bought it and I'm the one paying for its usage."

"Genius." Miles grinned, "total genius."

"Eh, Holly gave me the idea." Cynthia smirked and watched her brother climb out of the small car, "have fun at soccer practice, kick a few goals for me will you?"

"Of course!" Miles smiled before he slung his bag over his shoulder, shut the door, and jogged into the field while his sister headed towards the library.

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Cynthia dropped her book bag on top of the library table with a small thump, the book bag was crammed with all of her textbooks, notebooks, and other supplies that made she feel like she was constantly carrying a fifty-pound weight on her back.

Holly jumped at the noise and jerked her head up to look up at the source before she relaxed at the sight of her best friend. "Jeez, Cindy, trying to give me a heart attack?" She joked before she went seriously after Cynthia just directed a half-hearted glare towards her. "What happened now?" She asked, watching her unpack some of her supplies.

Cynthia snorted and rolled her eyes as she pulled a few books, notebooks, a pencil, dark blue clickable pen, her light blue laptop, and a thick binder from her bag. "You mean besides the fact that she wants me to quit every sports team I'm on? Nothing really."

Holly knew who the 'she' was referring to, she knew about Sarah's perfectionist behavior that clashed with her stubborn and scatterbrained daughter. "What? What happened now?" Their relationship really hadn't changed much from when they were kids and before Cynthia moved to England for ten years when Holly was six, and it was apparent that they still trusted each other a whole lot.

"I got a b plus in my health class _ **(It's required where I live ^-^)**_ because I wasn't there that one day due to a college class conflict and she completely freaked out." Cynthia snorted, sitting down across from Holly and opening both the binder and one of the textbooks, "seriously, she got the report card and looked at for barely a second, before she yelled for me to come see her despite the fact that I was the one who handed it to her and literally two feet away from her."

"Ouch," Holly winced, while she was extremely intelligent and was in nearly every AP and honors class available at their school, nobody was taking more classes than her friend, what they were doing right now was extremely rare, usually Cynthia was at work, at afternoon college classes, or busy with her chemistry course, leaving her with barely any free time, something she didn't particularly seem to mind. "Well she can't go any more extreme can she?"

"Nope," Cynthia replied distractedly as she started to work on her massive pile of homework and other things to do, "unless she decides to emancipate me, which wouldn't be so much of a bad thing."

"You could always come live with me and Jay if she does," Holly smiled, getting back to work on her math.

"True, so there's nothing else she can do to make it worse than she already has." Cynthia decided before going silent, buckling down on her school work and focusing on it. Little did she know that something more extreme was coming soon, something that would change her life forever and leave many scars, both visible and nonvisible to the human eye.

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"Cynthia, meet Ashton," Sarah smiled at her daughter as she introduced the boy who was three years older than her daughter, "he's new in town."

Cynthia studied the boy for a moment before she smiled kindly and extended her hand for him to shake, "hi, I'm Cynthia."

"I'm Ashton," the boy smiled back and shook her hand. He was taller than her, the top of her head barely reached his nose, he had messy light brown hair with random darker areas, icy blue eyes, a tall stature, broad shoulders, and a strong build like a football player. He was dressed in black jeans, a gray t-shirt, a red plaid long sleeve rolled up to the elbows, and black converse. "You're very pretty," he complimented and Cynthia blinked in surprise.

"Oh, uh... Thanks?" Cynthia blinked, unsure how she was as he said pretty, she wasn't wearing anything special, just denim skinny jeans, a navy tank top under an azure half sleeve shirt, converse of many blue shades, and a midnight blue active jacket tied around her waist with a black backpack slung over one shoulder, she had just gotten back from finishing yet another essay at the library.

Ashton smiled at her, "just speaking the truth."

"Right…" Cynthia said and released the handshake, his grip had been firm and she wasn't so sure about this guy.

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Cynthia tucked her phone into her pocket, having just told Holly that she couldn't meet her at the library because she was busy and couldn't come. Lying to her friend stunk, but she didn't want to tell Holly about the boy her parents had arranged for her to meet.

"What's wrong?" Ashton asked her, looking over at her through curious and concerned blue eyes, loosely grasping one of her wrists as an attempt to get her attention focused on him.

Cynthia shrugged, using her free hand to tuck her bangs behind one ear and kept walking, "Nothing, just telling a friend I'm busy at the current moment." She replied as they continued to walk through the park, an activity suggested by Ashton himself.

"Thanks for coming with me," Ashton smiled a lopsided grin at her, "Isn't this nice?"

"Yeah," Cynthia replied with an attempt at being nice to him. ' _This is ridiculous, I like having friends and all, but I don't have enough time to split it between all of my friends, Bree, Jay, Holly, and now Ashton. I have too much stuff to do...'_ She mentally groaned, ' _Why do my parents have to set me up with a guy I don't even know? How come I have to deal with this while my sisters don't?'_

"How's your brother? He's a pretty funny guy." Ashton inquired, curious about her younger sibling while looking at her, a funny feeling in his gut making him a little nervous.

"He's okay," Cynthia replied with a small laugh, "missed kicking the soccer ball yesterday and landed in a faceful of mud, but he recovered afterward, although he complains that he can't smell anything besides the mud." Ashton laughed at her words, completely amused by her brother's actions.

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' _Oh no,'_ Cynthia groaned as Ashton got closer to her, ' _why didn't I see it earlier? He's got a crush on me!'_ "Um, Ashton, I don't like people getting that close to my face," she said weakly, "I'm a little claustrophobic." Which was true, she did happen to be claustrophobic at close quarters and really didn't like people close to her face.

"Oh, sorry," Ashton said with a little disappointment, stepping out of her personal space, blue eyes a little sad.

"It's okay," Cynthia smiled, ' _I don't want him to have a crush on me! I really don't! Oh StarClan, this sucks!'_

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' _I'm late for the course! Crap!'_ Cynthia panicked and missed what Ashton had said. She started when Ashton grabbed her wrists, forcing her to look at him, ' _I don't like this…'_

"You didn't answer my question," Ashton said, his blue eyes curious, "how come?"

"Because I'm running late for something and you aren't letting me go to it," Cynthia replied coolly before flinching in pain as he flicked her in the nose. "Ow! What the heck was that for?!" She snapped at him and got flicked again. They struggled for a while, Cynthia snapping at him and Ashton replying by flicking her, finally, after ten minutes Cynthia was silent and didn't dare say anything, looking down at her feet, the tip of her nose red like she had a cold, the color from the repetitive physical replies.

"Why didn't you answer my question?" Ashton repeated his earlier question, blue eyes glinting with violence but still curious.

"I'm sorry," Cynthia replied quietly, not daring to say anything else, the pain still tingling through her nose was a good reminder of not to bother him.

"It's okay," Ashton smiled and let her go, "Come on, let's get you home." He slung one arm around her shoulders, gripping the opposite shoulder with a grip tight enough to make her arm briefly tingle with pain, a reminder of not to rebel against him.

' _I hate you, Sarah.'_ Cynthia thought, tears pricking the corners of her sapphire blue eyes, ' _It's your fault for making me meet him.'_

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Cynthia let her attention stray as she was forced to walk through the park with Ashton once again, an event that happened at least once a week. She ignored the pain in her left wrist, the one that Ashton had a firm grip on. She hated Ashton, he repeatedly hurt her and she loathed him, but she hated her mother even more, enough that she didn't talk to her, either she gave her the cold shoulder or they were arguing about something or other. Despite all of the time she spent with Ashton, she still kept her perfect GPA in school and was still passing the chemistry course with flying colors, but it was a severe struggle, one that she knew eventually she was going to lose. She barely got any sleep, studying all night, and forced herself to choke down some kind of caffeine to keep her brain working well enough that she wasn't going to pass out in the middle of class, and she hated caffeine with a passion.

"Cynthia?" Cynthia jumped and quickly reigned in her straying attention to Ashton as he squeezed her upper arms to get her attention.

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 _Wow… Who Knew? AU_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 16 ½_

 _Holly, Jay- 17 ½_

 _Haliah, Paige- 18_

 _Diana, Ivory- 16 ½_

" _I haven't been to a real school since I was ten," Cynthia shrugged as she walked alongside Leon, "I don't really want to with all of the attention I'll get."_

 _Leon nodded, "I know what you mean, I'm a professional basketball player and there's a whole lot of attention."_

" _Don't you play for the Thunderbolts?" Cynthia inquired curiously, looking over at the golden blonde, it was strange being around another teenager without anyone constantly talking to her about something or other involving her music or the teenager geeking out because they got to meet her, so far Leon hadn't done any of that, the teen just acted like she was normal teen his age, and she appreciated it._

" _Yeah," Leon said, looking startled, "how'd you know?"_

 _Cynthia shrugged, "I watch their games and they're my younger brother's favorite team, so I know the players' names."_

 _Leon smiled, "that's cool, how old is he?"_

" _He's eight," Cynthia shrugged, "and sports fascinate him, do you have any siblings?"_

" _Yeah, I've got a pair of twin other siblings…"_

:) :) :) :)

"Today we have new kids in our class," Clark announced, interrupting Holly's thoughts about a messed up line in her artwork. "I hope you all will treat them like you do everyone else in the school and don't exclude them from anything." He took out his reading glasses and put them on before he started to call roll. "Holly Bramble?"

"Here!" Holly chirped, not looking up from her drawing and carefully erasing a line.

"Jay Bramble?"

"I'm here." Jay said curtly, "however, my attention isn't." He rolled his blind blue eyes, fingers brushing over the raised bumps of his braille book.

"Leonardo Bramble?"

"I swear we go through this every day!" Leon complained, "It's Leon! Not Leonardo!"

"Diana Fernades?"

"Here!" Diana replied enthusiastically, imitating Bree's usual happy greeting.

"Ivory Fernades?"

"Present." Ivory replied, sneakily busying herself on her phone through a conversation with Braxton.

"Finli Fillip?"

"Here," Finli replied in a quiet but firm voice, he was watching Holly draw, twirling a pencil in his fingers.

"Ben Grayas?"

"Here," Ben replied with a small raise of his hand, he was sitting next to Diana and his younger sister, baby blue eyes calm and curious.

"Breanna Grayas?"

"I'm here!" Bree chirped cheerfully, looking at Clark, her amber eyes bright and alert.

"Cynthia Lawson?"

"Here," A distinctly British voice spoke up from the back of the room and everyone turned to look at one of the new students. She didn't react to the people staring at her -probably used to it by now- and instead continued to read with her head bent, blacks bang hiding her face, but everyone knew who she was, it didn't take rocket science to recognize the Middren popular teenage singer Cynthia Lawson with the stage name SapphireSinger _**(in honor of her blue eyes :D)**_

' _What's up with our school and teenage celebrities?'_ Holly wondered, not that she was complaining, her own siblings were, her younger brother Leon was an athlete for a professional basketball team, and Jay's fame wasn't well known, but he held a world record for the best teenage chess player, something that fit her grumpy brother rather well. Not to mention one of her friends was, her brother Jay's best friend Bree was probably the youngest technological genius in the world, her gadgets and devices were used all over the world, including her interactive projector, which their school used in practically every class room.

"Haliah Lawson?"

"Here!" Haliah replied and everyone looked at her too, probably since she was new and was related to Cynthia.

"Paige Lawson?"

"Here," Paige spoke, her British accented voice a little soft as she fidgeted under everyone's looks, feeling a little shy.

"Hadara Mason?"

"Here," Hadara replied from where she was sketching something, not staring at any of the new kids, she how it felt and didn't want to inflict it on someone else.

As class started and Clark got everything together and started passing out the assignments for the day, Holly noticed that Leon was still looking at Cynthia a bit of strange look on his face. "What's wrong Leon?" Holly whispered, asking her younger brother out of curiosity and closing her drawing pad as Clark reached their table.

"Nothing," Leon replied, still looking at the other celebrity.

Cynthia looked up a moment later, noticing that only one person was looking at her. Her blue eyes widened when she realized it was Leon and she held his gaze evenly, only looking away when Clark reached her table.

Holly watched the exchange, "are you sure Leon?"

"Nothing's wrong," Leon confirmed, facing forward and starting to work on the math assignment, "I'm just surprised."

"Surprised about what?"

Leon lowered his voice a little and leaned forward on his elbows, "remember that contest that mom signed me up for where the winner got to do a duet with her last summer?"

"Of course," Holly smirked slightly, "you totally freaked out about it when you won."

"That's not the point," Leon hissed before calming down, "after the whole singing thing I was allowed to just walk with her around the park, we had a conversation regarding school and how she was home schooled due to her popularity and she didn't want to be swarmed by people if she went to a real school. She said she wouldn't go to a school, yet here she is."

Holly glanced back at the singer and noticed that she was watching Leon, studying his profile closely. "So she's here because you convinced her to go to a school?"

"I guess, that's why I'm surprised," Leon replied, "she's meet hundreds of people every day since she was ten, yet somehow she decided to listen to me and go to my school."

"Well our school would be the perfect place," Holly pointed out, finishing the assignment and putting it on top of her drawing pad, "we have a whole lot world record holders and celebrities, I mean, you're one yourself."

"Yeah, but I didn't think she'd change her mind," Leon replied before he focused on their assignment, math wasn't his strong suite.

Holly in the mean time watched Cynthia out of the corner of her eye, she watched how she easily finished the assignment and pulled out a sketch pad from her bag and started to draw something Holly couldn't see, but she did see her frequently glance up at Leon as she drew. ' _Huh, I wonder what she's drawing.'_

"Holly say hi!" Bree smiled as she turned around and faced Holly, Leon, and Haliah. "Haliah's new and she's really cool!"

Haliah blushed, "I'm not all that cool, my sister's the cool one."

"No, you're just as cool!" Bree grinned.

Holly laughed, "Haliah, meet Bree, the most hyper person in the school and a world known tech genius."

Haliah's eyes widened, "Really? There are more celebrities here?"

"Yup!" Bree smiled wider, "Leon's an athlete for the Thunderbolts!"

Haliah looked surprised, "he's here too?"

"Yeah, I'm right here," Leon replied distractedly, struggling through the math work, "Nice to meet you Haliah."

Haliah smiled, "it's my pleasure, Leon. Aren't you the one who won the singing contest a while back?"

Leon blushed and looked over at the three of them, "my mom signed me up for it, but yes, that was me, and your sister's an interesting person might I add."

Haliah nodded, glancing over at her younger sister, "she's quite the complex person, although she seems to find you interesting."

"Why do you say that?" Leon asked, watching her in confusion.

"She's drawing you," Haliah replied, nodding toward her sister.

Leon looked back at Cynthia who didn't look up from her drawing, a dark blue pen in one hand as she outlined the final lines with the dark blue ink. "How do you know she's drawing me?"

"Well she keeps looking up at you as she draws," Haliah replied with a smile, "and she has a tendency to do it a lot anyway."

"What?" Leon shook his head in confusion, "I only met her that once."

"Correction, you've only see her in person once," Haliah replied, "but sometimes she's required for half-time at a lot of your games so she sees you all the time, and we get tickets to the games quite often."

"Huh," Leon said, looking back at Cynthia, "I can't decide it that's weird or slightly cute."

Haliah smiled a bit cheekily as if she knew her sister could hear what they were saying, "think of it as cute, since she has a major crush on you."

Cynthia looked up at her sister and narrowed her blue eyes just a little, a silent warning that she was definitely going to kill her later.

Leon's eyes widened and he looked at Cynthia, silently asking if what Haliah said was true.

"No," Cynthia replied simply, her expression completely straight and normal and so was her voice. "I don't have a crush on you or anyone else."

Leon looked both a little relieved and a little disappointed as he turned back around and got to work on his assignment.

Holly looked at her brother, she knew how much of a crush he had on the singer despite the constant refusals he defended himself with. ' _Oh well, maybe one day Leon.'_

Haliah locked eyes with her younger sister, ' _Paige and I know that you chose here since Leon's here, Cindy.'_ She communicated and Cynthia narrowed her blue eyes.

' _Even if I did it's my problem, not your Haliah, and personally, I want it to last.'_ Cynthia replied in the same way, her forearms covering her drawing.

Haliah felt a little bad for her sister, while she and Paige were normal teenagers and had always gone to a public or charters school, their younger sister has been home schooled since she was ten, and isolated from normal teenage things due to her musical career, meaning she had never had a crush before and it probably both scared her and intrigued her, something that didn't happen that often. ' _I'm sorry, I forgot that it's all new for you.'_ She communicated sincerely.

Cynthia's blue eyes softened and she shrugged, meaning she wasn't worried about it anymore.

Haliah took her assignment and sat down next to her sister, "what did you draw this time?" she whispered, "and can you help me?"

"Sure," Cynthia replied to her question and pushed the drawing over so Haliah could see it.

Haliah smiled and glanced up at Leon, her sister was an amazing drawer when she wanted to be, and in reguards to Leon, the drawings were always spot on and detailed to how she saw him. The current drawing displayed Leon how he was sitting right now, his back facing her, leaning on his elbows so his posture was slouched, his golden blonde hair messy and spiked with a small area of hair that seemed to refuse to cooperate with him. The drawing itself displayed his earlier confusion at his assignment, the pouting style of his posture, and the texture of Leon's hair. "It's really good, Cindy." She said softly, looking at her sister with a smile.

Cynthia shrugged modestly before she leaned towards Haliah and started helping her with the assignment.

:) :) :) :)


	79. Childhood Adventures

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- okay! I'll get to work! XD After I finish the stories in the sneak peek chapter awhile back! XD Any preferences for which ones to finish first second and third?**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro- I'll finish them soon! :D :D XD As for the whole StarClan thing, I wanted to make the story a little more familiar to us warriors fans so rather than the typical things people say in replace of "Oh Starclan" I decided to use the whole StarClan thing like the characters in the Warriors books does! :D It's for a sense of familiarity and to rid the story of all or nearly all (there are a few occasions I think) the swearing! ^-^**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- Apparently I'm going to finish them all, any preferences?**_

 _ **Hey, guys! :D I want to start this as a series similar to the singing one-shots, let me know if you guys want it too! :D**_

 _ **So I finally finished another one of the stories in the sneak peek chapter! :D I'm hoping to write some more of these like I did the Singing Talent one-shot series, but only if you guys want me too! :D**_

 _Childhood Adventures # 1_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 6_

 _Holly, Bree, Jay- 7_

 _Haliah and Paige- 7 ½_

 _:) :) :) :)_

 _Descrips for Charries as kids_

 _ **Cynthia** \- A six-year-old girl with innocent and round sapphire blue eyes and shoulder length black hair that's usually braided in a fishtail braid with a medium sized light blue flower covered hair clip pinned on the right back area of her hair. She wears lighter denim overalls, a light gray t-shirt, white and light gray converse style shoes with a favorite denim jacket that she takes everywhere, and usually has a small stuffed golden retriever named "Goldy" in the chest pocket of her overalls. She loves mischief, creating things, and is extremely curious._

 _ **Leon** \- A six-year-old boy with round and curious amber eyes and short messy golden blonde hair. He wears denim shorts and a darker gray t-shirt with the words, "Six whole years of awesome," under a gray and white checkered short sleeve button down that's always unbuttoned, and black and gray _hightops _. He usually has a stuffed football in one of the checkered shirt's pockets that he could actually play catch with along with a stuffed wolf called "Fang" stuffed in the other pocket. He is excited, intelligent, and loves helping his friends and siblings._

 _ **Jay** \- A seven-year-old boy with grumpy and irritated blind baby blue eyes and medium length messy black hair (there's no gray! *gasp!*) that tends to flop in front of his blue eyes. He wears stuff his mom picks that tends to be a navy blue button down with it rolled up at the elbows with khaki shorts, white converse, black sunglasses hanging from a leather cord around his neck, and the stuffed blue jay named "Aqua" sticking out on a back pocket that he joins Bree in a game of make-believe animals all the time. Jay is excitable, curious, and often times grouchy from lack of sleep._

 _ **Holly** \- A seven-year-old girl with intelligent emerald green eyes and black hair that reached her shoulders with a white rose clip near her left ear. She usually wears white capris, an oceanic green t-shirt with the words, "Seven sassy" with a golden arrow below it with the golden lettering, green converse, a white cardigan that she doesn't button up and leaves it unbuttoned. She usually carries around a collection of pop-up books in a small green backpack that she wears practically everywhere and usually has her stuffed black cat named "Blacky" in one of her cardigan's pockets. Holly is a very smart and cheerful girl who loves to have her younger brother choose a book for her to try and read to him._

 _ **Bree** \- A seven-year-old girl with bright and happy amber eyes and dark brown hair usually up in a ponytail with a braided _headband _and a golden flower clip in her hair near her right ear. She usually wears denim capris, a light gray t-shirt with small smiley emojis and a large laughing emoji on the stomach and light orange sleeves, light gray sandals, and a small backpack full of stuffed animals of many kinds and colors, although she's usually holding onto her favorite one, a dark brown horse she calls Carrots._

:) :) :)

Sarah didn't trust many people with her youngest daughter, the reason? The black haired blue eyed child was a handful and secretly mischievous and very curious. Not to mention she had a habit of putting things together and ending up with some unusual result. She glanced over at her six-year-old daughter who was building something out of legos, the small bricks spread out around her so she was half buried in the toys, the thing she was building was on her lap and looked like it was going to be a house of some sorts. She needed to take her two-year-old son to the doctor but didn't want to leave her daughters alone at home without any supervision, she did not want to come back to toothpaste splattered all over the bathroom walls once again. When her youngest daughter Cynthia was four years old she had somehow managed to rig all the toothpaste bottles into exploding.

 _"Mom!" Haliah screamed, running down the stairs to where her mother had just come home from doing some errands. "Cindy made a huge mess!"_

 _"Alright, let's go see it." Sarah sighed, wholeheartedly believing her daughter, knowing Cynthia probably did make a mess._

 _"Look!" Haliah tugged her mother into the first floor's bathroom where Sarah stopped in shock. Cynthia was sitting quietly on the floor, the small child shrinking away from Paige, some of her father's tools scattered on the floor along with other things like bobby pins, towels, soaps, and ruined toothpaste bottles. The entire bathroom was covered in light blue toothpaste, splattered everywhere, in all three of her daughters' hair, the walls, sink, bathtub, cabinets, floor, everywhere._

 _"W-what? Cindy, what happened here?" Sarah asked, gawking at her daughter._

 _Cynthia brightened at the sight of her mother and smiled at her, throwing her hands into the air, "Boom!" She giggled, "Toothpaste go splat!"_

 _"I see that… but how?" Sarah shook off the shock and went over to her, picking her up with the intent of giving her a bath._

 _"I did it!" Cynthia giggled, looking overjoyed at the whole situation, "I used Daddy's tools!" that stopped Sarah in her tracks._

Since that incident, Cynthia was not allowed any access to her father's carpenter tools, and Sarah and Bracken bought a bunch of legos for the curious girl. Only half of the Legos remained, the other half had been either melted, shredded, exploded, or ruined by Cynthia sneaking into her father's office and borrowing his tools and equipment. Despite Sarah's attempts of hiding the tools Cynthia always managed to find them and do something or other. Last year she had stolen all the marshmallows and made a catapult to launch them, handfuls at a time.

 _"Look!" Cynthia chirped, pulling Haliah's small wagon into the living room, "Catapult!" the girl grinned while her family stared at her in worry and concern._

 _"Cindy, don't shoot me!" Haliah yelped, hiding behind her mother and sister._

 _"Cindy," Sarah sighed, "You know you're not supposed to be playing with your dad's tools."_

 _The girl's expression dropped to a sulking pout and she looked down at the floor, obviously upset._

 _"Show us what it can do baby girl," Bracken urged her, as always, he was curious about what she had built this time._

 _Cynthia brightened and let go of the wagon, going over to where she had the catapult stationed inside. Taking a handful of missing marshmallows she put the marshmallows into the catapult and pulled back on it before letting go and sending marshmallows flying all over the room. "It throws marshmallows!"_

So she wasn't too keen on the idea of dropping them off at Skylar's house where Miley was watching Skylar's kids along with her own, it was just asking for problems. Especially since Leon, Skylar's son and Cynthia's best friend was there. The two children often got into a whole lot of mischief on their own and were even worse when they were together. Of course, she could take them there, but that would end badly with her youngest daughter's curiosity and tendency to cause mischief. But then again, she didn't really have a choice, she needed to hurry if she was going to make it, and taking Cynthia with her was completely out of the question, she would get into way too much trouble. "Haliah, Paige," She sighed, looking at her set of seven-year-old daughters who were watching a movie on the handheld tablet they had gotten for Christmas last winter. "Get your shoes on, you're going to Skylar's." Cynthia's head snapped up to look at her mother with pleading blue eyes and Sarah sighed, "You too Cynthia."

Cynthia grinned a toothy grin and pushed herself to her feet, getting legos everywhere as she hopped up and ran off to her room to fetch her shoes.

:) :) :) :) :)

"Thank you so much, Miley," Sarah thanked her profusely as she let her daughters into the house, Cynthia scampering in and running off to find Leon and Holly.

"No problem Sarah," Miley smiled, "they'll be fine."

:) :) :) :) :)

"Go, Cindy!" Bree squealed, her round amber eyes locked on the six-year-old who was climbing on top of the counter and struggling to reach the cookie box they all had caught sight of.  
"Can't reach!" Cynthia complained, straining her short arms and wriggling her fingers in a desperate attempt to reach the box.

"Leon help Cindy!" Holly ordered, poking her younger brother in the chest, green eyes determined, "the cookies are ours!"

Leon looked at her through round amber eyes, "Kay," He said and went over to his friend before attempting to pick up the girl, giving her just enough leverage to grab the corner of the cookie box.

"Got it!" Cynthia squealed, and Leon took a few staggering steps back before tripping and sending them both to the floor with a small crash while Bree slid on the tile and caught the cookie box, keeping the cookies from breaking while Leon and Cynthia laughed, and giggled, the two young children giddy and excited. Even Jay looked excited.

Unfortunately, the crash woke up Miley and she yelled in surprise before she got to her feet and took the cookies away from the five kids, "how did you guys get to these?!" She asked in surprise before standing on her toes and tucking them away on top of the fridge.

:) :) :) :)

"Now what?" Cynthia asked Holly, her blue eyes round and curious, not sure what to do to get the cookies now.

"I don't know." Holly pouted, hanging her head in a pouting manner.

"I do!" Leon grinned lopsidedly, "Help me pick up Cyndy!"

:) :) :)

A few minutes later and the five children's plan was in action, Leon was standing a little wobbly with the smaller and lighter Cynthia on his shoulders, the goal was to get Cynthia up onto the counter, if they could get her up to the high counter, she could climb up onto the fridge with a little more help. "Careful!" Holly squealed at the two younger kids nearly toppled to the floor, "and hurry! Miley's going to wake up!"

Cynthia reached for the knobs of the cabinets hanging above the counter, if she could reach them then she could pull herself up onto the counter! "I almost reach it!" Cynthia strained a little more and managed to wrap her fingers around the knob of the cabinets. She then heaved herself up onto the countertop and smiled at the other four before reaching down and heaving Leon up onto the counter with her, "come on!"

She and Leon carefully walked along the top of the counter and over to the fridge, Leon knelt on the counter and Cynthia stood on top of him while the six-year-old clumsily got off his knees and stood up, keeping his back parallel to the counter and shakily lifting the other child up so she could jump onto the fridge. Holly and Bree gasped, the latter covering her amber eyes as Cynthia's fingers slipped when she jumped and the child nearly fell off before she steadied herself and heaved herself up onto the black stainless steel fridge where their prize was nestled on top in all of its foil packaged glory. Cynthia carefully edged towards the cookies, once she got close enough she pulled it to her and pulled open the container before handing a handful to Leon, "Got it!" She smiled and the other kids cheered.

Leon then stretched up on his toes and took the cookies from her, he then handed them down to Jay Holly and Bree, repeating the process a few more times before reaching up so Cynthia could pull him up onto the fridge with her. "Me too!"

Cynthia grasped ahold of his hand and heaved the bigger boy up onto the fridge with her, cookie crumbs littered around her mouth and face. "Hi!" She chirped to Leon and broke apart one of the Oreos before handing him one-half.

Leon smiled and took it from her before he dropped it into his mouth and chewed contently on the cookie half as Cynthia handed him another. "Hi, Cyndy!"

:) :) :)

That was what Skylar came back to, two snoozing kids on top of the fridge with no clue how to get down, and three other kids running around and playing tag while Sarah's oldest two were sitting on the couch and coloring. "Miley weren't you watching them?!" Skylar gasped, rushing over to the two six-year-olds up on the fridge, "Leon! How did you get up there?!"

"I was watching them!" Miley said, her eyes widening at the sight of both the situation and her hyper daughter who really didn't need any extra sugar.

Leon opened his amber eyes and yawned, "Mommy?" he mumbled, very drowsy and groggy.

"Leon come here, let's get you down from there!" Skylar said almost panicking at the sight of her youngest son about six and a half feet off the ground.

Leon mumbled and sat up, scratching his head and yawning, "I'm tired," he mumbled, looking down at his mother, apparently unfazed by how high up he was, "I was sleeping…" he mumbled, short blonde hair messy and ruffled.

"Come here Leon," Skylar gently urged her youngest, "you can go take a nap in your room with a movie playing, but you can't do that if you're up on top of the fridge!"

Sarah came in the front door and her brown eyes widened at the sight of her youngest daughter sleep up on top of the black kitchen appliance. "Oh, my StarClan! Cynthia!" She quickly put Miles on one of his other sisters' laps while she rushed over, knowing that her daughter was probably going to jump off the moment she heard her voice.

Cynthia stirred awake at her mother's voice and she sat up before she blinked awake and her blue eyes lit up at the sight of her mother. "Mama!" She smiled as Leon carefully scooted off the top of the fridge and dropped down into his mother's arms. "I got cookies!" She smiled and promptly got to her feet and jumped off the appliance.

Sarah ran a little faster and managed to catch her daughter, "Cynthia, will you please not do that? It's not safe!"

"Sorry…" Cynthia mumbled, hanging her head ashamedly, "sorry mama."

"It's okay Cynthia," Sarah sighed, just don't do it again."

"Okay," Cynthia mumbled and glanced over at Leon, locking eyes with him, mischief gleaming in the blue and amber depths.

 _ **Let me know if you want a series! :D XD They're so cute as kids! :D**_


	80. Contest Results, Leon Wins!

_**dragonwritergirl112- I'm going to start finishing and posting those after I finished all of the ones in the sneak peek chapter and the ones on the bottom of I Wanna Puppy Flynx**_

 _ **I'm on a roll today! :D XD Here's another chapter guys! :D I really need to finish the Great Battle humanized, I'm getting close to 100 chapters! XD**_

 _The Contest Results, Leon Wins!_

 _Cynthia, Leon, Jay, Bree, Holly- all older than twenty-four at the end_

Leon cuddled the newborn baby girl to his chest, amber eyes soft and gentle, "Thank you," he said to Cynthia, looking at his exhausted and literally dead tired wife, "She's going to be daddy's princess," he looked down at the baby girl whose hazel green eyes looked at him sleepily. _'I'm in the lead, this little angel's the first one.'_ "Lixa Leana Bramble. Welcome to the family princess."

:) :) :)

Holly cradled her son, body language tired but happy and content, her firstborn was named Connor Carson Fillip, and that made her tied with her younger brother Leon in their contest on who would have the most kids. _'Three's my limit, and I doubt Jay or Leon will have more than that.'_

"He's perfect, Holly," Finli whispered in her ear, brushing his thumb over the baby's cheek.

"I know."

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Cynthia's blue eyes slowly opened, her vision was foggy before she blinked a few times and Leon's face came into focus. Leon's mouth stretched into a soft smile, amber eyes gleaming with relief, "Cyn," He smiled, leaning over and kissing her forehead.

"I feel awful," Cynthia groaned, looking at him, blue eyes glazed with exhaustion.

"Well, you had a seizure about half way through." Leon pointed out before kissing her crown, "but you're awake and that's what matters."

"Where's…" She trailed off, not sure if he had named the baby.

"He's a boy," Leon smiled widely, taking the swaddled infant from a nurse and gently transferring him to Cynthia's arms, the infant already dozing, one hand in his mouth.

Cynthia was too tired to particularly care that she won the tiny bet between them and named him anyway. "Flynx Frederick Bramble." She mumbled, blue eyes sliding closed once again.

Leon wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pressed a short kiss to her temple, "Go to sleep Sunshine," He murmured and that's what Cynthia did.

:) :) :) :)

"Hi," Bree mumbled sleepily when Jay entered the room, still groggy from the anesthesia used on her for the C-section, looking at him tiredly.

"Hey," Jay replied, using one hand to guide him toward where she was, their newborn daughter nestled in his other arm, the baby girl's weight was strange and it made him that he was going to drop her. "How're you feeling?" He asked, his voice still as curt and grumpy as usual.

"Like I got hit by a truck," Bree replied with amusement before struggling into a sitting up position, her amber eyes lighting up at the sight of their dozing daughter. "Ooh! Let me see her!"

"Calm down, you're supposed to be resting," Jay grunted, gently pushing her back down into the half sitting up position she had been in before. "You don't want to hurt yourself."

"Jay, let me see her!" Bree whined, not putting up a fight when he pushed her down, "please!"

"Okay," Jay carefully found Bree's arms and carefully placed their daughter in her arms, silently disappointed that he couldn't see either of them.

Bree seemed to sense hs dreariness and she spoke, describing the baby girl to her blind father. "She has a little bit of fuzzy dark brown hair, a small nose, chubby hands, and freckles along her cheeks." Bree described her before letting out a small gasp when the baby opened her eyes and looked at her mother. Bree's amber eyes softened with love as she held the baby's gaze, "her eyes are an icy blue, lighter than yours."

"Caylee Caprice Bramble." Jay decided and Bree smiled, pulling him down to be sitting next to her.

:) :) :) :) :)

Holly's green eyes were bright and soft was she looked at the little girl nestled in her arms, she loved her already. "Your turn," she said quietly, looking up at Finli with a soft smile, "What do you want to name her?"

Finli smiled, his green eyes bright with love for his expanding family, "What about Minerva Melissa Fillip?"

Holly cracked a grin at the first name and chuckled, "It's perfect, Finli." She looked down the girl in her arms who looked back at her with sleepy blue eyes, "hi Minerva," she cooed, brushing the back of one of her fingers against the infant's cheek.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Finli held Minerva on his lap while he sat in a visitor chair next to Holly's hospital bed. Holly was introducing Connor to his youngest sister, the three years old excited at the prospect of his new sibling and was trying his best to be careful and gentle like his mother asked him to. "Mama?" Connor asked his mother, "can I touch her?"

Holly smiled, green eyes a little tired, but awake and loving, "Of course you can Connor, but be gentle."

Connor nodded and carefully touched the baby's cheek before giggling and looking at his mother.

Minerva babbled to her father, round blue eyes happy and curious.

Finli smiled as he watched his family, this was how they always wanted it, three kids of different ages.

Holly smiled as she watched her family, _'there is no way I'm going to lose now, not after_ Flynx's _birth. I love these guys, they are the best thing that has ever happened to me.'_ She looked up at Finli, "Kia, Kia Kira Fillip."

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Leon grinned widely at Cynthia, who looked like she was about to pass out, the twins had kept her in labor for thirty-six hours, a record that utterly annihilated their previous one of twenty-four hours with Flynx. "They're finally here Cyn, the twins are finally here."

Cynthia shifted into a little more comfortable position, she was holding the girl of the twins who was much smaller and weaker than her brother. "Yeah, after putting me through hell and back." She said with a hint of sarcasm, shifting the little girl who was lying against her chest, too tired to properly hold her.

"Worse than Flynx?" Leon asked her, settling in the visitor chair next to the bed, the boy twin in held in his arms.

Cynthia gave him a bland look and lifted one arm, displaying the IV she had in and had been connected to for the past few weeks, "What do you think."

Leon chuckled, "what're their names? I vote Miles Mathew Bramble for the boy."

"Cleo Cassandra Bramble for this one." Cynthia decided, rubbing her tiny daughter's back, smiling at her husband's choice of name for their second son.

Leon cracked a grin at the casual blending of their names to make their second daughter's name.

:) :) :)

Leon grinned at his siblings, the three siblings were over at his and Cynthia's, the three siblings, Bree, and Cynthia all visiting with each other. "I win the bet." He grinned smugly at his brother and sister from his position sprawled on part of the couch."I have four kids!" His grin changed to triumphant.

"And you are not getting any more!" Cynthia retorted hotly from where she was lying on her stomach on the floor with the pair of eleven-week old twins who of which were lying on their stomachs on a large soft blanket. Cleo was sucking on her mother's pinkie, apparently content to softly suck on her mother's fingers. Miles was cooing at his mother, raising his head and looking happily at her, occasionally reaching for her face, "No more kids!" Cynthia exclaimed, looking up at Leon, her blue eyes sharp with both playfulness and seriousness, she did not want any more seizures, headaches, and all of the other issues that occurred when she had been pregnant with Flynx and both of the twins.

Holly laughed, she was curled up in a recliner with a decently thick book, "I admit defeat," she said, looking up from her book and at her siblings, her brothers and her two sisters in law, "my three are enough."

"I'm dead last," Jay grumbled, he was sitting near his brother on the couch, blind eyes gazing distantly out in front of him, playing with a lock of Bree's hair as he did so.

"Sorry Jay," Bree laughed and paused the random game she was playing to kiss him on the cheek.

"You two have it easy… Flynx! Come back here Mr.!" Cynthia said, catching sight of her oldest son trying to escape with her phone out of the corner of her eye. The four-year-old was trying to get the device to turn on so he could play a game on it. "Park your butt right here, Mr," Cynthia said, pointing over to his racecar blanket on the carpeted floor.

Flynx didn't dare disobey her and pouted before he scurried over and plopped down on top of the blanket, fumbling with the small device and trying to turn it on for a moment before he gave up and tugged on his mother's shirt, "Can you help me?" He asked with a small whine, "it won't go on!"

"How do Bree and I have it easy?" Jay asked indignantly as Cynthia unlocked her phone and opened a game for her son to play, "I have to deal with both Bree and our daughter, and for Starclan's sake, she's Bree's daughter, meaning she is even more hyper than her mother."

"Hey!" Bree complained, "I am not annoying!"

"I didn't say you were annoying Firefly," Jay replied, using his preferred nicknamed for her (Firefly for the light they provide in the dark) "I just said you're hyper."

"Well, I'm hyper enough for both of us then!" Breen chirped, looking back down at her phone as Jay rolled his eyes.

"While you have one hyper child," Leon chuckled, amber eyes gleaming with laughter, "we have three."

"Which one's the calm one?" Holly asked, looking up from her book.

"This one," Leon grinned, picking up Miles from the blanket and tickling his stomach, getting a happy giggle from the infant and causing him to grab onto his fingers.

"He's the calm one?" Holly asked in surprise, "That's not calm Leon, he's pretty hyper."

"Maybe so," Cynthia interjected as she kept an eye on three of her kids, "but he isn't as bad as his twin, and even Lixa is more hyper than Miles." As she was talking, Cleo grabbed onto her mother's face and cooed. Cynthia then rolled her onto her back so Cleo could see her easier with her new found sight before she cooed back to her daughter, gently tickling her.

"I find that hard to believe, "Holly snorted, returning to her book after glancing up at Lixa who was playing quietly with a bunch of stuffed animals and was using her mother as the perfect playground to the stuffed toys.

"She's quiet right now because someone, said he would take her to the park later and play soccer if she was quiet." Cynthia glared at Leon,

Leon grinned guilty, carefully putting Miles back down on his stomach, "guilty as charged. But still, I win!"

"Yes Leon," Cynthia sighed with a roll of her eyes as she sat up and picked up the twins, noticing the slightly screwed expressions on the infants' face like they were going to cry soon, "You won your bet."

"Only because you and Cynthia are more frisky than the rest of us," Holly playfully teased and looked up to see their reactions.

Cynthia blushed and moved a little faster as she left the room while Leon didn't react and instead watched her leave before turning back to his siblings, "You guys totally owe me both the twenty dollars and the restaurant tickets," he said with a smug smirk, "I've been waiting to win this thing before I took her there."

"Really?" Bree looked surprised, "you haven't taken her there yet? Jay took me a while ago and I'm pretty sure Finli's taken Holly a few times."

Leon shrugged, "I wanted to both win the bet and prove there was a reason to my madness."

"Well I'm sure she'll love it, Leon," Holly smiled warmly at her brother, "I mean it's a tradition at this point, we have to go to our grandparents' restaurant with our partner."

"Yup, and that is why I wanted to win the bet so badly."

"Have you noticed that all of your kids besides the twins are three years apart?" Bree asked curiously.

"And that you have the oldest and youngest kids?" Jay inputted and Leon blinked in surprise.

"Huh, I didn't even realize that it makes it seem like we planned it didn't we? Well we didn't, all of them were quite the surprise, Lixa the most."

"Sure it was, Leon," Jay rolled his eyes.

"What? You don't believe me?"


	81. Bree's Past (Fighting For Love And Hope)

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- the last three? Pretending, Boring Office Work, Cynthia and Ashton's background and Wow... Who Knew? Okie Dokie! :D Pretending will be the easiest one! :D and I so agree they are adorable as kids! :D (Reply to Review For: Childhood Adventures)**_

 _ **I'll try! XD I'm not very good at writing Holly x Finli, can you tell? XD (Reply to Review For: Contest Results, Leon Wins!)**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- They are really cute aren't they? :D (Reply to Review For: Childhood Adventures)**_

 _ **Yay! You loved it! :D (Reply to Review For: Contest Results, Leon Wins!)**_

 _Bree's Past_

 _(Fighting For Love And With Constant Hope)_

Bree struggled up onto the kitchen counter, the six-year-old girl curious and wanting to play with her dad's abandoned laptop, "finally!" She chirped as she got up on top of the counter and laid down on top of it on her stomach while awkwardly pressing keys on her father's keyboard, "it's locked!" She whined a moment later and pouted, putting her head on her arms, looking at the bright blue sky background laptop screen. A moment later she had an idea and she clumsily pressed keys on the keyboard, opening up a backdoor to her father's laptop and typing something in, bypassing his password and essentially hacking into his computer.

That was where her father found her a little while later, lying on her back and watching some kind of cartoon with full access to her father's computer.

Gunner stared at her, "How did you get into that?" he asked in surprise, taking the computer from the young child to examine the screen, "how did you unlock it?"

"I use da keys!" Bree giggled, looking at her father innocently, "I wanted to play!

:) :) :) :)

Bree jumped and fell out of her chair as the circuits the eight-year-old was working on sparked, burning her finger tips. "Ow!" She then promptly put the burned fingers in her mouth, her amber eyes gleaming with disappointment and annoyance. "Stupid electronics," she mumbled under her breath before her round amber eyes widened as the door to her father's abandoned tinkering office opened to reveal her mother poking her head through the doorway.

"Bree!" Miley yelled in surprise, quickly walking over to her eight-year-old daughter and unplugging the circuits, "You're not supposed to be in here, this stuff's dangerous!"

"But it's fun mom!" Bree complained as her mother took her wrist and guided her out of her favorite room of the house, "I got him to talk!"

"Who?"

"My friend Lion!" Bree smiled tugging on her mother's arm, wanting to go back and work on her project, "he can say hello!"

:) :) :)

"Brad, Bree's not a normal kid-"

"She'll be a warrior Gunner," Brad sighed, looking at the nine-year-old girl who was watching them through curious amber eyes, "she's got the skills for it-"

"Watch this okay? If this doesn't impress you then she can be a normal warrior when she turns ten and I'm won't complain." Gunner said, taking out a small, flat, compact light chocolate colored digital tech watch, "Come here Bree, you want to show Brad something?"

"Sure!" Bree scampered over to her father and buckled the watch's band around her right wrist, "what do you want me to show him?"

"Your programming skills," Gunner smiled at his youngest daughter, eyes twinkling.

"Okay!"

"This should be interesting," Brad sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at her. "Show me whatcha got kid."

"Bree," Gunner asked his daughter, "can you make the lights in this room flicker on and off? Can you access the database without a password?"

"Of course!" Bree's amber eyes lit up with glee and she flicked her wrist before drawing a large rectangle, a holographic screen came into view the size and shape of Bree's selected box and Brad's eyebrows raised in surprise. Bree put her hands down on a holographic keyboard and her fingers flew over the holographic keys, typing in her own coding language and easily bypassing the group's cyber security without blinking an eye.

Brad's amber eyes widened, "what…"

Bree continued what she was doing, cracking the database's password within ten seconds before pressing a key and the lights flickered on and off at a constant rate. She looked over at her father, amber eyes bright and happy, "there daddy!" She smiled, throwing her hands into the air, the evidence of her success shown on the holographic screen, the database completely open and vulnerable, the lights still flickering on and off.

Brad stared at the young child, his shock and surprise apparent on his face, even his daughter her age who was extremely smart and probably smarter than he was, couldn't bypass the security that fast, nor could she crack into the database like that. "How… how did she do that?"

Gunner smiled and ruffled his daughter's hair, laughing at her indignant squeal, "I have no idea, she's been a little hacker since she was six, I have no idea how she does it."

"It's easy!" Bree smiled at her father, "it's like speaking a language!"

"What do you want to do with her Gunner?" Brad asked, studying the nine-year-old and her holographic screen, putting his hand through her screen.

"I want her technology inputted," Gunner replied with determination, "that watch she has is incredible! It's better than anything I ever could've done, I mean, she's unlocked holographic technology, Brad!"

Brad sighed, "okay, but she's going to have to make a lot more than the one she has, what else?"

"Ooh!" Bree grinned at the two adults, "I have drawings of automatic sliding doors! And holographic screens! And a whole bunch of other things!" she bounced around excitably, "It'll be so cool!" she threw her arms into the air and jumped at the last word, "I'm so excited!"

:) :) :)

"She'd be a good sniper," Brad commented as they watched the ten-year-old girl slide beneath a board flawlessly before she pulled back on the bow she was holding and let the arrow fly, a perfect bullseye once again.

"She's got enough energy to do both," Gunner inputted, watching his daughter dodge a few things and complete Sarah's course with flying colors.

"We'll train her as a sniper, her technology will be the second priority." Brad decided, watching the amber eyed girl promptly run over to his grumpy son and squeeze him in a hug until he complained indignantly.

"Hey! Get off!" Jay complained, focusing his baby blue eyes on the short girl who was hugging him around the waist.

"You look like you want a hug!" Bree chirped, her amber eyes gleaming with cheer.

"Fine…" Jay mumbled and let her hug him, his blue eyes softening slightly at her cheerful attitude.

:) :) :)

"Hey! Jay!" Bree chirped, the eleven-year-old looking up from her new prototype device lying in pieces in front of her on the cafeteria table to smile widely at her best friend, "wanna sit next to me?"

"Fine," Jay sighed and good-naturedly rolled his baby blue eyes before he sat down at the cafeteria table with her and his twin sister.

"Hey, how's it going?" Holly asked her brother, looking up from the book she was reading on her holographic screen, "having fun training?"

"No-"

"Yeah!" Bree grinned, interrupting him and promptly hugging him "cause I get to train with my best friend!"

Jay sighed and rolled his eyes before pushing her off of him and digging into his lunch while answering his sister's question, "the training itself? No, watching Bree dumbfound practically everyone? Yes."

"It's not my fault I can shoot a rifle properly!" Bree retorted indignantly, "and I have really good vision!"

"You both have good vision," Holly laughed, "Jay's sight is just as good as yours Bree."

"No," Jay snorted, "hers is better by about two percent."

Bree just grinned smugly before yelping when Jay put her in a headlock and gave her a noogie, "Jay! I don't want a noogie!" She complained, her voice full of laughter, squirming slightly in his hold, amber eyes gleaming with laughter and amusement.

"Well you're getting one anyway," Jay smiled, giving her another one before releasing her and continuing to eat his lunch.

Bree pushed her brown hair out of her face before she grinned at her friend and started eating her lunch as well.

If only they knew how quickly Jay's light-hearted spark could be snuffed out.

:) :) :) :)

"Argh!" Jay howled, the twelve-year-old sniper falling to his knees and clutching at his face, blood welling between his fingers and getting in his mouth, "I can't see!"

"Jay!" Bree jumped out of the tree she had been hiding in and swung on the lowest branch, knocking a few of the enemy troops down as she went, rushing towards her partner's position, "Holly! Jay's been hit! He can't see anything!" Her voice was panicked and scared, her partner could end up blind, something that would immediately kick him out of any sort of field duty.

"What? I'm sending Brad with a vehicle right now, he's close to your position!"

"Get out of the way!" Bree snarled, amber eyes flashing as the troops converged on the helpless sniper, without his vision, Jay couldn't do a gosh darned thing. She quickly pulled out one of the only melee weapons she had, a silver knife. Brandishing the weapon like she was trained to, the sniper fighter swiftly fought towards her friend, her anger and worry propelling her to do more faster.

Jay listened to the sound of metal against metal and cloth, his body was wracked with pain, his face hurt, it hurt really badly, everything was a haze of pain. ' _It hurts so bad…'_

"Come on Jay," Bree's voice filtered through the pain he was feeling, her breathing was heavy and rough, like she had been exerting herself, "I know you're in a lot of pain and I want to help you, but you have to trust me, do you trust me, Jay?"

"I…" Jay struggled through the haze, "I trust you… I trust you, Bree." His voice wavered and shook, shock setting in and making it harder for him.

"I'll do my best to keep you safe okay?" Bree said the twelve-year-old's clothing was splattered with the blood of those who injured her partner, "I'm going to tie a cloth around the gash okay? Hopefully, it'll help stop the bleeding, that sound okay?" Her hands shook as she pulled a square cloth from her bag and quickly made a blindfold style bandage before she carefully took his hands away from his bloodied face. She drew in a sharp breath before quickly tying the cloth around the gash, there was no way Jay was going to survive with his vision, that was bad, even her new healing device couldn't give him his vision back, she could heal his eyes and seal up the gash, but his sight wasn't coming back.

Jay heard her sharp intake of breath and spoke, his voice vulnerable and scared, "what?! What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you later, let's get off the battlefield first, piggy back time, get on."

"What?"

"Get on Jay!"

"Why-"

"I can't give you good enough directions so you don't fall, just get on my back okay?" Bree cut him off, her voice shaking, she had no idea was she was going to do out on the field with her best friend blind, she'd think about it later, right now she needed to help him.

:(

Bree disappointedly released the breath she had been holding, as she looked at her friend's face. Despite everything she had already known, she had hoped her device could heal the damaged nerves, broken sensory receptors, and sliced cornea and lens, but nothing could fix that kind of damage. "I'm so sorry," she breathed, looking at her friend's vulnerable face, she knew he wanted her to lie and say he would be just fine, but she couldn't do that, she couldn't lie to him. "Your vision won't recover, Jay," she breathed, "I can't fix it."

"What… I'm… I'm blind?" Jay asked, his voice stunned and confused, his previously bright baby blue eyes were now dull and distant, a sign that he couldn't see her, that he couldn't see anything.

"I'm sorry," Bree whispered her amber eyes glittering with sadness and empathy, "I can't do anything else."

"Why can't…" Jay started, his voice angry before he deflated, "it's okay."

It was quiet for a few moments before Jay panicked, thinking she had left, "Bree?!" He lifted his arms, trying to figure out where she was and if she had left or not.

Bree helped him out and leaned forward so his palm made contact with her forehead, "I'm right here," she replied softly, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Jay asked, his voice scared and frightened.

"I promise." Bree reassured him, her amber eyes locked on his unseeing blue ones, "I won't leave until you want me to."

:( :( :( :(

"Bree! Gosh, darn it! Let me go!" Jay struggled against Hadara who was holding him back from running back into the collapsing building that his friend was still inside of and hadn't managed to escape yet, "Bree!" he yelled as the building completely collapsed and a muffled scream was heard.

:(

Bree groaned as Jay moved her, they had finally gotten the I-Beam off her body and were currently moving her onto a stiff board stretcher, but Jay wasn't letting anyone besides Leah, help his friend, saying he was repaying his debt for what she had done when he had gone blind. "Leah is there anything we can do for the pain?" he grunted from his position now crouched down next to his stretcher bound friend and resting for a fever.

"The pain means she can feel what's going on," Leah replied and glanced at the amber-eyed thirteen-year-old whose face was screwed up in pain. "It's a good thing."

:( :( :( :(

"Here Jay!" Bree grinned, rolling over to her friend and excitedly putting a pair of what looked like sunglasses on the fourteen year old's face, "Look through it!"

"I'm blind Bree," Jay grunted, "I can't see a thing."

"Just try!" Bree chirped, "Please!"

"Ugh. fine." Jay grunted and opened his eyes before stumbling backward in surprise, "What is the world?!"

Bree giggled and grasped his wrists to keep him from falling backward, "it's a visor! It allows you to see infrared, incandescent light, and ultraviolet!"

"Are you serious?" Jay asked, focusing where she was, staring at where he could actually see her, not in color per say, it was more night visor like, with everything dark and tinted green, although he could also see her heat signature and a basic view of what in front of him.

"Yeah! Isn't it cool!" Bree grinned and her eyes widened when he leaned down and hugged her tightly, something he rarely did.

"Thanks, Bree."

"You're welcome Jay," Bree murmured and before she hugged him back and closed her eyes in the process.

:) :) :) :)

"Hey, Bree?"

The seventeen-year-old girl was startled when her AI L.I.O.N spoke up, causing her to promptly bang her head on the underside of his car body. "Ow! Holy StarClan ow!" Bree let her now pounding head drop back onto the mechanic's cart she was on. "Lion, warn me next time, will you? I'm not made of metal." Bree reprimanded the AI before using her arms and pushing the cart out from under him and sitting up, cradling her aching skull in her hands.

"Sorry, Bree…"

"It's okay, what did you want to ask?" Bree asked, regaining her naturally cheerful attitude and unscrewing the lid on her water bottle before taking a drink of the cool liquid.

"I am confused about something," L.I.O.N spoke, his British-accented voice curious and confused, "I have ever that all living things have a set of two parents is that not true?"

"Hm… Not really, plants don't have any, and cats can have a litter with multiple… you know what? I am not going there." Bree replied, her voice as usual when she was around lion was patient, and decently calm, "Anyway, not really, but let's say that everything does, what's your question?" She said.

"Then what're my parents? I know that I am not living, but do I still have parents?"

"Of course! I made you so I'm technically your mother in that aspect," Bree chirped and continued to drink her water.

"Then who's my father? Is it Jay?"

Bree choked and started coughing, too busy coughing to hide her burning face from her AI's view.

"Uh oh, you're blushing, did I say something wrong?"

"Nope," Bree wheezed and coughed some more, "Just wasn't expecting that question."

"Oh." L.I.O.N waited until she had stopped coughing and had recovered some of her composure before asking her again, "Is Jay my father then? He's around me as often as you are."

"I… I don't know Lion," Bree patted his silver hood, looking at the blue scanner on the front that slowly went from the right edge to the left edge. "You'd have to ask Jay."

"He'd have to ask me what?" Jay grunted, walking into Bree's workshop with a book under his arm.

"Can I ask you a question, Jay?" L.I.O.N asked politely.

"Fire away," Jay replied, sitting down in one of the office chairs Bree had and opening his book before starting to read, his fingers skimming over the bumps of his braille book.

"Bree created me so she is my mother, then are you, my father?"

Jay didn't even blink before he replied, looking at Bree out of the corner of his visor, "As long as Bree doesn't make me pay some kind of support or something, yes." He grumbled curtly, continuing to read.

Bree burst out laughing and so did Lion, the AI chuckling while Bree laughed and went back underneath her super car to finish installing the morphing technology. "There's your answer Lion," Bree laughed, "Jay and I are your parents."

"So I have a family?"

"You've had a family since the first time I started you up Lion," Bree said warmly to the machine, "but yes, now you have a full family."

"Yes!"

Now it was Jay's turn to laugh with Bree as the Ai's voice box glitched and made a sound like his voice cracked.

"Oops…" L.I.O.N said meekly.

"Don't worry about it Lion," Bree laughed as she tightened the last few screws, "I'll fix that as well."

"Thank you…"


	82. Pretending (Cinderblaze focused)

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- L.I.O.N is really cool! He's a fun character, being an AI and all! Yes, Briarfeather! :D although this is more platonic Briarfeather :D I was thinking about putting a few of the random moments of actual Briarfeatherness in but I decided not too, we'll see, maybe I'll write a chapter dedicated to the fighting for love and hope ships! :D I agree, I like how it shows the different parts of her life and how it displayed her love to technology since she was really little! XD (Reply to Review For Bree's Past (Fighting For Love and Hope)**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- I know right? Jay and Bree cuteness! :D I want to come up with a shipping name for them as humans, any suggestions? (Review to Review For Bree's Past (Fighting For Love And Hope))**_

 _ **Featherflight- I am! :D it's just taking a bit! :D (Review to Review For Half Finished Stories)**_

 _ **Alrighty, I will make a series of them! And I love the title suggestion! "Just Don't Do It Again" is perfect! XD I'll definitely use it from now on! :D (Review to Review For Childhood Adventures)**_

 _ **Yeah, you definitely pulled a Bree! XD**_

" _ **Hey! That's my thing!" ~Bree**_

" _ **Calm down Bree, she's complimenting you." ~Jay**_

 _ **Both of you shoo! *shoves them away* anyway, I agree! Cynthia and Leon are a great couple! :D Although I want to make a shipping name special to them specifically! Any suggestions? (Review to Review For Contest Results, Leon Wins!)**_

 _ **Yes, I am writing one for each of the main characters! :D (Cynthia, Leon, Finli, Jay, Bree, Holly, Hadara, Sam, and Seth) Bree's is finished and Cynthia's is about half way there, although hers is a whole lot longer! XD I'll work on Cynthia's and post it next! :D (Review to Review For Bree's Past (Fighting For Love And Hope))**_

 **:) :) :) :) :)**

 _ **Sorry about the late update and not updating in a few days guys! I challenged myself to rewrite the sight into my version of the series in two days and I completed it! (You can read it if you'd like! :D) XD After that my brain was fried for a bit and I had to go fix a roof yesterday! :D Soy anyway, here's one of the half-finished stories finished! Although I ended up rewriting it anyway! XD It's not very long, but I figure that it's long enough to hold you all over while I finish up a different chapter and upload it! :D**_

 _Pretending_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 16_

 _Jay, Holly- 17_

 _I'm exhausted,_ Cynthia thought as she unlocked the front door and slipped into the house, hoping to go crash in her and Holly's room. Swimming practice, soccer practice and basketball practice all on the same day drained her energy and she was darn near lucky to have not fallen asleep during her swimming couch's boring monolog about how they needed to push themselves harder and what not. She was so tired that she didn't notice the guests in the living room and promptly walked towards the stairwell after closing the front door behind her, but they certainly noticed her arrival.

"Hey Cynthia," Hadara spoke softly, her green eyes briefly flickered with concern and slight worry, "these are my parents."

Cynthia turned around and forced a smile which turned nervous at the suspicious staring she was getting from the older girl's parents. "Oh, hello," she greeted nervously, having no idea what was going on and why Leon looked so tense and worried, she lived here, was that an issue?

"How come she's here," Hadara's father asked in a gruff tone, looking over the athlete with suspicion. He wasn't too fond of the idea of his daughter having a boyfriend who lived in the same house with a girl, not at all related to him.

"Uh," Jay floundered for something to say, how was he going to explain this? Cynthia was just one of his friends who happened to live with him and his siblings? That would completely ruin any chances of getting along with her parents. "She lives here…"

Holly and Leon meanwhile, were having an argument via text. _Come on Leon! We have to do something!_

 _Maybe we can say she's our cousin?_

 _No, they already caught you staring at her a moment ago!_

 _I can't help it!_ Leon shot back, _the water's distracting!_

"She's Leon's girlfriend," Holly spoke up a moment later, blurting out the words and inwardly wincing at them, her brother wasn't going to be pleased. _Just go with it!_ She texted her younger brother.

Leon sucked up his pride and decided to help his younger brother, with an almost invisible nod to Cynthia he got up and walked over to her, kissing her on the cheek and brushing her black bangs out of her face, speaking in a low voice.

"Uh huh," Hadara's father grunted, "how long?"

Luckily, Cynthia could think on her feet, her shock at the lie waking her up enough to put her brain into action, "four months or so," she looked over at Leon, "right?"

"Yeah," Leon smiled, "give or take a week I think."

Leon's phone buzzed and he briefly glanced at it, Cynthia catching a glimpse of the text meant for both of them from a worried Holly.

Jay and Hadara looked stressed and concerned, if Jay couldn't make a good impression, their relationship was probably over.

 _They aren't buying it, you have to pull this off, guys!_

Leon looked up at Cynthia, both of them knew what they would have to do to prove it and neither of them wanted to. They would have to kiss. Sure, they had kissed a handful of times before, once in a game of truth or dare, but it wasn't something that was as easy as say, talking to each other was, it was usually awkward, confusing, and strangely enjoyable. So with as much causality as they could muster, and it turned out to be quite casual, Leon leaned down and gave his friend with benefits a short kiss that was to the two of them super awkward since they were literally being asked to kiss on demand. They broke apart a moment later and Leon properly greeted her, "Hi Sunshine," he murmured, coming up with the nickname on the spot and hoping it sounded okay. "You look tired," he commented, flicking a water droplet away from one of her blue eyes.

"You have no idea," Cynthia mumbled and Leon cracked a grin and the unusual response, no doubt she was exhausted, he knew for a fact that she had had multiple practices and multiple tests that day.

Hadara and Jay's tensed positions relaxed slightly when Hadara's father took his attention away from the two younger teenagers, taking the pressure off of the two of them. For the moment anyway.

:) :) :) :)

"Holly, you have no idea how hard this is going to be to pull off!" Cynthia groaned, rubbing her face with her hands and sitting down on her lower bunk with a thump. "They're staying over for the night and you want me to bunk with Leon on top of acting like he's my boyfriend?"

Holly winced, "Believe me, I couldn't think of anything else, they know I'm Jay's sister and Leon's staring completely gave away his nonplatonic feelings." She was sitting on top of her desk, rubbing her temples.

"Oh, so it's my fault now?" Leon snapped, he was leaning against one wall, "this is not my fault!"

"It's none of your guys' faults," Hadara sighed, she was sitting in Holly's desk office chair, running her fingers through her blonde hair.

"It would've been easier if we had planned better," Jay grunted, he was leaning against the closed window of the room, gray-speckled black hair more messy than usual.

"Well nobody can really plan for overprotective parents." Holly sighed.

"Maybe not, but we could've told Cindy before hand so she could've stayed away from the house." Hadara sighed again.

"I came here so tired I could barely think," Cynthia sighed, propping her head up on her arm and looking at them all, "I wouldn't have remembered they were coming even if you did tell me with how hectic my day has been."

"Yeah, she's had so many tests and sports practices crammed in today that I'm surprised she hasn't fallen over." Leon pointed out, his amber eyes on his friend.

"Well you guys are going to have to pull it off, we need a plan and a story." Holly decided, "the basic stuff, like how you met, got together, all that mushy crap."

"Well Cyn said four months, that was a few weeks after her birthday, did you plan that?" Leon asked, looked at her.

"Hmm? Not particularly," Cynthia shrugged, "but it works. How about Leon and I have been friends for years, but have been too nervous to do anything about it till four months ago?"

"What about Hadara and I set you two up for a blind date or something?" Holly suggested, "that way we know the story."

"Okay," Leon agreed with it, "but neither of us would've just spontaneously got together. What about you two set us up a few weeks before Cyn's birthday-"

"And we ended up playing a game of truth or dare at the party," Cynthia took over, "Leon was dared to kiss me and it ended up getting pretty awkward for a little bit until we both got fed up with it and had some kind of argument."

"Maybe you were jealous of Hannah or Isa?" Holly suggested.

"Sure," Cynthia sighed, "I was jealous of Hannah and Isa and it finally got through Leon's thick skull that I liked him back so he asked me out, good enough?"

"It sounds believable," Hadara commented, "if I didn't know better I could've believed that story rather easily."

"Well, now what?"

"You two need to be more couple-like."

"What?" Leon asked a little spooked, "we have to kiss again?!"

"Is that all we're going to be doing?" Cynthia sighed, "cause I am not just kissing him on demand, it's weird."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Leon said with a nod.

"Come on," Holly sighed with exasperation, "I'm sure you two can figure it out and act it out, we all know you both are very good actors, so just pretend you like each other or something."

Leon and Cynthia shared a glance before Cynthia sighed, "Fine."

"I guess that's it then," Holly sighed after a few moments of silence. "we've got the best plan we can have."

"Finally!" Cynthia groaned and she closed her eyes before promptly falling back against her bed, her breathing deepening and steadying out barely a second later.

"Did she?..." Hadara asked in surprise, looking at the younger girl in complete surprise.

"Yup," Leon replied, gazing unabashedly at his friend, perfectly comfortable in studying her.

"She fell asleep." Holly sighed with a face palm.

:) :) :) :)

"How are we going to pull this off? We aren't a couple!" Cynthia whispered to Leon as they walked back downstairs about an hour later after the five teenagers had figured everything out and Cynthia had woken up.

"I know," Leon whispered back, "we'll just have to pretend-"

"How?"

"Cyn, calm down," Leon said, stopping aburptly and gently pushing her back against the stairwell wall as an attempt to snap her out of her rising panic, now that she was completely awake and not about to drop dead from exhaustion, she was extremely nervous about the whole thing, she hated titles and this entire thing hit too close to home for her. "It can't be too different from the whole friends with benefits thing right?"

"I guess…" Cynthia mumbled, her eyes locked on his, nervousness apparent in the sapphire blue.

"It'll be okay," Leon murmured, "Jay needs us to pull this off or he can be in big trouble."

"I know," Cynthia said before she took a deep breath to settle her nerves, "I can handle this."

Leon smiled, "that's my girl."

Cynthia cracked a small smile at the endearment before she cautiously took one of his hands and laced her fingers through his, "they're probably thinking we're conspiring or something at this point."

"Probably," Leon agreed, "so let's go settle that." he gently tugged her along with him as he continued going down the stairs.

:) :) :) :)

And of course they had to get another curveball thrown at them all a few hours later, the poor sixteen-year-olds just weren't getting a break.

"What?!" Cynthia shrieked and slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Yeah," Hadara said with reluctance, "my parents want to take you guys all out to dinner."

"No, no and no again!" Leon snapped, "I am not getting dressed up in a suit and tie and I'm dead sure that Cyndy doesn't want to dress up either!"

"Guys!" Holly pleaded, "we have to do this, for Jay!"

"No!" Cynthia snapped, "I don't do stuff like that and I look ridiculous in all that formal getup."

"Then we have to do something and get you two out of here with a reasonable excuse!" Holly snapped, fed up with their stubbornness.

"Sports practice? Studying?" Cynthia suggested.

"No…" Holly shook her head, "it wouldn't just be the two of you."

"I have an idea!" Bree inputted from her position lying on her stomach on Cynthia's lower bunk, "what about a double date of sorts? Hadara and Jay and Cynthia and Leon? It would get them all out of the entire thing and they still don't know I'm here!"

"How did you sneak up the stairs without them seeing you?" Jay asked the energetic girl in a curt voice, "they spotted Cindy the moment she walked in the door and they completely didn't notice you."

Bree shrugged, propping her head up on her arms, "I can be stealthy when I want to be!"

"It's not a horrible idea," Hadara commented, glancing over at Jay, "it would make my parents leave anyway."

"For StarClan's sake, I'm not wearing a suit and tie!" Leon snapped, amber eyes flashing.

"Face it Leon," Cynthia sighed, flopping back on her bunk and accidently knocking Bree off of it in the process.

"Ow!"

"We're going to have to dress up." Cynthia continued, not paying attention to Bree's complaint.

"Do we actually have to go on a date though?" Leon asked his sister, "I don't want to go on a date."

"Wow," Cynthia snorted, "you make it sound like it's a crime to go on a date with me."

Leon just mumbled under his breath, in truth he didn't mind going on a date with Cynthia, but he didn't want his siblings to tease him, nor did he want it to be forced and chosen by someone else.

XD XD XD XD

 _ **And I'm ending it here! XD Let me know if you want a sequel for this! It's quite funny if I say myself! XD :D :D :D :D XD**_


	83. Wilds AU

_**Echo in the Whispering wind- It is pretty funny! XD (Reply To Review For Pretending (Cinderblaze focused)**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I know right? I sure hope my parents aren't going to be like that! XD I like Cleon, that one's cool! :D Although I was thinking about a shipping name that isn't a blend of their names, rather it's personality traits, I've seen it done that way before (like for my pokemon couple Drippingleaves(Snivy/Oshowatt) shipping) and am leaning towards it :D**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- okay, I'll write a sequel! XD Although there's no Briarfeather in this AU, it's Hollyleaves, Cinderblaze, and Halffeather, but you get to see Halffeather right? :D (I'm writing a cat special that features Fallenleaves and Hollyleaf :D)**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro (Guest)- I'm writing a sequel! I'm writing a sequel! :D**_

:) :) :)

 _ **So this is a chapter for one of my Warriors Compilation ideas called "Flick Of A Switch" a story I'm kinda disappointed on no one wanting me to write because it's a pretty cool world. :,(**_

 _Wild Sides Galore_

 _Cynthia's wild: Cynthia's wild is named Cinder, she is quiet docile, gentle, and has an attitude similar to Cynthia's, although she is perfectly content to stare at Leon/Lion practically all day. The wild attributes she gives to Cynthia are stronger and slightly longer canine teeth, black cat ears, enhanced strength, speed, vision, and the ability to make Cheetah like vocalizations, purr, hiss, and growl. When Cynthia's flipped (meaning her wild is active and merged with her own personality) she tends to be very docile, quiet, and extremely affectionate towards Leon, sometimes purring for no reason besides the fact that he's in the room, her eyes darken from a sapphire blue to a soft azure color with slightly narrowed pupils and a loving glitter in her eyes._

 _The black ears that are usually not visible, perk up and are blatantly obvious, hence why she wears a cap while in heat (because Cinder is a feline wild Cynthia, unfortunately goes into heat that lasts up to a week and happens once a month, twice a month during the spring time) She becomes fully flipped -a term used for when Cinder is "controlling" her, basically overriding her temporarily- when she feels sudden, sharp, and strong emotions._

 _Leon's wild: Leon's wild is named Lion, he is fiery tempered, slightly obnoxious, proud of being the subject of Cinder's affection, and impatient for most thing. The wild attributes he gives to Leon are stronger and slightly longer canine teeth, golden blonde cat ears, enhanced strength, and the ability to make Lion like vocalizations, purr, roar, hiss, and growl. When Leon's flipped -which happens a whole lot of the time-, he tends to be impatient, a little arrogant around Cynthia, and is quite the hothead, his eyes change from amber to a fiery sunset color with slightly narrowed pupils and a fiery glint in his eyes. The golden blonde ears that was usually not visible, perk up and are obvious, along with his muscles being a little more defined. She becomes fully flipped when he gets hit or touched in a certain spot behind his right ear, or Cynthia is heavily insulted and actually cries. -a very rare occurrence._

 _Holly's wild: Holly's wild is named Leaf, Leaf is gentle, calm, level headed, and intelligent. The wild attributes she gives to Holly are sensitive hearing, black, black bear style ears, enhanced intelligence, a love for berries, and the ability to roar and growl like a black bear. When Holly is flipped -which doesn't happen very often- she tends to be even more level headed, collected, calm, and cheerful, her eyes darken to an intelligent forest green color with normal pupils and an intelligent gleam in her eyes. The black, black bear ears that are usually not visible, perk up and are obvious, along with a constant craving for berries and fruit in general. She becomes fully flipped when she stresses out too much over a test and Leaf takes over, completing the studying for her while leaving notes on how to do it._

 _Jay's wild: Jay's wild is named Blue-Jay, Blue-Jay is grumpy, shy, intelligent and strangely affectionate towards Joy (Bree's wild) The wild attributes he gives to Jay are blurry vision rather than being blind, grey speckled black wolf ears, enhanced senses, and the ability to make both bird-like and wolf-like vocalizations. When Jay is flipped -which happens when he is feeling particularly grumpy- he tends to be less grumpy, more social, shy around Bree, and quite affectionate towards her, his blind baby blue eyes lighten to an icy blue color with timid pupils and a slightly shy look in his eyes. The grey speckled ears that can't be seen when he isn't flipped, are visible and are slightly tilted back, along with trying his best to coax Bree -when she's flipped too- to not be so shy and join him in whatever he is doing. He becomes fully flipped when he gets ahold of thin mints._

 _Bree's wild: Bree's wild is named Joy, Joy is extremely shy, cheerful, and affectionate to everyone. The wild attributes that she gives Bree are the ability to walk for up to twenty minutes at a time with a break of two hours in between -when she's not flipped, ten minutes - dark brown husky ears, enhanced intelligence, and dog like vocalizations. When Bree is flipped -which happens randomly or when she's feeling overwhelmed- she tends to be happy, soft spoken with enthusiasm, and extremely shy around Jay, so shy that she will stutter and stammer, her amber eyes darken to a chocolate brown color with slightly rounded pupils and a shy and cheerful glitter in her eye. The dark brown ears that can't been seen when she isn't flipped become visible and flatten shyly. When she's fully flipped she is even more shy and isn't very sure of herself. She becomes fully flipped when Jay gets too close to her face at a slow pace and surprises her._

 _:) :) :) :) :) :)_

 _Holly's Wild_

 _(eighteen)_

Holly groaned and dropped her head into her hands, "Why do exams exist?!"

Cynthia looked up at Holly her textbook, a dark blue pen in one hand, "uh… because they do?"

"They're so stressful! I even color coded all of my notes for every class and I'm still nervous!" Holly complained, staring blankly at her math homework.

"It's okay to be nervous," Cynthia inputted, her blue eyes darkening to her wild color as her wild influenced her words, "everyone's nervous for something or other Holly."

"But still!" Holly complained and gave up on her math homework.

"Well," Cynthia sighed, closing her textbook and pushing it into her bag before slinging it over one shoulder, "I'm going to go find Leon and take care of this." She pointed to the baseball cap hiding her black cat ears, evidence of her current situation. "You should stop freaking out before Leaf takes over and does it for you." With those last words, she strode from their dorm room.

"Ugh." Holly sighed and rubbed her temples.

 **Do you want help, Holly?** Holly jumped at the sound of Leaf's quiet and authoritative voice.

 _Yes! Please help me Leaf! I can't do this!_

 **I will help you**.

Holly stiffened, her eye color changing to a forest green, her black ears perked up, and she blinked once before focusing on her assignment, Leaf guiding her. After four years of having the wild around, she was used to her voice and the given abilities from the wild. _I get it! Thanks Leaf!_ She exclaimed as she understood what the wild had been silently pushing her towards.

 **You're welcome.**

Holly put her pencil tip down on the paper and began finishing the assignment, glad that Leaf was there lending her assistance.

 _Bree and Jay's Wilds_

 _(seventeen)_

"Hey Bree," Jay said, looking up as the brunette strode quietly into the kitchen.

Bree started and promptly tripped sending her crashing to the ground in a heap.

Jay's icy blue eyes widened and he leaned over the bar like counter to look at the flipped brunette who covered her face with her arms, her cheeks bright red from embarrassment. "Are you okay?" he asked, worry in his voice.

"Y-Yeah," Bree stuttered a little and blushed a little more, "You just s-startled me."

Jay got up and walked over to where she was pushing herself up into a sitting position and squatted in front of her, offering her his hand while looking away from her, a little embarrassed as well. "Sorry." He murmured.

"It's okay," Bree smiled shyly and took his offered hand.

Jay pulled her up to her feet and made sure she wasn't going to trip on anything again before asking her a question, "what're you doing in here anyway?"

"Nothing," Bree said quickly, looking away from him and clasping her hands in front of her.

Jay looked at her, silently studying her for a moment before smiling at her shyness, "looking for me?"

"N-no!" Bree stammered embarrassedly and turned around so her back was to him, "I w-wasn't looking for you."

Jay's smile turned into a small grin and he promptly walked over to her and put one arm around her shoulders, playing with her brushed aside bangs, blue eyes gleaming with amusement. "Okay, what did you need me for?"

"N-nothing!" Bree stuttered a little, stiffening in a little surprise

"Are you sure?" Jay teased playfully.

"Y-yes!"

"Okay," Jay said and removed his arm before going back over to his previous seat and getting back to work, his grey speckled black ears facing her direction. "Then I'm going to keep working on my homework."

Bree hesitated, shifting her weight a little as she watched him work. "Wait," she blurted out a moment later and blushed a bright pink, "I need y-your help."

Jay looked up at her and smiled, "okay, with what?"

Bree scooped up her fallen notebook and textbook and walked over to him, pausing and stopping about three feet away, shifting her weight nervously, "Can I?..." she trailed off.

Jay pushed his stuff over and sat down in another one of the bar-stool-like seats of the kitchen. "Of course."

Bree took a seat on the farthest seat away from him, tucking her bangs away from her face in the process, chocolate colored eyes gleaming with nervousness. "I don't u-understand this."

Jay picked up his things and sat down next to her before putting them back down, their shoulders brushing, "you don't understand what?"

Bree pointed to part of their chemistry assignment, her blush getting brighter from his proximity. "This, I-I'm not a c-chemical kind of p-person."

"Oh, here," Jay pushed over his copy of the assignment, "I don't get it either, Cynthia just gave me the answer."

Bree blushed harder but took the assignment and wrote down the answer in her usual almost bubble letter handwriting. She ducked her head and pretended to read in the textbook as she noticed Jay watching her, a slightly amused look on his face. "W-what?" she asked, not looking up.

"You're cute," Jay admitted with a small grin, "the blush is adorable."

"Thank y-you," Bree managed to say through her surprise, her ears twitching in surprise. "You're… y-you're not so b-bad yourself." She stammered.

Jay leaned over and pointed to a wrong answer on her assignment, looping his arm around her from behind in the process. "That's Carbon by the way."

Bree looked at him, "thanks," she murmured shyly and pushed her bangs away from her face once again.

 _Cynthia's Wild_

 _(Seventeen)_

Cynthia blinked and narrowed her blue eyes, attempting to hide her wild without anyone noticing she was having issues, if they saw they'd call Leon and make him come back and help. While she didn't mind his helping, when he was disappointed and irritable it was more of a hinder than a help and he always ended up accidentally making her feel guilty. _I hate being a wild._ She thought as she narrowed her eyes more and focused on the laptop in front of her. _Why do I have to have it?_

 **Because you do?**

 _Shut up Cinder._

 **Ouch, that's plain rude Cynthia.**

Cynthia tightened her hands into fists and took a few deep breaths before replying to the nuisance a.k.a her wild she had named Cinder. _Well I'm sorry, but I am busy and you are making it near impossible for me and Leon to get anything done._

 **What? I'm offended! I am not hindering you from getting anything done.**

 _And I'm a cat._ Cynthia deadpanned and uncurled her fists before putting her hands back down on her keyboard to continue writing the essay that was due tomorrow.

 **Technically… you are a cat, you're a tiger.**

 _Not a full one you crazy furball!_

 **But you're still partially a tiger.**

 _Hooray…_ Cynthia said sarcastically, _thanks to you I'm part tiger._

 **It's not like it's visible or anything, it's just mental and stuff**

 _Not visible? Uh huh, if that statement was true and I had a tail I'd bite it._

 **Okay, it's mostly not visible, happy?**

 _You finally agree with me on something._ Cynthia had to restrain herself from physically rolling her eyes. _Now go away so I can think properly and not distracted by you and the side effects of being a wild._ She narrowed her sapphire blue eyes in concentration and continued typing her essay, or at least trying to.

 **Hey, the side effects and stuff aren't my fault, it's early spring, not my fault.**

 _What does that mean? You're around all year you annoying furball!_

 **Yeah, but it's stronger in spring.**

 _What's stronger?_

 **You know what.**

 _Obviously, I don't, if I did I wouldn't be asking._

 **The side effects, a.k.a being in heat, isn't my fault nor is it my fault that it is stronger during the spring.**

 _Seriously? I haven't had an issue until you woke up, the first time I met you was when I was in heat and just about dying from it!_

 **You would've had it even if I didn't wake up, I'm part of you remember?**

 _Okay, I agree,_ Cynthia reluctantly admitted defeat, _those aren't your fault, now will you please leave so I can finish this essay?_

 **Fine, but only because Holly's going to call Leon and I get to be in charge.**

 _What?_ Cynthia looked up from where she had been staring at her computer screen during her conversation with Cinder, to find Holly about to call Leon. She widened her eyes and shook her head, making a cut it out motion in the process.

Holly narrowed her eyes and pointed above her head where her ears would be if she was flipped, which she wasn't.

Cynthia reached up and felt the tips of her black cat ears and slouched, _Well there's no way that I'm getting out of this one._ She sighed.

"Hey, Leon? Are you almost done with practice? Cynthia's got her ears."

 _Leon's Wild_

 _(Bree, Jay, Holly- 18_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 17)_

Leon wandered through the dorm, looking for Cynthia, his golden blonde ears swiveling slightly as he listened for her. _Where is she?_ He wondered, he hadn't seen her all day and he had a suspicion that she was avoiding him because he was currently in wild mode, and that bothered him.

:) :) :)

"Cyn…" Leon whined, following Cynthia as she pulled a book out of the main room's bookshelves and started walking towards her and Holly's dorm room. "Why not?"

"Because I have things to do today," Cynthia replied as she walked, "and I don't want to be flipped right now." She promptly slapped his hand away from her ponytail, "no Leon."

"Cyndy…" Leon whined, stubbornly following her and continuing to try and play with her ponytail. "I'm bored…"

"I am not your boredom solution, I have things to do," Cynthia sighed and slapped his hand away once more as she stepped through the doorway of her dorm room.

"Yes you are," Leon decided, he then caught Cynthia's wrist before he spun her around, dramatically dipped her and flat out kissed her.

"Leon!" Holly gasped, scrambling to her feet as her friend tensed before she heard a small whine from Cynthia, meaning Leon had flipped Cynthia, on purpose. "You are so annoying!" She snapped at him, she and Cynthia had had plans for later, but that probably wasn't going to happen now.

Leon broke away from Cynthia, pulled her up and out of the dip, and looked at his sister, sunset colored eyes gleaming with triumph and a hint of smugness. "How am I annoying?" He looked down at Cynthia who pushed her face into his chest, gripping his shirt tightly and whining, the whine high pitched and pleading, obviously the wild wanted more.

"You just!... Argh!" Holly snapped, throwing her hands into the air.

Leon looked even smugger at his sister's inability to tell him off and he purred, Cynthia's black ears tickling his chin as she purred to get his attention. "What did I do that's annoying?" he asked, "I didn't do anything wrong."

"You just flipped Cindy on purpose!" Holly fumed, her green eyes flashing with annoyance, "she was supposed to go to a movie with her sisters and I and you just flipped her!"

"That's not completely my fault, you should've told me you were going somewhere," Leon replied a little smugly, having fun with poking fun at his sister and teasing Cynthia, it was extremely amusing to him and Cynthia's reaction made him feel rather important.

"Leon…" Cynthia complained, looping her arms around his waist and leaning up on her toes, "stop talking to Holly already…" she mumbled, looking at him through azure colored blue eyes.

Holly sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose, she had to grudgingly agree with her brother, she should've told him and then they wouldn't be having this issue and she could've gone with Cynthia and her sisters to the mentioned movie. "Okay, you're right, I should've told you beforehand, I'll let Paige and Haliah know that Cynthia can't come." She sighed, watching Leon down slightly and playfully brush his nose against Cynthia's, teasing her.

:) :) :) :)

"I hate you." Cynthia snapped at Leon when he emerged from his dorm room, his golden blonde hair tousled from sleeping off his earlier wild side interaction. She was sitting on the couch in the main area of their dorm, leaning back against the cushions with her knees leaning up against one of the armrests, a book propped up on her thighs. Jay was sitting on the opposite end of the couch

"I know." Leon replied with a long sigh and plopped down on the couch next to her, running one hand through his hair.

"You made me miss the movie," Cynthia grunted, still not looking up from the book she was reading to look at him.

"I know." Leon sighed, looking at the flat screen t.v, his amber eyes slightly guilty.

"And annoy my sisters."

"I know."

"And you hurt my neck," Cynthia mumbled.

"I'm sorry." Leon apologized, looking at her neck where the right side was red, slightly inflamed, tender, and it probably hurt too.

"Cynthia, leave him alone," Jay grunted, adjusting his glasses and looking at the two of them out of the corner of his eye.

"Excuse me?" Cynthia turned her head to look at him and winced as the movement sent a searing pain up her neck. "He's the reason I can hardly move without feeling like I'm dying from my muscles being overworked from head to toe!"

"It's not just his fault." Jay grunted, "you were involved in it."

"No, it's my fault," Leon spoke before Cynthia could get angrier, "I triggered her on purpose."

"I can't believe you did that," Jay grunted with a disbelieving shake of his head.

"Hey, you kissed Bree when you were flipped, and not just an awkward one either." Leon defended himself, making Cynthia snort with amusement and hide behind her story.

Jay's cheeks pinkened before he shot back a retort that shut up his brother, "at least I'm not disappearing into a closed room with anyone whenever I'm flipped!"

Leon's amber eyes widened and he was silent, his cheeks pink as well.

Cynthia's face was burning and she closed her book with a snap, giving Jay a withering glare, "that is not our fault! Blame Cinder and Lion, not us!" She snapped before her tone changed to be scathing, "and you nearly did last summer!"

"We all promised not to say anything about that!" Jay snapped back, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Well I am," Cynthia retorted, "I'm not the only wild who is wilder like during a season, Bree is too!"

"Hey!" Bree spoke up from where she was leaning against a kitchen counter, her arms folded crossly over her chest, "that was one time for two days!" she said indignantly, "and it hasn't happened since!" That particular subject was quite the sensitive one for Bree and Jay, the brunette usually didn't have any issues regarding seasons, but last summer everyone had been startled when she was stuck being flipped for two days, something that was similar to how Cynthia went into heat, although Bree's was much less severe and while Cynthia constantly ran a fever, she shivered like she was stuck in a freezer.

"What's going on?" Holly asked in confusion as she walked in the dorm and saw the four wilds looking aggravating and irritable.

The other four wilds went silent, Cynthia opened her book and started to read, Leon put one arm around her shoulders and focused on the t.v, Jay turned and avoided looking at Bree, Bree munched on a handful of jellybeans, her cheeks pink from embarrassment.

 _ **I'll upload another part of this is a little bit, but my computer was dying and I needed to get this up! :D I really want to write more of this world, it's quite funny! XD This was an experiment, if you guys don't like it I'll expand on the world but I won't post if you don't like it! :D**_


	84. The Flashes Vs the Dark Blades AU

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I hope I answered all of your questions about wilds, let me know if I didn't! :D Wilds are pretty interesting, although I have no idea where the idea came from! XD**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- I sent you a PM regarding your confusion! :D :D :D Did my answer help?**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I will! :D Maybe I'll write a separate story for it, who knows! XD Leon's other best friend Fin finds out about the wilds, so does Isa, and Isa nearly panics and almost tells her dad, a scientist who works for a company that reverses the wild genetics that gives the Wilds their attributes and stuff :D give me a bit and I'll write another chapter that explains some of the stuff like how it happened :D I'm not sure, maybe BraveandBroken shipping? I don't know either! XD I'm trying to think of something that works for both this one and Fighting For Love And With Constant Hope XD I do like Cleon though! :D**_

 _ **Sorry about the multitude of AUs lately, I've got a whole bunch of junk going on at the moment and the chapters are a little harder to write, sorry :( I hope you all enjoy this one! :D I wrote it at like two in the morning, but hey, it's a chapter right? I hope it's good I didn't really read through it all… XD**_

 _The Flashes Vs. The Dark Blades AU Part 1  
(Cinderblaze focus)_

 _Leon- 26_

 _Cynthia-25_

 _Holly, Jay-27_

 _Bree- 26 ½_

"Who's my target? There's a whole bunch of people here." Cynthia murmured, barely moving her mouth as she walked into the law firm, dressed up in a dark gray knee length skirt, white formal button down beneath a blazer jacket of the matching color with black ankle boots and her blue eyes were covered with green contacts. "And what am I trying to steal this time."

"See that black haired man in the light brown suit with the red tie and the golden watch around his wrist?" Holly asked from where she was watching through the surveillance cameras, watching her best friend advance toward their target. At Cynthia's confirmation of a visual, she continued. "The golden watch has a computer chip hidden below the digital display, the chip is related to the Dark Blade gang and supposedly it contains information we need."

"Alright, I'll get the watch, anything else?"

"Be careful, that golden blonde is watching you."

"Not my fault," Cynthia replied with faint amusement in her tone, "I tend to draw attention to myself."

"Which isn't a bad thing. Here comes our target." Holly then went silent, watching their target walk over to Cynthia.

"I haven't seen you around before," their target greeted Cynthia, stretching his arm for a handshake.

Cynthia smiled and shook the guy's hand, her nimble fingers easily undoing the golden watch around his wrist and sliding the digital watch up her jacket sleeve. "Caylee Michaels, I'm a family law intern. You're Ashton Turner, a criminal law attorney right?"

Ashton looked impressed, "why yes, that's me," an amused glint flashed through his eyes, "an intern eh? Well, I figured, the interns tend to be the younger ones."

Cynthia raised her eyebrows slightly, "is that a good thing?"

Ashton shrugged, a small smirk on his face and he playfully winked at her, "not for us older guys since the younger ones are the good looking ones."

Cynthia blushed modestly and averted her gaze, as she did so she noticed the golden blonde Holly had warned her about was approaching them.

"Are you bothering someone again?" the golden blond haired man rolled his amber eyes, "I swear that your goal is to fluster every woman here Ashton."

"Well not all of us are as young as you Leonardo," Ashton replied, slapping the blonde on the back, "Caylee, meet Leonardo, he's my assistant."

"Leon, not Leonardo," Leon rolled his eyes and offered her a handshake, "it's nice to meet you Caylee, I apologize if my boss has bothered you."

Cynthia smiled and accepted the handshake, looking him in the eye, "it's okay, I don't really mind."

"It happens that often?"

"Pretty much," Cynthia shrugged and her com beeped, meaning Holly had something else for her.

"Cynthia, see if you can get an ID of some sort from the blonde, something we can use to identify him."

Cynthia looked at Leon curiously, "So I heard that they're finally letting everyone have business cards, that true?"

Leon laughed, "yes, although mine looks like crap because I'm always busy with Ashton's junk."

"It can't be that bad," Cynthia smiled, "let me see."

Leon pulled one out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her, "complete garbage."

Cynthia giggled slightly, the card only had his name, phone number, and department, but it would work for what she needed, "wow, that is kinda horrendous."

"I agree." Leon rolled his eyes, "anyway, come on Ashton, Firen wants to gather all of the attorneys for a meeting." He then guided the older man away from Cynthia who tucked the card into her pocket and discreetly left the building, Holly wiped the camera of her disappearance.

:) :) :)

"Bree, do you think you can take this apart?" Holly asked, tossing the golden watch to the techno genius who had been taking a nap before the watch hit her in the face.

"Ow!" Bree promptly sat up and rubbed her forehead while examining the watch with her other hand, "yeah, I can take this thing apart within five minutes!"  
"Can you make it so Cynthia can give it back to him with a tracker installed?"

Bree gave Holly a blank look, "I invented an AI inside a nearly invincible car, a tracker? Are you really asking me that?"

Holly smiled, "just checking."

"Of course I can!" Bree smiled back, "I could do it in my sleep!"

"Well let's crack it then," Cynthia said as she walked into the bedroom of their apartment as she rubbed a towel through her black hair, "do we know who that blonde is?"

"Yeah," Holly nodded, "Leonardo Bramble," the other girls looked up sharply at the sound of Holly's last name, "my younger brother who never learned about the Flashes group."

Cynthia swore under her breath, "well that makes this a whole lot more complicated."

"It gets worse, he's involved with the Dark Blades group," Holly said grimly.

Cynthia spoke hesitantly, "I can…" she cleared her throat, it was weird saying it now that Holly's brother was going to be the potential victim. "I can seduce him if you want." It wasn't something she really enjoyed, but sometimes it was required and it didn't really bother her either, she was raised as a thief and a silent assassin, that kind of thing just didn't phase her anymore.

Holly sighed, "you may have to, Leon's pretty paranoid."

"Okay, well how are we going to do this?" Cynthia asked, sitting down on one of the twin beds in the room that belonged to Jay and Bree.

"I'll set you two up since I'm his sister and I tease him about it over skype all the time, I'll set you up with him and you do your job, it may take a few weeks though."

"If we do it this way I can get close enough to him to steal more information."

"Sounds good." Holly sighed.

"Here Cindy! Bree handed the watch to her, "it's got a tracker!"

"We have a different plan," Cynthia sighed, she could already tell something was going to go wrong.

:( :( :(

And boy was Cynthia right, pretending to like Leon was too easy and she ended up slipping her own personality into her cover, the intern Leon had met at the law firm gathering.

"Really Holly?" Leon complained, "you're really going to set me up on a date with someone?"

"I've been telling you since your ended relationship with Hannah and with your poor excuse of a miserable moping around, that I was, and so I did. Any suggestions?"

Immediately Leon's mind flashed back to the intern he had met at the law firm's gathering yesterday but he shook it off, there was no way she was going to be able to find Caylee. "No, not particularly."

:) :) :)

"Caylee?" Leon blinked in surprise as the intern nervously took a seat at the table opposite of him. "How'd my sister get a hold of you?"

"Hi," Cynthia greeted, adding a slight nervousness to her tone, "Holly's been one of my friend's since high school," she smiled, "I never met her younger brother though before the law firm meet."

Leon smiled, "well I'm Leon, no matter what my sister or my boss call me," Cynthia giggled at the comment and his smile widened, "do you like any kind of sports Caylee?"  
Cynthia's blue eyes lit up, "karate and soccer are my favorites, what about you?"

"Soccer and basketball," Leon grinned, "what's your favorite team?"

Cynthia returned to the flat later that night dead tired and looking like she could fall asleep standing up. "Ugh…"

Holly looked up from her monitor as Cynthia entered, "Bree and Jay are sleeping," she whispered, pointing to the wall where the other bedroom was located. "How'd it go?"

Cynthia groaned and just trudged off into one of the bathrooms after she picked up her pj's. "Fine."

Holly grinned as she reemerged, "well I can say that from my viewpoint it was good."

"How?" Cynthia asked, shaking out her braid and running her fingers through her black hair.

"My brother couldn't keep his eyes off you."

Cynthia rolled her eyes, "lovely." inwardly she felt a flash of something she couldn't place, one thing was for sure, she liked Leon more than she should have.

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia blushed and pushed the glasses farther up her nose, "Sorry," she mumbled embarrassedly, knocking him into the fountain had not been her intention, at all.

"It's okay, Caylee" Leon chuckled and shook his head, spraying her with water.

"Hey!" Cynthia shrieked, "I don't want to be wet!"

Leon grinned, "neither did I-"

Cynthia yelped and flailed her arms slightly as someone bumped into her from behind and knocked her forward into Leon.

Leon's eyes widened and he caught her, her face barely an inch from his own. "Uh…"

"Um…" Cynthia replied in the same way, not wanting to move away from him. Usually, she would've already acted and kissed the guy so she could get what Holly wanted, but this time she hesitated, wondering if he would act.

Leon did, he leaned forward and kissed her.

Cynthia loosely wrapped her arms around his waist, responding to the kiss while her fingers brushed over his wallet, she debated about doing what Holly wanted and decided not to, leaving the wallet alone and focusing on the kiss she was participating in.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Holly was shocked to see how fast the plan worked and felt guilty about it too, her brother didn't deserve what they were putting him through, and quite frankly neither did Cynthia. She had seen the genuine and sincere admiration for him in her friend and it worried her, doing something like this was only going to end up breaking Leon's heart, and if Cynthia kept letting herself get closer to him her heart was going to be broken too, something Holly didn't want happening. Holly looked up as she heard Cynthia and Leon's arrival at the apartment where she knew her brother was walking "Cynthia" home. She switched to the front door's feed and watched with a heavy heart as her brother smiled a bit shyly before he boldly drew Cynthia closer and kissed her.

Holly hated it when Cynthia had to kiss someone for their work, to her it was a kind of attachment between two people. Cynthia never saw it that way, having learned from a very young age that it did nothing to benefit her, but then again, she had never had anyone close to her for her to feel that way. What made it worse was that Cynthia didn't seem to mind the act of affection and actually leaned into the kiss, usually, she would keep it short and didn't react to it if it did happen, and this made Holly even more worried.

:) :) :)

"I love you," Leon mumbled a bit embarrassedly, scratching the back of his head slightly, "forgot to say it earlier before the whole… earlier thing."

Cynthia laughed and twisted in his lap to be facing him, her forehead against his, "I love you too," she smiled, and strangely, she really did, not just as her cover, but her real self, she loved Leon. a warm and fuzzy feeling spread through her body and she smiled a little wider before promptly kissing him with no ulterior motive than because she wanted to.

:) :) :) :)

"You're a dork," Cynthia said affectionately, rolling her eyes a little, "a park? Really?"

"This park is amazing," Leon replied with arrogance, "it's called moonlight park for a reason."

"Tell me the reason oh smart one," Cynthia drawled and a squealed as Leon squeezed her sides, tasering her for the comment.

If only the moment could last forever right? Well, it didn't, it was broken about half an hour later as they were just walking through the now moonlight lit park, revealing the rare and exotic flowers and plants that only emerged in the moonlight.

"Get them!"

Cynthia's eyes widened and she grabbed onto Leon's hand, "come on, we should really get out of here."

"What?" Leon looked confused, "why?"

"Cynthia you have to get out of there!" holly exclaimed, staring at her monitor in horror, everything was spiraling out of control right in front of her eyes. "Bree, get Lion up and running!"

Cynthia pulled Leon along. "I'm sorry, but we really have to leave," she said as she heard the sounds of people rushing through the park toward them.

"Why?"

"Cynthia they're catching up, get out of there!"

"I heard you the first time Holly!" Cynthia snapped at her friend as she pulled Leon towards the park exit, "It's hard to run when I'm with another person!"

"Leave him-"

"If I leave him here they'll kill him, Holly, you know that." Cynthia snapped back, "Bree, please tell me that Lion is on route."

"He is! He's nearing the park now!"

"Get him as close to my position without hurting anyone as possible."

"Got it!"

"What's going on?" Leon stopped, looking at Cynthia in confusion.

"I'll explain later," Cynthia said quickly.

What? Don't tell him that!"

"Look, just trust me okay?"

Leon narrowed his eyes, "should I trust you?"

Cynthia sighed, "No, not really. But if you value your life you may want to."

"Who are you?" Leon asked, narrowing his eyes, "I know you're not who you say you are."

Cynthia winced, while it was true, it did sting slightly, "You're right, my name isn't Caylee and I sure am not an intern for a law firm, but unless you want to die you have to listen to me."

"Lion is nearing your position, he is currently in motorcycle format!"

"Tell me who you are." Leon insisted, his amber eyes flashing with hurt.

Cynthia glanced back at the men chasing them and back at him before she gave him a reply, feeling strangely upset as well. "My name is Cynthia Lawson, I am a trained spy and assassin for the Flashes gang, group, whatever you want to call it. I was assigned by your sister to get close to you because you are the easiest member of the Dark Blades to track." she looked at him, sorrow flashing through her eyes at his stunned and hurt expression, "I'm sorry I'm not who you thought I was," she said gently, feeling pained at his hurt expression, "but if you want to survive you have to come with me, your group will kill you for being here with me."

"Okay," Leon said flatly, his amber eyes hardening with both anger and disappointment.

"I'm really sorry," Cynthia said softly, looking at him, "I didn't want this to happen any more than you did."

Lion, Bree's mentioned AI car came skidding into the plaza, it's thin motorcycle body glinting brightly in the moonlight. Cynthia pulled him over to the motorcycle and got on, Leon got on behind her, putting his hands on her waist for balance, nothing more. "We are on board Bree, go ahead and return to base." She said flatly, closing her blue eyes in the process.

"We'll switch to car mode once we leave the park and get out onto the street," Bree said, her voice rather quiet, sensing the other woman's turmoil. Lion tore out of the park, speeding away towards the four members of the Flashes group's apartment.

:( :( :( :(

"You lied to me Holly," Leon fumed, "all of you did!"

The other four people didn't object, even Jay, who hated being accused of a liar didn't say a thing.

"Well, say something!"

"What do you want us to say?" Holly sighed, looking up at her brother through sad green eyes, "we did lie to you."

"Tell me that this is a joke or something and that you didn't just make me fall in love with someone who isn't at all who I believed she was!" Leon snapped, looking angrily at Cynthia.

Cynthia averted her gaze before she spoke, "it's not a joke, despite how much you and I want to believe it is."

"What does this have to do with you?" Leon growled, "you pretended to be someone else, _you_ aren't involved with this at all!"

Cynthia bit her lower lip and looked away from him, gazing blankly at the wall away from him.

"Leon, that wasn't fair," Bree inputted quietly, "you weren't the only one to fall in love."

"I don't care." Leon snapped angrily, "she knew what she was doing, I, on the other hand, had no idea that I was being manipulated!"

"You aren't the only one involved Leon," Jay snapped at his brother, turning blind blue eyes on him, "use your brain for a moment and think about what Bree said." his eyes narrow more, "quit being selfish and think."

Leon glared at him, "I don't want to, Jay, you guys suck."

"Shut up Leon." Cynthia said tightly, fed up with him making her feel miserable and making the rest of them feel that way, "we had a job, we did it, so stop complaining about it."

Leon's cap slipped off his temper, he was furious and hurt, he was manipulated, fell for someone who wasn't who he thought she was, and his siblings had lied to him since they were six. "Why don't you shut up, I don't want to hear it _Caylee_ you are the one who did the manipulating! You are the one who did the damage!"

"I said shut up." Cynthia glowered at him, her blue eyes narrowing dangerously, "I am not having you walk over us like a doormat because you are upset, all of us are upset, deal with it."

"It's not fair, you manipulated me!" Leon shouted, "I had no idea what was going on while you knew exactly what you were doing!"

"Yes, I knew what I was doing!" Cynthia shouted back at him and stood up, tightening her hands into fists and glaring at him, "but I still fell for you, Leon! Get it through your thick skull! When Caylee," she made air quotes around the name, "said she loved you she," she made the quotes again, "really did! I didn't steal anything from you! I didn't take anything, I didn't snoop, I didn't get information from you besides the things I myself pieced together! Why? Because I just so happened to fall in love with you, you bloody prat!"

Leon looked startled as her outburst.

"I know that your ex. Girlfriend Hannah was captured by the Dark Blades and you joined them to keep them from hurting her! I know that you never loved her and only got with her to get her and Holly off of your back but you're guilty about her being captured! I know you almost never deal with the Dark blades group, you just do what you have to! I know that you are Ashton's bodyguard because you are a black belt in karate! The only thing I ever took _Leon_ was a picture that I briefly examined and put back," Cynthia's blue eyes flash, "the picture was taken back when you were about three years old, Holly, Jay, Bree, Finli, and Hann are all in the picture with you but you are hugging a smaller black haired girl with blue eyes, the small girl is circled with a question mark because you can't remember who it is! Yet for the past two weeks, you've been staring at her!" She snapped.

"The golden watch that Ashton has is really yours and it contains a chip that contains the information on the deal between you and the Dark blades group, you have a silver knife in your bedroom," her cheeks pinkened and so did Leon's, "that still has blood on it, the blood is from when Ashton had an attempt on his life, the silver blade is from the female assassin who threw it and it caught you in the shoulder, I threw that knife, I was assigned to killing Ashton, I was the female assassin. Your computer has signs of being used for hacking and programming, last year Holly visited you and helped you establish a way to talk to Hannah while she's captured, six months ago someone broke into your apartment and terminated the connection, the thief was Ashton, he broke in through the window, there is a small glass shard in the carpet of your living room stained with his blood.

"Two months ago someone put a tracker on your phone, which is how they found us in the first place." she lifted one hand where a tiny tracker was pinched between two fingers, currently deactivated. "But I didn't tell Holly any of this, I didn't thoroughly search everything you own, I looked around twice and looked at what you let me, if I didn't have feelings for you I would have easily combed through all of your stuff and delivered a thick folder of information to Holly." Cynthia glowered, "sulk all you want but we have a job to do." she spun on her heel and stalked off into one of the bedrooms.

Leon watched her, shocked, "How?..."

Holly got up, "Bree, Jay, locate the stronghold and lets get t work." she glanced at her younger brother, "she was raised as a spy and assassin, she also has a photographic memory." she then strode into the room Cynthia had disappeared into and knelt next to her friend who was staring in blurry confusion at the tears falling on her palms. "You okay?" she asked gently.

"It hurts." Cynthia mumbled, staring at the salt water on her hands, "it hurts…"

"I know," Holly soothed, she had had her heart broken too, she knew what it was like, and she wished her friend's first experience in love hadn't ended up like this, she knew Cynthia, and the whole thing had made her curious and intrigued, but unfortunately she was now paying for it with a heavy price, a broken heart. "You're crying Cynthia, it's okay to cry."

"Does it do anything?"

"It helps the pain go away," Holly replied, hugging her friend, "just cry, it's okay."

Cynthia did as she said, hiding her face in her friend's shoulder and crying, her shoulders shaking, fists clenched.

:( :( :(

Bree looked at Leon, amber eyes gentle and a little sad, "Cynthia's never felt love before, it's not her fault she had to lie to you, she does love you though, I've never seen her get that angry before." She then rolled off with Jay at her heels.

Leon ran one hand through his hair with a sigh, _I'm so confused..._


	85. Wilds AU number 2

**_Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Do you constantly refresh your page or something? XD Cynthia does have a good memory doesn't she? XD Leon's confusion goes away after she helps him free Hannah and she gets shot :D there will be a sequel that I'm starting right now :D_**

 _Wilds Galore #2_

 _All Of Us Have Gone Wild? Oh Dear…_

 _(Cynthia and Leon's wilds- 17 ½_

 _Bree, Holly and Jay's wilds- 18 ½ )_

"Jay, back off a little Bree looks like she's going to pass out," Holly told her twin brother as she emerged from her dorm room, "Cynthia, Leon, go to Leon's room." She continued as she settled down at the dining room table, where she had the perfect view of all four of the other wilds, all of which, like her, were currently wild.

Jay and Bree were sitting across from each other around the coffee table in the main area with a deck of cards in the center, they had been playing a card game until Bree had realized how close they were and was now pink in the face, and quite nervous.

"No," Cynthia replied stubbornly, she was perched comfortably in Leon's lap, cuddled against the blonde wild with her black feline-like ears tickling his chin.

"Why not?" Holly asked, looking up at her friend and her brother over top of her book.

"Because Leon doesn't want to," Cynthia replied with a purr.

Leon made a low purr and tucked the blanket edges more snugly around his partner, obviously content to have his way. He was playing a video game called Sword Fighters, -his and Cynthia's favorite video game- against a CPU, and he was completely annihilating the computer opponent.

Holly sighed and rolled her eyes, focusing on her book again, she knew nothing could change her brother's mind, and as long as neither of them was being obnoxious, there really wasn't anything she could do. She could help Bree though. "Jay," Holly narrowed her eyes at her twin brother who hadn't heeded her earlier warning, "backup, Bree is going to pass out if you don't."

Jay mumbled under his breath but heeded her warning and leaned back, giving Bree the space the nervous wild needed while he almost professionally shuffled the cards.

Holly could almost hear the nervous breath Bree let out when the other wild retreated and let her be back in her comfort zone.

:) :) :)

 _Oh no, we're in trouble…_

Leon's eyes narrowed and he sat back on his heels as he heard the door to their dorm opening. What?

Cynthia complained, her azure colored eyes widening to puppy eyes, _"Leon…"_ She complained in a purr like growl, reaching up and tugging on his upper arms. _"Come on…"_

Leon remained sitting tensely, something was off and Lion was warning him that it could threaten him and Cynthia, and that was where his attention was at the current moment. _"Something's wrong Cyn."_ He growled, narrowing his eyes as his listened intently.

 _"What do you mean?"_ Cynthia asked in a growl, looking up at him through confused blue eyes, _"everyone else's busy with their wilds out in the main room,"_ the growl changed to a purr, _"we're alone right now…"_

 _"I know,"_ he purred back and leaned down, kissing the tip of her nose, _"but I want to make sure nothing interrupts."_

Cynthia growled something under her breath, _"you already interrupted it."_ But she reluctantly sighed and put her arms beneath her head, waiting for him to finish doing his thing while she watched him, blue eyes gleaming with wild like affection.

Leon listened carefully, waiting for a voice to give away the person. The main room was silent, obviously, something was going on. Then, he heard it.

"Leon?" It was Fin, Leon's normal human best friend.

Leon's eyes widened and quickly got off of his bed, and quickly pulled Cynthia to her feet before he grabbed a t-shirt from a drawer.

Cynthia's blue eyes changed from the darker blue to a mixed shade of sapphire and dark blue before she jammed one of Leon's baseball caps over her head, the action causing pain to shoot through her poor ears that were harshly flattened against her head. "What's Fin doing here?" She hissed to Leon, hiding so the mentioned ginger couldn't see her as she shrugged a hoodie on over her tank-top.

"I have no idea!" Leon hissed back, his eyes quickly shifting color to a sunset amber blend as he focused on their predicament and pulled a t-shirt on over his head, "I don't know why he's here!"

"Leon?" Fin asked, walking farther into the main room of the dorm, wondering where his best friend was.

"Did you leave anything in his dorm room?" Cynthia hissed before she pressed herself against the wall as Fin curiously glanced into the room, looking for his friend.

"Leon?"

Leon was hiding under his desk, hoping to Starclan that he wasn't going to see him and holding his breath.

"You left your phone in my dorm room," Fin said as he left the room, still looking for him. "You said you were coming back to your dorm, so where are you?"

Cynthia crouched and approached the doorway of Leon's room, waiting for Fin to have his back turned so she could sprint to her and Holly's dorm room to keep their whole wild thing safe. Just as she moved to run, the door opened and Isa tentatively walked into the room.

"Fin? What're you doing in here?" The blonde asked her brother while behind her at Leon's room, Cynthia fell flat on her face from her sudden jerk to not run.

Leon's eyes widened and he banged his head on the desk with a muffled yell.

"What was that?" Isa asked sharply, looking behind her to find nothing out of the ordinary besides a cap on the ground.

Leon had pulled Cynthia back into his room with a hand over her mouth, stifling her yell of surprise. "Ssh!" he hissed in her ear.

Leon saw through the entrance of his room, Bree and Jay, the other two wilds were crouched by the couch, Jay had one hand over Bree's mouth, blue eyes a half way between icy blue and baby blue, his stance tense as he watched Fin and Isa move around, his ears swiveled as they moved, following their movements. Bree's amber mixed brown eyes were wide and she was gripping Jay's wrist tightly, her brown husky ears flat against her head. He locked eyes with Jay, this wasn't good.

He could also barely see Holly hidden behind the DVD cabinet, only the tips of her black bear ears were visible.

Cynthia's ear tip brushed Leon's nose as they twitched slightly and he realized she had lost the cap. He quickly pulled Cynthia towards the wall, out of view of the doorway as Isa went over to the doorway and picked up the cap. _Please don't see us, please don't see us!_ He inwardly begged he could tell that Cynthia was holding her breath by how she was holding her body as still as possible.

"Leon left his phone at my dorm room earlier, I'm trying to find him to give it back." Fin replied, "he said he was going to be in his dorm, but he's not here."

Leon froze as Isa spotted him and Cynthia, their cat ears completely giving them away.

"Uh, has he always had cat ears?" Isa asked slowly, keeping her blue eyes on the two wilds who were looking back at her, their eyes wide, clothing a little ruffled.

"No, did you find him?" Fin popped into the room and his green eyes widened, "you're a wild Leon?!"

"Well ship," Leon cursed and removed his hand from over Cynthia's mouth.

XD

"So you all are wilds," Fin said, looking at his blonde haired friend and the other four wilds, looking mostly at their various animal style ears.

"Yes," Leon sighed, running one hand agitatedly through his hair, "we are wilds, all five of us."

"But you're not a savage animal or anything," Fin said in confusion.

Leon looked startled, "of course not! We're still human, just not… fully human."

"Sorry," Fin apologized and flicked his ginger hair out of his face, "our dad told us wild's are like wild animals."

Holly narrowed her eyes, "have you heard the real story of the wilds Fin?"

"No," Fin admitted, "I've only heard what my dad told me."

"Well before you think we're savage animals and am completely insane," Holly drawled, "let us tell you the real story."

"Every wild knows the story," Leon explained as he rested his arm on the back of the couch behind Cynthia. "The story of a disease that somehow mutated some human's DNA into what we all call the wild."

Bree took over, "back before our great grandparents were born, a disease almost like the common cold spread through the world, some people were lucky to escape the irritating disease, others only had flu symptoms, while a small group became comatose as the disease sapped their energy and altered their DNA, mutating the strands as a whole and affecting not the people themselves, but their kids."

"The first generation of wilds were, in fact, a little more animalistic like," Cynthia agreed, "only because the mutations were pure and wasn't mixed with normal DNA, they were more animalistic, had constant anger issues and they didn't get along with other humans. Our generation, however, thrives with humans… most of the time anyway..."


	86. Wilds AU number 3

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- they would if they were allowed to anyway! XD They can lock the dorm rooms, but the actual dorm they can't lock unless none of them are in there, they're often in trouble because of that! XD The rest of the story is featured in a flashback style prolog I'm writing for this as an actual story :D**_

 _ **Three reviews? I feel special! :D :D**_

 _ **I know right? I wish I had Cynthia's memory! XD and yes, she gets shot in the chest protecting Hannah like Leon asked her to, here's a snippet of the scene:**_ _Cynthia pushed Hannah out of the stronghold and through the window where Leon was waiting, she ignored Hannah's scream of fear as she fell due to the pain rippling through her body because of the gun that went off, leaving her barely able to breathe and able to taste something copper like. 'I have to buy them time.' she limped away from the window, her footsteps silent and uneven, 'they won't be able to get out quickly with Hannah.' She glanced at the blood welling between her fingers, 'hopefully, I'll last that long.'_

… _._

" _Where's Cynthia?" Leon asked from where he was crouched down next to Hannah as the evening light was broken by flashing blue and red lights that had arrived half an hour ago, and nobody had seen Cynthia since she pushed Hannah out to their rendezvous point._

" _I have no idea," Holly replied, looking worriedly into the building, "she hasn't responded to her com at all… Oh no!" She pushed herself to her feet and sprinted over to her father who was carrying an unconscious Cynthia._

" _No!" Leon got up and ran over too, staring at the blood covered woman his age, "is she alive?"_

 _Cynthia was white as a sheet, her right cheek was bruised and bloody, but her front was soaked with blood, her left hand covered in the now drying liquid._

" _I don't know," Brad replied quietly, looking at the woman he had raised when she was a teenager, "we found her upstairs near a few knocked out Dark Blades members, I haven't seen her move since she collapsed."_

 _ **You did use a lot of XD in there! :D Featherflight reviewed that one, but you were the first! :D**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I'm glad you like them! Writing AUs are fun! :D Actually, Isa does come across someone getting annoyed at their wild, she comes across Cynthia muttering under her breath about how Cinder needed to shut up and leave her alone! XD they did find out! :D**_

 _ **Yeah, I wouldn't mind being a wild either, as long as I don't have a wild like Cynthia's or Ivory's XD**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro: Adorableness! :D**_

 _ **I can in fact for another one, these are fun to write! :D**_

 _ **:) :) :) :)**_

 **Wild Partners: Wild partners consist of both a male and a female wild who are practically an inseparable couple. It happens when a male and a female are close to each other normally without their wilds being active, they become emotionally attached to the other and a wild partnership occurs. A wild partnership is common but rare at the same time, due to the amount of "pure-blooded" wild females and the males who "settle down" and don't screw around. A female wild will have one partner, only one for her entire life, the partner is depicted by both her wild's compatibility with another wild and the presence of strong feelings for the male. Cynthia and Leon are a good example of this. If a female is rejected by their partner they take it personally and it's something that never leaves their mind and breaks the friendship between the rejected female and her partner.**

 _I can't do that to her, Dad, it's not her fault Part 1_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 14 ½_

 _Holly, Jay, and Bree- 15 ½_

Cynthia hugged Leon, wrapping her arms around him and pushing her nose against his neck, purring loudly as she could while breathing in his scent. " _Hi,"_ she purred affectionately.

"Uh…" Leon looked at his friend, "is she okay Holly?"

Holly looked up from her book and her eyes widened, "no, she's not okay, uh, Paige? Can you call our parents? Your sister's in heat."

"What?" Paige looked confusedly at the other girl, "in heat?"

Holly groaned, "I'm not getting into the details right now, all you need to know is that Bracken will know what you're talking about." She got to her feet and hurried over to Cynthia and Leon, she carefully loosened Cynthia's grip and pulled her away, "come on Cindy, you need to calm down," she gently urged, tugging her away from Leon.

Cynthia whined and pulled against Holly, refusing to follow the other girl's lead and refusing to leave Leon. " _I don't want to!"_ She whined

Leon's eyes flickered from amber to sunset, "she's fine," he said, not quite aware of what he was saying, "she can stay."

Holly's eyes widened and she dug her heels into the carpet and pulled harder on her friend's wrists, "no, she needs to be isolated from you, Leon-"

"Why?" Leon asked, getting closer to the two of them, his attention locked on the midnight black haired girl struggling to get free of Holly's grip.

"Because you're being affected by the change in her scent!" Holly snapped back and pulled harder, she couldn't allow them to get much closer. "Haliah, I need your help, we need to get Cynthia out of here, right now!"

Leon looked confused, "no I'm not, although she does smell different." he leaned a little closer to Cynthia, now curious about her change in scent from the usual almost herb-like scent to a honey vanilla like scent.

"Yes, you are!" Holly could see the slight fogginess in her brother's eyes as his wild fell prey to Cynthia's, not that the blue eyed girl could control it. "clear your mind, Leon!"

"My mind is clear," Leon mumbled, getting closer to Cynthia to put his nose against one of the wild specific scent glands in her neck.

Cynthia stood still, fighting Holly pulling her backward, her azure colored blue eyes lighting up at Leon's proximity.

Holly gave a tug and pulled Cynthia backward, pulling her away from her brother, "Seriously Haliah!"

Haliah came rushing over, she grabbed her sister's other arm and pulled with Holly against the athlete who whined and struggled back, clearly not understanding why they were trying to pull her away from him.

" _Go away!"_ Cynthia whined, " _You're ruining everything!"_ She kicked and struggled against Holly and Haliah while Leon followed them like a dog, wondering if he should help Cynthia.

At Cynthia's pleading blue eyes Leon decided to and made the other girls release her wrists before tilting his head and looking at her, " _What do I get for helping you?"_ he asked almost curiously, his growl a little arrogant as he stood mere inches in front of the slightly shorter wild.

Haliah covered her face with her hands and groaned, "there is no way we're going to be able to stop them."

Cynthia gave a small shrug and her blue eyes glowed slightly, " _Anything you want Leon."_

"Don't!" Holly pulled on her brother's arm, trying to at least slow down her brother.

Leon looked frustrated and pushed his sister away, " _Stop it, it's annoying."_ He complained before he approached Cynthia.

"Don't!..." Holly trailed off with a sigh, "kiss…" she sighed as the other two wilds kissed and she buried her face in her hands, well hopefully Brad and Bracken arrived within the next ten minutes, or they would have a serious issue on their hands.

Luckily for her, they did. The front door was thrown open to reveal the police officer and the attorney.

"Where are they?" Brad asked, his amber eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Back here!" Holly called, "Thank StarClan!"

Bracken rushed over and seized his youngest daughter around the middle, pulling her away from Leon and taking her in the direction of her room.

" _Let me go!"_ Cynthia snarled, struggling against her father's grip with all of her might, " _Let me go!"_ the snarl turned into a pleading whine.

Bracken didn't release her, " _I'm sorry baby girl,"_ he apologized in a low normal sounding growl, " _I can't let you do that yet, you're too young."_

" _Let me go! I want my partner!"_ Cynthia struggled harder against her father, " _Please let me go, please!"_

" _I'm sorry,"_ Bracken sighed as he put her down in her bedroom, " _You're too young Cynthia."_

Cynthia burst into tears, burying her face in her her knees and sobbing as her father shut and locked the door, " _Leon!"_ She roared through her tears, " _Leon!"_

:)

Brad nearly dragged Leon toward the bathroom and turned on the cold water in the shower before he shoved the teenager into the cold water, washing off any traces of Cynthia's scent and hopefully jolting him free of the wild partner urges.

Leon let out a yell a moment later and stumbled out of the shower, his clothing dripping wet, eyes back to amber. "What was that for?"

"Cynthia's in heat," Brad sighed, "and you're her partner."

Leon's eyes widened with surprise, "really? I mean sorry dad, I won't get close to her again-"

"Leon," Brad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "we both know you will, just promise me you'll come get us before you give in."

"Okay," Leon agreed, "I'm sorry dad."

"I'm not the one you'll have to apologize to, you'll have to apologize to Bracken, Cynthia's his daughter."

"I know."

:(

Bracken watched as his youngest daughter emerged from her room and quietly sat down on the floor next to Leon and Holly, looking at her golden blonde best friend, blue eyes a strange mix of sapphire and azure blue. He kept a careful eye on her while he discussed law-related stuff with Brad, waiting for Cynthia's patience to run thin and try and continue her and Leon's partner interaction. He had no doubt that she would, just like every other female wild who went into heat, her sole focus was on her partner and he didn't want his daughter to be a mate to Leon at fourteen years old.

Leon's yelp and the sound of a controller hitting the ground signaled Cynthia's move, she knocked the game controller out of Leon's hand and kissed him, her position slightly awkward as her fingers brushed his shoulders and the back of his neck.

Bracken sighed and grasped Cynthia by the wrist, pulling her away from the teen her age before pushing her out of the room.

Cynthia didn't say anything and just made an audible drawn out miserable whine that tugged on her father's heartstrings.

" _I'm sorry baby girl,"_ he apologized to his youngest daughter as he pushed her into her room, "stay in here until you are ready to be calm." he told her in English before he shut the door.

For an hour it was like playing a game of tag, Cynthia would come out into the living room, end up kissing Leon, and her father would take her back to her room where she would stay for a few minutes before repeating the cycle. But Cynthia was starting to get rebellious to going back to her room, first it was tangling her fingers in Leon's hair while they briefly kissed, then it was constantly whining as her father pulled her away, then she tried arguing with him, then she pleaded with him, and finally did what she was doing now.

" _Dad please!"_ Cynthia pleaded through her tears as her father dragged her out of the living room again for the twentieth time, " _I don't understand!"_

" _You're too young,"_ bracken replied gently, understanding his daughter's frustration and pain, she was like her mother in this aspect. " _I don't want you to become a mate this young."_

" _I'm not that young!"_ Cynthia cried, not fighting her father as he dragged her, she was on her knees, having refused to walk away from Leon any long. " _It hurts being away from him!"_ She wailed.

:(

Leon's heart squeezed as Cynthia finally pleaded with him to help her, her blue eyes upset and miserable,

" _You said you wanted it too!"_ Cynthia sobbed as her father started dragging her from the room again.

Leon felt his father's burning gaze rest on him and he knew what the adult wanted him to say, but he didn't want to crush her hopes and feelings for him. " _I…"_ he hesitated slightly and Cynthia looked slightly more hopeful, which just made it harder to continue. " _I don't want you, Cynthia."_ He said and the dismissing words felt strange on his tongue.

Cynthia's expression dropped completely and she cried harder, shaking her head like she didn't want to believe it, " _No! You promised!"_ She cried, looking at him, her blue eyes begging him to take his words back, " _you promised Leon!"_

" _I… I don't want to be your partner Cynthia,"_ Leon replied, guilt weighing heavily in his chest as his best friend dissolved into hysterics, huddling on her knees on the floor and crying hard enough that she started hiccuping.

" _No… no…"_ Cynthia cried, feeling like her world had just shattered, her partner didn't want her, he never wanted her, he broke his promise.

Bracken leaned down and gently pulled his broken daughter to her feet and guided her back to her room, listening to her heart-wrenching sniffles and occasional sobs. _I'm sorry Cynthia, I'm so sorry,"_ he murmured as he settled his daughter to be lying on her bed, curled up in a small ball and he pulled the covers up over her shoulders, " _I'm sorry."_

:(

Cynthia reemerged a few hours later, she silently handed a forest green backpack to Holly and sat down in a corner on the floor, her shoulders hunched and head bowed, her blue eyes were red-rimmed and devastated and she didn't dare approach Leon, trying to hold together her last shreds of confidence and the broken shards of her wild heart.

Bracken breathed a sigh of relief, Cynthia didn't give up on life because Leon had rejected her, he didn't know what he would've done if his daughter refused everything for the rest of her life. "How're you feeling Cindy?" he asked her gently, still worried about his daughter.

Cynthia gave a small shrug and didn't speak, rather she scratched her right forearm rather hard, something that was normal for a rejected female, it was something that reassured the rejected female that they weren't numb and that they still felt pain.

"It's okay to not have a partner Cynthia, I'm sure you'll find anther one when you're older and ready for it." bracken said gently, looking at his daughter.

"I won't have a partner." Cynthia said quietly, her voice barely audible and oddly clogged, "my partner rejected me." She looked down at her lap, having not once looked up, "he doesn't want me." her voice shook, giving away how torn up she was over it.

'Wen you get older I'm sure he will," Bracken said to her, his eyes glinting with pain for his daughter's broken attitude. "You're a very beautiful wild Cynthia, I'm sure he'll love to have you once you both have matured."

"No." Cynthia replied softly, "he doesn't want me, I'm not enough for him." she murmured quietly, not once lifting her gaze from the ground, unable to muster the courage to do so. "I don't have a partner, I never will."

Leon looked over at Cynthia, his amber eyes worried and guilty, "Cyn-"

"Please don't call me that." Cynthia murmured, "I don't need to hear my faults, I know you don't want me and that I'm not good enough for you."

"It's not you-" Leon tried to explain, wanting desperately to have his friend back.

"Leon," Cynthia looked up at the mentioned teen, her blue eyes broken and nearly lifeless, "don't lie to me." she said quietly.

Leon's breath hitched and he stared back at her, what happened to the life in her eyes? Would they ever be friends again? _Cyndy…_

:( :( :(

 _ **The second half will be up soon, I just have to finish a drawing I've been drawing! :D I'm drawing Cinderpaw's fall at the current moment and I have to finish it! :D  
This shot is designed to display why when Cynthia's "gone wild" she stays as close to Leon as she can, nervous about his earlier rejection, that's also why she's overly affectionate, she's scared she'll offend him.**_


	87. Jay Sings (Singing Spinoff numb 13)

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- *Cynthia hugs you back, Leon looks confused*  
Cynthia: Thanks, I hope it does get better.**_

 _ **Leon: uh… why are you hugging me? Only Holly and Cyn are allowed to hug me.**_

 _ **Caylee: LEON!**_

 _ **Leon: Nevermind, *awkwardly hugs you back***_

 _ **Ah, that's always fun! :D Reviews not going through I mean! XD Yeah, the third part will be up in a few hours at the most, it's half way finished! :D I just heard this on the radio and had to write it! :D :D :D :D**_

 _ **O-o don't smile creepily at me, I don't like it! *hugs self* XD XD XD XD**_

 _ **Echo in the Whispering Wind- Yeah, I like it too, and I'm writing a sequel :D I'm glad the explanation helped! :D Let me know if you have more questions! :D**_

 _ **Homework sucks! :P**_

 _ **The deal for the Great Battle scene? I have it finished, I'm just waiting for 99 chapters before I post it! :P :D :D**_

 _ **Dragonwritergirl112- You do? Cool! :D Do you see why I phrased it that way? And yeah, she and Leon get together about nine-ish months later, I think? Anyway, Leon just has to Wild Court her for a while to reverse the whole rejection thing! :D**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro- I'm half way finished with it! XD I just had to write this! I haven't written Briarfeather in so long! XD**_

 _ **:) :) :)**_

 _ **Hey, guys! :D Sorry about the delay and this not being a wild chapter, my drawing took a lot long than I thought it would, I was up till two and I didn't finish it will ten-ish this morning, but don't worry! The next wilds chapter is half finished, and definitely will be posted within a few hours! I just got to the fun part in the chapter! :D**_

 _Jay sings "Something Just Like This" by The Chainsmokers_

Jay tuned his guitar while he listened to Bree's slow breathing as she read a book, her useless legs stretched out across the porch bench. Jay could feel her body heat as she leaned against his side, her fingers occasionally brushed through his black hair, making it so she could see his eyes as the breeze brushed his messy bangs cover his blind eyes.

" _ **I've been reading books of old,"**_ He started singing, his deeper voice a little gruff as first as his voice adjusted to the higher pitch of his singing voice.

" _ **The legends and the myths**_

 _ **Achilles and his gold**_

 _ **Hercules and his gifts**_

 _ **Spiderman's control,**_

 _ **And Batman with his fists,**_

 _ **And clearly I don't see myself upon that list,"**_ Jay sang, his blind blue eyes staring blankly in front of him as he strummed his guitar with his feet propped up on the outdoor coffee table. He felt the bench shift slightly as Bree shifted her position and turned toward him, he felt a weight on his shoulder as the usually hyper teenager who was currently drowsy and oddly quiet, put her head down on his shoulder, put down her book, and listened to him sing a song he had been working on for a while.

" _ **But she said, where d'you wanna go?**_

 _ **How much you wanna risk?**_

 _ **I'm not looking for somebody**_

 _ **With some superhuman gifts**_

 _ **Some superhero**_

 _ **Some fairytale bliss**_

 _ **Just something I can turn to**_

 _ **Somebody I can kiss,"**_ The lyrics reminded Jay of something similar Bree had said to him when they first got together, how he ended up with one of most gentle people he knew he had no idea.

" _I'm not good for you Bree," Jay grunted curtly, his blind eyes focused on where he knew she was by her calm breathing. "I'm not good enough you, or Hadara, or anyone."_

" _Jay," Bree said softly, looking at him through gentle amber eyes that he could see, "I don't want someone who's arrogant and cocky, I don't want a hero too busy to spend time with me, I don't want a person with my personality. I want a blind teenager my age whose personality keeps me grounded, who has just as many flaws as I do and makes me laugh, I want someone who doesn't mind my enthusiasm and will fight back when I get angry. I don't want anyone else, Jay, you're perfect in my eyes."_

 _Jay was speechless, he kept his grumpy expression, but he didn't know what to say, how did she do that?_

" _ **I want something just like this,**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo,**_

 _ **Oh, I want something just like this**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo,"**_ Jay sang, It was strange how different Bree was from the other girl he had dated back when he was sixteen. The relationship hardly lasted a year, but he still got a taste of heartbreak and it sure wasn't his favorite thing in the world. The other girl's name was hadara, a blonde haired blue eyed girl who was now one of his and Bree's friends and fully understood that Bree was Jay's girl now not her, thanks to a bit of unusual behavior on Bree's part after Hadara broke up with him…

" _Wait, she did what?" Bree asked, her amber eyes that he couldn't see, flashed with brief anger._

 _Jay shrugged and kept walking, acting like he didn't care. "She broke up with me, end of story."_

 _Bree narrowed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, her jaw clenched slightly. He could tell she was angry, he could almost feel it coming off of her in waves, and was confused, 'Why was she so angry?'_

 _He found out later when he and Bree ran into Hadara at the end of the school day. Jay set his expression in stone, hiding behind his natural grumpiness. "Hadara." He said, his blind gaze directed past her._

" _Hey, Jay, Bree," Hadara greeted and Jay wondered why she sounded so worried, unable to see how Bree was sitting up straight in her chair and had her arms folded over her chest with narrowed amber eyes and a firm scowl on her face._

" _Hi, Hadara," Bree spoke tightly, her voice tense and aggravated, any traces of her usual cheer just wasn't there._

" _Uh, how're you doing Jay?" Hadara asked awkwardly."_

" _Hey Jay, I want to talk to Hadara," Bree said, her voice cool and calm._

 _Jay nodded and turned on his heel, walking away from the two girls while keeping them in hearing distance._

" _I heard you broke up with Jay," Bree said flatly._

" _Oh, uh, yes," Hadara said a bit awkwardly and Jay could hear her shifting her weight nervously._

" _Why?"_

" _For my own reasons," Hadara replied, her voice a little nervous._

" _Why did you break his heart?" Bree asked, getting a little frustrated._

" _I didn't mean to, I just didn't think it would work out anymore."_

" _It took you a year to figure that out?" Bree snapped, "it doesn't take rocket science to figure out if you love someone!"_

 _Hadara looked taken back, "how would you know? You haven't been with anyone."_

 _Bree narrowed her eyes, "I've been in love with the guy whose heart you just broke for two and a half years, I know what it's like to be in love Hadara. Contrary to popular belief, I've experienced the world too you know."_

 _Hadara looked shocked._

" _ **Oh, I want something just like this**_

 _ **I want something just like this**_

 _ **I've been reading books of old**_

 _ **The legends and the myths**_

 _ **The testaments they told**_

 _ **The moon and its eclipse**_

 _ **And Superman unrolls**_

 _ **A suit before he lifts**_

 _ **But I'm not the kind of person that it fits,"**_ Jay sang and chuckled a little at another memory.

" _Aah!" Bree shrieked as she lost her grip on the branch she was holding onto and promptly fell. "Jaay!"_

 _Jay ran forward and tried to catch Bree, but it didn't quite work out and the other sixteen-year-old ended up falling on top of him and flattening him to the ground. "Ow," he grunted while Bree groaned above him._

" _We're not doing that again," Bree groaned, "I think a branch hit me in the chest and the gut, ow…"_

 _Jay chuckled at her griping and his shoulders started shaking before he started laughing despite the fact that he was sprawled on the grass on his stomach, his arms stretched out above his head, face pressed against the dirt with Bree sprawled out on top of him at a ninety degree angle, her shoulders arms and head hanging off him and resting on the dirt, her legs lying flat on the ground, her left cheek pressed against the grass, looking at him through not amused amber eyes._

 _Bree stared at him in confusion, "what?"_

" _You're complaining," Jay laughed, his baritone laugh unusual to Bree's ears, "as much as I usually do."_

 _Bree cracked a grin and giggled, "I guess I am, you've been rubbing off on me then."_

 _Jay just laughed, and Bree joined him a moment later, Jay's backyard full of the pair's laughter._

" _ **She said,"**_

" _ **where d'you wanna go?"**_ Bree took over the next part of the song, smiling at Jay, her amber eyes bright and happy." _ **How much you wanna risk?**_

 _ **I'm not looking for somebody**_

 _ **With some superhuman gifts**_

 _ **Some superhero**_

 _ **Some fairytale bliss**_

 _ **Just something I can turn to**_

 _ **Somebody I can miss,**_

 _ **I want something just like this**_

 _ **I want something just like this."**_

Jay took over again, " _ **Oh, I want something just like this**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo."**_

Bree interrupted, " _ **Oh, I want something just like this**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo**_

 _ **Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo**_

 _ **Where d'you wanna go?"**_

Bree and Jay sang together, keeping their voices rather soft, Bree's alto singing voice harmonizing with Jay's base voice. " _ **How much you wanna risk?**_

 _ **I'm not looking for somebody**_

 _ **With some superhuman gifts**_

 _ **Some superhero**_

 _ **Some fairytale bliss**_

 _ **Just something I can turn to**_

 _ **Somebody I can kiss**_

 _ **I want something just like this,"**_

" _ **Oh, I want something just like this**_

 _ **Oh, I want something just like this**_

 _ **Oh, I want something just like this."**_

Bree smiled and Jay looped one arm around her waist before he kept softly strumming the guitar, pressing a short kiss to her dark brown hair.


	88. Wilds AU number 3 part 2

_**WILL DO EDITS LATER, I fell asleep around six yesterday and my computer is dying!**_

 _ **Four minutes of battery!**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- shippings! :D :D  
**_ _ **No! No creepy smile! XD**_

 ** _Leon's hilarious! :D_**

 ** _Guest: Jaymoon is pretty cute I agree, but I'll probably always like Briarfeather better :D although if you'd like you can count Bree and Jay as a different couple :D Snowcrystal likes Halffeather over Briarfeather in the books too :D_**

 ** _It was really cute, wasn't it? I try my best! :D :D  
Patience young grasshopper! XD My writing isn't that good! XD you'll ever to let me know when you get an account cause I'll read your stories! I love reading people's stories! :D :D :D I'm surprised that I along with others, inspired you, keep writing! :D  
My day was okay, seeing how I fell asleep at seven yesterday! XD_**

* * *

 _I Can't Do That To Her Dad, It's Not Her Fault Part 2 out of 3_

Sarah walked in the front door and went over to Cynthia where the teenager was sitting at her desk with her head on top of her arms, gazing longingly at one of the pictures she had, it was more of a collage than a picture, it contained random moments as she grew up, the one she was staring at was a small picture of her and Leon when they were about six, Cynthia had been explaining the whole partner thing while Leon looked confused, the picture, however, displayed the moment after where Cynthia had hugged him and said she wanted him to be her partner and Leon was awkwardly hugging her back. "Cynthia," Sarah said quietly, walking up behind her and sitting down in another chair that Holly probably had been occupying, "how're you feeling?"

"Fine." Cynthia mumbled, not once moving her gaze away from the picture, "I'm fine."  
"No you're not," Sarah gently brushed her daughter's bangs from her pale face, "have you eaten anything today?"

"No," Cynthia mumbled and glanced at her mother before her gaze strayed back to the picture a moment later. "I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat Cynthia," Sarah spoke gently, she knew that her daughter wasn't feeling too great emotionally, but she couldn't let her not do anything. "I know you don't want to but you'll get sick if you don't."

"I don't want to eat." Cynthia muttered, "I won't get sick."

Sarah sighed and rubbed her daughter's back, she would try again later. "Do you want to stay home tomorrow?"

"Yes please," Cynthia murmured, "I don't want to go to school."

"Then you can stay here with me," Sarah smiled warmly and looked behind her as Holly emerged, carrying a few ham and cheese sandwiches on a plate.

"Hey Sarah," Holly greeted her friend's mother as she walked around the desk to the other side, "you ready to eat something Cindy? You can share one of these with me if you'd like." She offered her friend half of one of the sandwiches, attempting to get her friend to eat with a tactic both she and Leon used, usually Cynthia wouldn't eat when she was upset, unless you ate with her and offered to share with her, showing you cared, then she usually did.

Sure enough, Cynthia lifted her head up off her arms and straightened up before she took the sandwich and took a small bite from it, watching Holly do the same with her half.

:( :( :( :(

Leon hated how miserable Cynthia was, the female wild remained friendly to him, but she kept her distance, never allowing him to get close enough to even high five him and her eyes were always broken and full of wistful longing she always directed at him, not to mention she wouldn't look him in the eye or talk anymore, everyone at their human school thought she had lost her voice since she never spoke. But Leon knew better, she spoke in a murmur when it was just her and Holly, but if he was anywhere near her she was mute, unable to find anything optimistic to say, nor able to say anything to him for that matter. He could remember the conversation he and Cynthia had a long time ago, back when they were kids…

" _Do you get it now?" Cynthia asked Leon curiously, she was sitting in front of him on the floor, pretending her stuffed animal dog was tearing apart a small city full of cars while Leon drove the cars and tried to avoid her dog, pretending he was trying to not get squished by the large toy._

" _Yeah, sorta." Leon replied as he drove the last surviving car out of Cynthia's range, "do you have a partner?"_

 _Cynthia tilted her head and put down her stuffed dog, "no, I'm too small, but I will!" she lunged and hugged him, "I hope you're my partner!"_

 _Leon awkwardly hugged her back, "uh… I hope I'm yours too." He said a little awkwardly._

 _Cynthia smiled and hugged him tighter before she let go and pulled him along, "come on!"_

" _Okay!" Leon smiled and followed her._

" _Mom, can Leon be my partner?" Cynthia asked her mother through innocent blue eyes._

 _Sarah smiled, "maybe when you get older Cynthia."_

 _Cynthia pouted, "okay," she mumbled and Leon pouted too, noticing his friend's upset attitude._

 _Sarah picked Cynthia up, "partners are for bigger people Cynthia, but maybe you can practic if you'd like."_

" _How?" Cynthia looked curiously at her mother._

" _By being nice to each other and helping each other as much as possible." Sarah smiled and bopped her daughter on the nose._

" _Okay!" Cynthia smiled looking quite excited, "I wanna practice!"_

 _Sarah laughed, "after you take a nap before you become a grouchy bear."_

 _Cynthia wilted before she brightened up again, "can Leon come too?"_

 _Sarah smiled and picked up the other six-year-old, "sure, Leon can share your nap too."_

" _Yay!" Cynthia grinned and hugged her mother while Leon smiled and offered Sarah a toy car, something that was a good as getting a hug from him._

Leon felt more guilty, his father had told him not to get close to her again until they got older and were mature enough to be partners, and because of that, he had broken a promise he had made with Cynthia a year ago.

" _Leon," Cynthia asked her friend as she paused Sword Fighters to ask him a question and adjust the settings for her character. "You want to be my partner right?"_

 _Leon nodded as they continued playing, "of course I do," he paused the game and did a sort of bow, "it would be an honor Milady Sunshine."_

 _Cynthia laughed and shook her head in amusement, "the whole sunshine part ruined the dramatic set up."_

" _I know," Leon grinned and plopped back down on the couch next to his friend, "what about it Cyn? I want it too you know."_

 _Cynthia looked surprised and she promptly ran into a wall in the game and got pummeled. "You want it to?" she asked, looking at him._

" _Of course I do, I don't want my best friend to paired up with some random bloke right?" He added in the British word, emphasizing his point with the usage of Cynthia's birth dialect._

" _I guess," Cynthia replied, feeling a bit disappointed, but it vanished at his next words._

" _Plus I want to be your partner too." Leon smiled warmly at her before he snorted, "your character is continuously running into that wall."_

 _Cynthia jerked her attention back to the video game, "oops," she said sheepishly and maneuvered away from the blockade, her mind distracted by Leon's answer._

 _For a few minutes, it was silent besides the many different sounds of the video game, Leon was a little smug at not getting embarrassed by his admission, and Cynthia was thinking, which was probably why she kept dying._

" _Cyn," Leon said a moment later, "While watching you run into a billion walls is hilarious," he pulled her controller out of her hands, "what's on your mind?"_

 _Cynthia studied him for a minute, "do you promise?'_

 _Leon looked confused, "do I promise what?"_

" _That you aren't lying and that you want to be my partner." Cynthia replied before she smiled, "pinky promise?" she joked._

 _Leon smiled and hooked his little finger with hers, "I promise."_

Leon was startled back into awareness as his bedroom door opened to reveal his older sister.

"Leon, Cindy and I are going to the park with Ivory, Diana, and Ben, want to come?" Holly asked as she poked her head into the room with Cynthia standing silently behind her.

Leon sat up and glanced at Cynthia, "are you sure you want me to come, Cindy?" he asked Cynthia directly, doing as she asked and not calling her any nicknames that were of his own design.

Cynthia averted her gaze to the floor and shrugged, gesturing toward Holly and shuffling her feet.

Holly looked sympathetically at her brother, "Cindy's just tagging along as well, it'll be okay if you come too."

"Okay," Leon mumbled and got to his feet, stuffing his feet into his tennis shoes before following the two girls, his amber eyes a little sad.

:( :( :(

"Holly, is there any way of reversing a rejection?" Leon sighed, leaning forward on his arms and rubbing his temples, he couldn't take it anymore, after a month of Cynthia not at all acting like herself, and seeing the deadened state of her blue eyes, he was done following his father's directions.

Holly didn't look up from the book she was reading about wilds as she replied, "yes, there is."

Leon's amber eyes brightened and he pulled the book from her, "tell me!"

"Hey! Give me my book back!" Holly snapped and reached for her book, trying to get it back.

"Tell me how to do it first!"

"If you'd give me my book I can show you!" Holly huffed and was startled when her brother dropped the book back onto the table and sat still, waiting impatiently. "Woah, calm down you maniac." she snorted before she opened the book and flipped to a certain page, she then turned the book around and pushed it over to Leon. "It's called Wild courting," she explained as he glanced at the book, "it happens in stages, the first stage is showing her you do care, there's a list of things you can do in the book, and lucky for you, this is the modern copy. Anyway, the second stage is the actual courting part which is exactly what it sounds like, and the third stage is actually becoming partners."

"How do I start?" Leon asked, his amber eyes glinting with determination.

"Dad won't like this," Holly said a bit slowly.

"I'm giving us our best friend back," Leon said determinedly, "and I want to make her happy, not miserable."  
"We're going to be in so much trouble," Holly sighed, "but I'll help you anyway."

"Thanks, Holly," Leon said gratefully

"No problem brother," Holly smiled, "so the first thing is to stand up for her to people bothering her, like Asher or Hannah..."

:) :) :)

"Leave Cindy alone Hannah," Leon said firmly from where he was sitting at his desk next to Jay and Fin, his amber eyes slightly narrowed, "she's not mute, she just lost her voice for a bit. Would you like it if we all call you mute when you lose your voice?"

Cynthia jumped when Leon stood up for her as the blonde teased her about the absence of her voice -which was his fault in the first place- and she blinked in both surprise and confusion. _He rejected me, why is he helping me?_

Hannah glared at Cynthia like it was her fault and flounced off toward Isa and Diana, the former of which was looking at them funny.

Cynthia twisted and looked at Leon, her blue gaze confused as he smiled warmly at her. _Is he mocking me?_

Holly looked over her friend's shoulder and smiled at her brother, so far it was working, hopefully, Cynthia caught on pretty soon.

:) :) :)

"The next thing is to offer to do something with Cindy of her choice," Holly said a week and a half later as she and Leon poured over a pile of books on both their current issue and solution.

"What would that do?" Leon asked his sister, his amber eyes moving left to right as he read something she wanted him to read about the whole courting part. "Not that I'm against it or anything, but I'm not sure how that'll help."

"You are such a guy." Holly sighed, putting her book down on the table before pushing his down so he would look at her, "by letting Cindy choose and spending time with her you're showing that you don't mind saving time for her alone, plus you're displaying that she's your equal, not anything less."

Leon's eyebrows raised in surprise, "how do you know this stuff?"

Holly leaned back in her chair, green eyes a little smug, "I'm a girl Leon, plus I happen to open a book and read more than once a month, unlike you."

Leon pouted, "I do read."

"This is the most I've seen you read in weeks Leon," Holly deadpanned, "things have to be extremely important for you to read anything."

"I guess…" Leon mumbled and picked up his book while Holly picked up hers and continued to skim through it and mark pages for Leon to read later.

:) :) :)

"Hey, Cindy!" Leon broke away from his friends and jogged over to Cynthia, plopping down on the cafeteria bench next to her, "so I'm not doing anything this afternoon and I'm hoping you don't either because I wanted to know if there was anything you'd like to do with me?" he looked at her, amber eyes warm and a little confident.

Cynthia looked at him wide eyed, _What?_ She didn't say anything, still unable to utter a syllable when he was around. _He rejected me right?_

Leon seemed to understand what she was thinking and his eyes softened, "I don't mean it like anything you don't want it to be Cindy."

Cynthia glanced at Holly who gave a short nod of encouragement, her green eyes glowing. _What're they up to?_ She looked at Leon and studied him for a moment before she nodded in a slightly jerky fashion, still not comfortable around him.

Leon pulled out his phone and typed something while Cynthia watched him, a moment later her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to see that Leon had texted her.

' _Where do you want to go?'_ Leon asked, being silent like she was.

' _My house,'_ Cynthia replied quickly.

' _You're lying, that's not where you want to go,'_ Leon texted back, picking up on how fast she replied.

' _Okay… archery range?'_ Cynthia suggested, there was a new one near their school and she was curious about how big it so, supposedly it had a "battle field" where archers could use paint covered foam-tipped arrows to shoot each other, first one to hit a "fatal" shot one. Supposedly anyway.

' _Okay, do you want my mom to take us?'_

' _And holly.'_ Cynthia decided, feeling more comfortable if Holly came too, plus she wasn't too bad at shooting a bow anyway.

' _And Holly.'_ Leon agreed, glad she even agreed to the whole thing, plus if Holly came she could make sure he didn't screw the whole thing up.

' _Sure,'_ Cynthia replied and for the first time since Leon's rejection she smiled and looked him in the eye.

:) :) :)

"I hope I don't screw this up," Leon mumbled to Holly as they waited for Cynthia to walk over from her house.

"You won't," Holly reassured him with a smile as she checked over her compound bow, "you've always been a natural for stuff like this."

"Well being a natural didn't stop me from listening to dad and rejecting her in the first place."

"That's not your fault-"

"Cindy I wanna come too!"

The two teenagers looked sharply to their left to see Cynthia sprinting toward them, her blue eyes wide as she ran away from her adopted six-year-old sister Lily and towards Holly and Leon. A moment later Cynthia crashed headlong into Leon, knocking him down on his back on the grass with a thump in the process. Leon didn't dare move, with how close Cynthia was he didn't want to break the strange spell, not he could anyway with Cynthia sprawled on top of him. He could hear Cynthia's heavy breathing from her proximity and felt her breath flutter unevenly across his face.

"Lily!" Miles, Cynthia's other younger sibling, sprinted around a corner and started to catch up with his younger sibling, his slightly stocky build perfect for running after the energetic girl. "Leave our sister alone! We're going to miss my soccer game if we don't hurry up!"

"I wanna go with Cindy!" Lily complained as she ran faster to out run her brother.

Cynthia jerked away from Leon, harshly pushing against his chest, knocked the air out of him when she did so and scrambled up to her feet her blue eyes a little more distraught at how close she had gotten to him. _He rejected me, he doesn't want me._

Miles caught up with his sister and scooped her up, "Sorry Cindy," he apologized to his sister, blue eyes a little worried, he had seen the position his older sister had been in, "go have fun, please."

:( :( :(

Leon yelped as he was shot in the back of the head with a foam-tipped arrow, the paint sticking to the helmet he was wearing. "Oh come on Cindy!" he complained as the lights flickered on and he looked at his friend who still had her bow drawn with another foam arrow notched. "I almost beat you!"

Cynthia flashed a bright smirk and let the arrow fly, it hit him in the night visor goggles.

"Hey!" He complained, unable to see now, "that's not fair!"

Holly emerged from another part of the maze just in time to see Cynthia start laughing, her voice hoarse and raspy, but she was making noise and laughing.

Behind his paint covered goggles, Leon's eyes softened and he smiled before he took off his goggles and watched his friend laugh, doubled over in laughter. _She's perfect._ He mused and locked eyes with Holly, it was working, now for stage two.

:) :) :)

"Now you have to court her," Holly said as she skimmed through her notes while running a brush through her black hair.

"What do I do?" Leon asked as he rubbed a towel through his blonde hair, after the archery outing he had been covered in sweat and paint, courtesy of Cynthia and Holly. "I don't even know what courting is."  
"Well wild courting is a bit different but they're pretty similar," Holly said, looking up at him, "the point is to prove you're ready to be her partner, she's been ready for years, but are you?" she looked up at him, leaning forward on the desk and looking at her brother. "Are you ready to be her partner Leon?"

Leon didn't have to think about it, the fourteen-year old's eyes gleamed with determination and a wild love, "Yes," he confirmed, his voice half no hesitation, "I'm ready."

Holly smiled, "good." she leaned back and pushed him a list of things crammed on a small notepad, "here's a list of things you can do if you get mom on your side anyway."

"Why would I need mom…" Leon yelped, "I can't do all of these, I don't have a crap ton of money…" he looked at his sister, "do you really think mom will lend us money?"

Holly shrugged, "if it's for a good cause yes, now we just hope it's good enough."

"Maybe I can do more chores?" Leon suggested, not a big fan of the idea, Cynthia was the one who liked everything organized and neat, not him.


	89. Cat Special numbers 3-4

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- It is getting better, and just wait until the next part and the locket Cynthia is given! :D The flashbacks were fun to write! :D :D**_

 _ **Shadows of a Dying Soul- HI! Hello, new person! :D :D :D**_

 _ **That chapter is pretty cute, isn't it? I love briarfeather! Yay! You're shipping them too! :D :D :D (Reply to Review for Jay Sings (Singing Spinoff numb 13))**_

 _ **Yes! Go on Leon! Get to it! XD He does get to it, Cynthia loves the courting gifts and finds his actions very kawaii, or cute and adorable (Reply to Review fo Wilds AU number 3 part 2))**_

 _ **Guest- what do you mean SkyClan please? Do you mean you want the characters in the story? I can do that! :D Let me know what you mean and I'll try to do it! :D :D**_

 _ **I hate tests :( My brain is fried! XD Sorry about this not being a Wild chapter, but my brain was fried and this was all I could squeeze out of it, so enjoy! :D :D (the first one is just for you Snowcrystal :D) I hope this explains why I like Briarfeather so much and I tried my best for the Hollyleaves one that will be getting a sequel tomorrow or tonight**_

 _Many Cat Special_

 _(Briarfeather and Hollyleaves)_

 _:) :) :)_

 _Hollyleaf's return and Fallen Leaves' Freedom_

 _(sneak peek to the Forgotten Warrior Rewritten)_

 _(mild Hollyleaves)_

Ivypool's fur prickled uneasily as she heard movement from Son and the WindClan cats. "They're coming to look for us! We have to go." Wandering blindly through the tunnels was terrifying, _Will we ever find our way out?_

A moment later she heard the thrumming sound of two sets of paw steps coming towards them, the paw steps light, and sure of where they were going.

Cat scent washed over Ivypool and the scent was rather familiar, but she was too scared to think clearly. She slid out her claws, blood rushing in her ears from her panic at the thought of being trapped between two enemies.  
Then one of the newcomers, the familiar smelling one spoke, her mew a little rough with a hard edge, "Come with us! Quick!"

"No way!" Ivypool hissed and crouched down into an attack crouch, her whiskers twitching as she tried to aim her leap. "You could be with them."

"We're not," the second newcomer mewed, its mew was much deeper and obviously male. "The other clan cats are coming over here Holly."

 _Holly?_ Ivypool thought, _who's Holly? A rogue?_

"Prove it!" Dovewing hissed, crouching down next to her sister, their whiskers brushed from how close together the tunnel forced them to be.

"We shouldn't have to," the female stranger named Holly replied irritably. "For Starclan's sake, lets's go, unless you want to be shredded by the WindClan cats!"

Ivypool's green eyes widened in shock and she glanced at her sister, exchanging a short glance by the gleam of Dovewing's eyes. "StarClan? Then you belong with the Clans?"

"I don't," the male answered, his mew rather tense as well, "however Holly does-"

"Do you two want to get out of here or not?" Holly interrupted him, "Sorry Fallen Leaves, but we need to get them out of here before WindClan finds them."

"Yes, we do," Ivypool hissed back. "But how do we know you're not trying to lead us farther in?"

"We aren't," the male named Fallen Leaves promised and Ivypool caught the calm gleam of his eyes, his outline was also a little easier to see, she could faintly see ginger and white fur, while she couldn't see Holly at all.

"I'm a ThunderClan cat like you," Holly hissed, only the hard glint of her green eyes visible in the dark tunnels, her body darker than the darkness of the tunnel itself.

"Holly is a loner name!" Dovewing hissed, her tail fluffing out slightly.

"That's just what Fallen Leaves calls me, my name is Hollyleaf, I'm a ThunderClan cat just like you." Holly mewed, her mew tight and annoyed.

Ivypool felt her jaw drop, "Hollyleaf? But you… you're dead!"

"Obviously not," Hollyleaf replied with a hard edge in her mew, "now do you want to stand here discussing ancient history long forgotten and be shredded by WindClan warriors, or would you like to leave?"

The paw steps of the WindClan cats were getting louder as they neared them, probably picking up on their scent. Ivypool could picture them running along the tunnel toward them, noses twitching and jaws open to take in their ThunderClan scent partially masked by the other two strange cats.

"Okay," Dovewing mewed, her fur flattening slightly as she realized that Hollyleaf and Fallen Leaves weren't going to harm them. "Show us the way."

"Fallen Leaves, you take Dovewing, I'll take Ivypool, if we split up it will confuse the WindClan invaders, mask her with your scent and I'll mask Ivypool." Hollyleaf spun around and whiskered down a narrow side tunnel.

Fallen Leaves shot down another, Dovewing on his tail.

Ivypool followed Hollyleaf as the first WindClan cats skidded past and crashed into the tunnel walls.

"Ow!"

"Where did they go?"

"There were just here, I know they were!"

"Fox dung! We've lost them!"

Hollyleaf paid no attention to the other cats, heading deeper into the tunnels. Ivypool followed her so close that her whiskers brushed the other she-cat's tail, she was terrified of losing her, if she did she was going to be lost in the tunnels forever. She hoped Dovewing would be alright with Fallen Leaves, the cat who wasn't at all familiar to either of them. After a while of twisting tunnels, Hollyleaf paused and Ivypool nearly barged into her.

"You can trust us, you know." Hollyleaf meowed, "I led you out once before, remember?"

"Oh!" Ivypool mewed as she realized why Hollyleaf's scent had been vaguely familiar. "That was you?"

Holly didn't say anything else as she darted on through the tunnels with the knowledge of exactly where everything was. Soon Ivypool started to see Hollyleaf's black ears and head outlined by pale light filtering into the narrow tunnel. Ivypool's heart jumped as she heard more paw steps and she realized it was just Fallen Leaves and Dovewing, her sister was safe! A moment later, the four cats emerged from the wide tunnel into a shallow dip of tumbled rocks and fern on the hillside. Ivypool opened her jaws and drew in the fresh night air, her pelt smoothing at she caught the scents of ThunderClan. She turned to their rescuers, a slender, long-legged, black she-cat with piercing green eyes; and a long-legged, ginger and white tom with piercing green eyes like Hollyleaf, his outline shimmered slightly in the sunlight, almost like how a StarClan cat was supposed to look. "Thank you!" Ivypool meowed, her leaf green eyes glowing with relief.

"We would never have made it without you," Dovewing added, giving her pelt a shake, blue eyes bright with a matching relief.

Hollyleaf gave a curt nod. "Listen," she meowed. "We've heard Sol plotting with the WindClan cats for the last half-moon, and-"

"What?" Ivypool gasped, "that's even before he came to ThunderClan!"

"They're going to attack through the tunnels." Fallen Leaves mewed and shuffled his large paws, ears twitching uneasily, he wasn't sure how he was even outside of the tunnels at the current moment, and the strange scents flooding his senses wasn't helping.

"We have to warn the Clan!" Dovewing mewed, her blue eyes wide with worry and dismay. "Come on Ivypool!"

"Wait," Hollyleaf stopped them from leaving with a twitch of her tail.

"It's not going to happen yet," Fallen Leaves mewed, "Sol wants to win more support from your Clanmates first."

"The WindClan cats know that he's winning Thunderclan's friendship so he can betray you," Hollyleaf hissed, a growl rumbling through her throat. "You never should have let him come back!"

If Ivypool wasn't so shocked, she would've been weirded out by them finishing each other sentences, it was something that her and Dovewing's mentors used to do and even back then it was weird. "It wasn't us," Ivypool pointed out.

"He did save the apprentices from a fox," Dovewing mewed.

"Sol didn't save them," Fallen Leaves mewed and his tail swished annoyedly across the grassy earth, "that was Hollyleaf."

Ivypool and Dovewing blinked at the black she-cat, they haven't been expecting that.

Fallen Leaves' ears swiveled towards the edge of the dip and he stiffened, green eyes flashing with worry, "Holly, there are cats coming!"

"Mousedung!" Hollyleaf muttered, "They've come looking for Ivypool and Dovewing." She tensed up as well and started edging back toward the tunnels.

Panic flared in Fallen Leaves' eyes and he turned towards her, "let's go back, you wanted to stay with me right?"

Hollyleaf nodded, "don't tell any cat you saw us," she nearly begged the two thunderclan warriors, green eyes worried.

"Why not?" Dovewing asked in confusion, "why can't you come home? You belong here!"

"My home is with Fallen Leaves in the tunnels," Hollyleaf whispered, her tail and hindquarters vanishing into the dark tunnel opening, Fallen Leaves at her side. "I don't belong here."

"No!"

"Hollyleaf!"

"Don't run!"

Hollyleaf froze and Ivypool looked up at the edge of the dip where Lionblaze, Cinderheart, and Jayfeather all stood on a wide rock, looking down at the four of them. Lionblaze's pelt was gold in the moonlight, his amber eyes glowed as he saw his sister after the many moons of them all being apart.

Cinderheart's pelt glowed almost white, her blue eyes glittered at the sight of her best friend.

Jayfeather's coat shone like starlight, his moody blind blue eyes held an unusual spark of joy.

Cinderheart spoke, her blue eyes gentle and warm, "Hollyleaf, we aren't letting you run away again."

Lionblaze's mew was firm, "not again, you do belong here, here in ThunderClan."

Jayfeather's blind gaze was locked on Fallen Leaves, "Thank you for taking care of my sister Fallen Leaves."

 _ **(I will write a sequel to this sneak peek since Snowcrystal has been wanting to see this scene for a really long time! XD)**_

 _Are You Okay Jayfeather? I'm Always Here When You Need Me, I Promise_

 _(Sneak peek to Sign of the Moon Rewrite)_

 _(is rather short)_

Jayfeather gave a curt nod. Between the struggle in the hole, the discovery about Hollyleaf, and being soaked to the bone with the freezing cold rain, he was exhausted and just wanted to curl up in his nest and sleep for a moon.

Briarlight turned toward Jayfeather as he entered the den, the scents of herbs clung to her pelt, she had been sorting through herbs while restlessly waiting for the grumpy medicine cat to return. "Are you okay?" she mewed, "where have you been?" she asked, her mew a tad sharp. She had been sitting in the den worrying about the grumpy pain in the tail since the rain started, although he wasn't that much of a pain in the tail, more like a constant thorn in her flank that she just couldn't stop either thinking about or worrying about.

"Out," Jayfeather grunted before his sharp nose picked up on the guilt coming from the she-cat as the small loss of her temper. Wait, only one she-cat? "Where's Icecloud?"

Briarlight's reply was muffled as she picked up herbs. "She went back to the warriors' den." Jayfeather could hear fur dragging on the stone ground as she pulled herself into the cleft. "She said she could rest just as well there. Oh! The marigold's all sorted by freshness," she mewed, her mew clear and cheerful.

Jayfeather shrugged. He was too tired to say what he thought about warriors who thought they knew better than their medicine cat and didn't feel like telling Briarlight off anyway, it wasn't like she knew better anyway. He would check on Icecloud in the morning.

"You're all wet and muddy!" Briarlight exclaimed as if just realizing that he was covered in mud and was soaked by the rain.

 _Yeah, and claws are sharp! Anything else obvious you want to point out?_ Jayfeather held his tongue and instead replied, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Briarlight insisted stubbornly and dragged herself over to him. "You're wetter than a drowned mouse and asleep on your paws if I pushed you you'd probably fall out and pass out. Let me clean you up."

Jayfeather's whiskers twitched in amusement, her comment reminded him of one of the dreams where he helped the tribe of rushing water where Briarlight accompanied him, he ended up falling into a river and scared the brown she-cat out of her fur when he sneezed and shivered. But he didn't reply, both his pride and his position as a medicine cat wouldn't let him.

"I promise I won't nag you about where you've been." Briarlight mewed with a hint of mischief in her voice, "you're exhausted, you need to sleep Jayfeather, and you're not getting it soaked to the bone."

Jayfeather gave a sigh and wearily padded over to the she-cat's nest and flopped down into it. "You win," he grunted grumpily and Briarlight purred with amusement. He listened to her drag herself over and felt the fur brush his own as she settled behind him. A moment later he felt her tongue rasp gently over his fur, stroking rhythmically over his shoulder and cleaning the moisture and mud off of his fur. His fur warmed, feeling a little embarrassed that she was the one looking after him, and she seemed to sense it.

"It's the least I can do," Briarlight murmured between licks, "you've helped me a lot."

Jayfeather didn't respond as he dozed off, wondering if his mother had ever licked him like this.

 _But which mother? Leafpool or Squirrelflight?_

He could see a face gazing down at him; at first, he thought it was Leafpool, but it blurred and became Squirrelflight, then changed to Hollyleaf, her green eyes glowing as they stared at him. Jayfeather jerked awake, half sitting up. His fur felt dry and warm, his whole body was more relaxed, the other cat's presence was unexpectedly welcome.

"Hey, are you okay?" Briarlight's anxious voice reminded him where he was.

"I'm fine." Jayfeather sighed.

"Are you sure?" Briarlight mewed. Jayfeather heard her rasping her tongue over her flanks, cleaning any of the mud that got on her from his fur off.

"Yes." Jayfeather replied tersely.

"You don't have to lie to me Jayfeather," Briarlight murmured.

"I know." Jayfeather replied simply and rose to his paws. "Thanks for licking my fur dry," he mewed, thanking her for her help before he padded off to his own nest and curled up among the bracken.

:) :) :)

Jayfeather opened his eyes to find himself back at the bottom of the hole. The rain had stopped. High above, clouds scudded fast across the sky, though Jayfeather couldn't feel any wind. Padding deeper into the tunnel, he saw that the way ahead was dimly lit as if the stars were shining through the earth and rock above his head. He walked farther in, his ears pricked to catch the slightest sound, but the air around him was empty and silent.

 _Where are all the ancient cats?_

Jayfeather gazed around for a moment before he padded on and on into the moonlight until he reached the large cave where the river flowed, there he spotted Briarlight, the dark brown mottled she-cat was studying the water, her cream tipped tail swishing gently across the tunnel floor.

"The water level's dropped," she mewed, her ears swiveling towards him as he padded into the cave.

"How did you beat me?" Jayfeather asked in confusion, usually, she wandered around and found him… eventually.

"No idea." Briarlight shrugged and dabbed a paw into the swiftly flowing water. Indeed, the river was thin and black, rushing swiftly between the rocks, not swollen and angry as it had been last time he was here.

Jayfeather glanced up at Rock's ledge, but it was bare and disappointment flooded through his paws.

A soft paw step sounded behind Jayfeather. He spun around to see a faint shape slipping out of a different tunnel. "Fallen Leaves?" He meowed apprehensively.

"No," rasped a familiar voice.

"Rock!" Briarlight mewed and approached her Clanmate. Rock flicked his furless tail and Briarlight stopped, sitting little ways away with her tail curled around her paws, amber eyes widening as she noticed the halves of a broken stick in his jaws. "Jayfeather… you didn't…" she breathed, staring at the two barkless halves of the ancient stick.

Rock padded up to Jayfeather, his long twisted claws clicking on the stone floor. His blind eyes bulged and the moonlight glistened on his furless body. His face was solemn as he halted in front of Jayfeather and dropped the stick halves onto the ground.

"Why did you break my stick?" Rock asked. His tone revealed no anger or sadness, nothing to tell Jayfeather how he was feeling.

"I-I wanted to talk to you, and you weren't there," Jayfeather stumbled, his fur burning with embarrassment. "What was the point of keeping a piece of wood with scratched on it?"

Briarlight opened her mouth to go against what he just said, but closed it with a sigh when Rock flicked his tail again.

"I am always here," Rock responded, and now Jayfeather could hear the sadness in his voice. "I will come to you when I have something to say.

Briarlight couldn't keep quiet anymore, "we can't summon him Jayfeather, its none of our business to make him come when he doesn't have anything to say."

Jayfeather bowed his head, feeling like a kit being scolded for sneaking out of camp.

"That stick was your history," Rock continued with a slight nod toward Briarlight. "You cannot throw that away. The past is all around you, and cats who once were warriors will be warriors again."

Jayfeather tensed and his claws scraped on the rock floor of the cave. "Do you mean Hollyleaf?" he asked urgently. "Have you seen her? Is she still alive?"

Rock blinked, and Jayfeather shivered at the thought that the ancient cat's blind gray eyes could still see him very well. "Your past lies in the mountains," Rock told him. "The place where I was born, the place where cats have returned before. You must go there once more to complete the circle."

"Back to the Tribe of Rushing Water?" Briarlight asked curiously, her ears pricked slightly as she asked her questions. "Are they in trouble?"

Rock didn't reply. The clink of a stone behind him distracted Jayfeather for a heartbeat, and when he turned back, the ancient cat had disappeared.

"Rock!" he called, but the echoes of his voice died away into silence, and there was no answer. "Briarlight!" he complained, "why did you do that?"

"I don't know, why did you break his stick?" Briarlight shot back hotly, her amber eyes flashing. And Jayfeather didn't reply, still embarrassed about the whole stick thing.

As Jayfeather stood by the stream, able to feel the waves of smugness coming from the usually gentle hearted she-cat, he heard quiet paw steps approaching and looked around to see a young ginger-and-white tom emerging from a tunnel.

Fallen Leaves padded up to Jayfeather and dipped his head to him and Briarlight. His green eyes held sadness in the grassy depths. "Greetings, Jay's Wing, Prickly Briar," he mewed."

"Oh come on!" Briarlight complained half-heartedly, "I'm never going to live that down! It is not my fault I fell into a thorn bush!"

Jayfeather tensed when Fallen Leaves called them by the names he and Briarlight had borne in the ancient time. Although he did have to restrain a snort at Briarlight's, out of all of the names she could've been named, they chose Prickly Briar in honor of how she apparently strayed away from her mother and fell into a thorn bush before they could name her. "Greetings."

"The other cats have left, haven't they?"

His tone was quiet and didn't hold any trace of a grudge against Jayfeather, but Jayfeather still felt even guiltier because of the part he had played in the ancient cats' departure from the lake. _I wonder if Fallen Leaves knows what I did?_

"I'm sorry Fallen Leaves," Briarlight mewed quietly, "they've all gone to the mountains."

"I feel their absence inside of me, like a silence," Fallen Leaves meowed. "But your cats are still here. Come, let me take you to them." Without waiting for Jayfeather to reply, he headed across the cave into the mouth of a different tunnel. Jayfeather hesitated for a heartbeat, then bounded in pursuit, Briarlight on his tail.

Fallen Leaves led him along the tunnels, and before Jayfeather thought it could be possible, they were standing in the hole again, in front of the branch. _Of course—he has wandered these tunnels for so long. He knows the quickest way._

"Come with us," Jayfeather urged, unable to bear the thought of leaving the young tom alone there again.

Fallen Leaves shook his head. "We both know that can't happen."

"But aren't you lonely Fallen Leaves?" Briarlight asked gently, her concern for the tom displayed in her eyes.

"No," Fallen Leaves almost purred, "I am accompanied by Dark Holly." He raised his head and looked up at the sky. The clouds had cleared away, and the warriors of StarClan shone in a blaze of icy light.

"The stars are still shining," Fallen Leaves whispered with wonder in his eyes. "I never thought I would see them again. It's good to know that they are still there, just as they have always been. The past is all around us."

Jayfeather jumped, startled. _That's what Rock said!_

"Your destiny lies up there, doesn't it?" Fallen Leaves meowed, gesturing with his tail toward the sky. "You don't belong here." He reached out with his tail, and Jayfeather raised his own tail so that they touched for a moment.

"I wish you luck, my friends," Fallen Leaves continued after he licked Briarlight between the ears, "If ever you need me, I will be here."

"Thank you," Jayfeather murmured. He picked his way across the loose earth and scrambled up the branch. When he looked down into the hole again, Fallen Leaves had gone. "Hey, Fallen Leaves!" Desperate to see him once more, Jayfeather leaned out over the hole.

"Leave him alone Jayfeather," Briarlight murmured, tugging on his tail with her teeth, "he's not alone remember?"

"I guess not," Jayfeather admitted and sighed before his flicked his tail from her teeth and curled up on the grass before closing his eyes.

Briarlight did the same nearby and neither of them noticed the transparent form of a white she-cat looking sadly at them.

Something sharp jabbed into Jayfeather's side and his eyes flew open to reveal darkness and her found himself leaning over the edge of his nest, his cheek pressed against the cold floor on his den.

"Jayfeather!" Briarlight's hiss was muffled, and Jayfeather realized that she was prodding him with a long twig held in her mouth. "Get up!"

"Stop that," Jayfeather mumbled and sat up before he shook the moss from his pelt. "What?"

"Go talk to Lionblaze!" Briarlight mewed, her mew much clearer, "about what Rock said!"

"Right…" Jayfeather mumbled and hauled himself to his paws. _Annoying she-cat._

"I'm not annoying!"

"I didn't say you were," he mewed curtly with his whiskers twitching slightly before he stumbled past the bramble screen and out into the camp, almost barging into Mousewhisker as he headed for the fresh-kill pile. "Sorry," he muttered, as the young tom whisked around him.


	90. Wilds AU number 3 part 3 (final part)

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- are you still sick? I hope not, but if you are I hope you feel**_

 _ **better soon! :D Hollyleaves is cute too! :D Jay's hilarious, what if Briarlight was there? She'd be excited to meet her brother in the ancients! :D :D(I can imagine how it goes! XD)**_

 _Fallen Leaves padded into the medicine cat den like Hollyleaf and Jayfeather had told him to and froze, his green eyes widening in surprise at the paralyzed she-cat who was sorting herbs near the back of the den, her mottled pelt unmistakable. "Prickly Briar?" he mewed in shock._

 _Briarlight looked up from her herbs, a small borage leaf on her nose. Her amber eyes widened with shock, "Fallen Leaves?"_

 _Hollyleaf looked confused, "you know Fallen Leaves?"_

 _Briarlight's ears twitched, "it's complicated," she mewed and dragged herself over to the three of them, "the borage's sorted Jayfeather!" she told the medicine cat, still not sure what to say about how she knew Fallen Leaves._

" _I noticed." Jayfeather mewed curtly and plucked the borage leaf off of her nose before dropping it at his paws. "This is Briarlight," he gruffly introduced his assistant._

" _Who's Prickly briar?" Briarlight asked Fallen Leaves curiously, before her amber eyes twinkled, "I sure hope you're not talking to me," she purred, "cause I'm pretty sure I haven't fallen into any briar bushes."_

 _Fallen Leaves looked confused but seemed to get that Briarlight would explain later and dropped the subject._ _ **  
I hope I answered your questions with my PM :D I got a little lazy on Holly's, but Briarlight's was going to be Briar's Thorn, but I found the idea of her falling into a prickly briar bush a whole lot more amusing, so I used it! :D I can change it, but I probably won't because it's the one thing that Jayfeather can hold over her head and tease her for :D**_

 _ **Wandering Snowleaf- the key is in writing a multitude of chapters at once! :D I'm nearly always writing a chapter for each story on here and this story happens to be easier to write, so I write more of it! :D**_

 _ **Featherflight- Yeah, Leon really does love Cynthia :) I wish they were alive too, it would be really cool to see their relationship develop over the years! :D**_

 _ **I don't know, I've always felt that Briarlight is portrayed as a side character who gets on Jayfeather's nerves, so I wanted her to be important! :D Now she's born into the ancient times with him, she knows about Rock and the prophecy, and helps Jayfeather "decrypt" some of it with a lot of thinking and guess work! :D plus, she's part of a prophecy that I have in the ancient times that Rock gives to her in the tunnels when she sneaks out to become a sharpclaw. Rock gives a warning her about Jayfeather staying with Halfmoon in the ancient times! It goes like this: when broken from the briar's protective thorns, the blue jay's wing will be lost in the past to the bright light of a gentle half moon. Be careful young briar, for a feather can easily be swept away.**_

 _ **She really doesn't interfere that much, she just tries to keep Jayfeather's attention busy with her running around and getting into trouble (she's a kit when Jaypaw first meets the ancients). Plus with her around it's easier for Jayfeather to remember that he can't stay there, he has the prophecy and another cat to worry about. Although Briarlight does argue with Halfmoon when Jayfeather's not there and isn't a big fan of the she-cat, not that she ever really was! XD**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro- I'm sorry I took so long! :( but it's up now! :D and it's a happy ending! :D :D I have three tests today, let's see if my brain survives! XD**_

 _ **Shadows of a Dying Soul- Oh! Sorry Echo! :D I'm glad you like the cat ones! They're fun to write!**_

 **:) :) :)**

 _ **Finally! :D It's up! Hooray! :D :D Sorry guys, I've been working on my rewritten series and fighting for love and with constant hope lately, not to mention my brain has pretty much fizzled out with all of the tests I've been taking in school. -_- But I'm not here to complain! :D Before we get to the story, I have to ask you all if you'd like to see a chapter where some of the characters (they are over nineteen I think?...) ingest spiked drinks, like Leon, Jay (on purpose) Braxton, Brendon, and a few others *cough cough* Ivory XD**_

 _I Can't Do That To Her Dad, It's Not Her Fault Part 3 (Final)_

"Hey, mom?" Leon asked as he jumped up on a kitchen counter and watched his mother wipe off the counters, "can I ask you something?"

"Of course Leon," Skylar replied sincerely and stopped cleaning the counter to look at him. "What do you need?"

"So you know how dad had me reject Cindy right?"

"If I didn't I must be blind and deaf." Skylar deadpanned, "but continue."

Leon shifted a bit nervously, he didn't know how his mom was going to react to the next part. "Well I'm trying to Wild Court her," he winced at the excitement in his mother's green eyes, "and was wondering if I can do extra chores and get money for some of the things I want to actually court her with." He tried to downplay it like it was nothing, hoping that she wouldn't go all crazy on him and hug him to death.

Skylar shrugged, keeping calm for the moment anyway, "what kinds of things and how much?"

Leon scratched the back of his head awkwardly, he didn't want to discuss the gifts he was going to get for the entire courting thing. "uh, her favorite candy, I want to make something for lunch on Friday for her, a new soccer ball, compound bow, a book, and Holly suggested jewelry, which I think is a good idea."

Skylar raised her eyebrows, " _you_ think jewelry is a good idea?"

Leon nodded, "Cindy tends to wear a necklace I gave her for valentine's day last year so I figured she'd like another one… ooph! Mom!" he complained as Skylar enveloped him in a bone crushing hug, "get... Off!"

Skylar smiled at her youngest son, "I'm so proud of you! You're finally using your head!"

"I do use my head!" Leon complained and tried to escape her grip, "I've always used my brain!"

Skylar chuckled and let him go, her green eyes twinkling, "no you haven't Leon, and yes, I'll lend you the money, just be responsible with it."

"What're the extra chores I have to do?" Leon asked a bit worried about how many chores she was going to pile on him.

"None," Skylar replied and smiled at Leon's stunned expression.

"None?" Leon echoed, eyes wide with surprise.

"None," Skylar confirmed, "just make sure your father doesn't find out yet okay?"

Leon's amber eyes gleamed, "of course mom."

:) :) :) :)

"Hi," Leon greeted Cynthia as he approached her desk.

Cynthia jumped when he did so and nearly messed up her drawing of a silver coated cat curled up in a ball.

Leon smiled and leaned down, speaking in a low voice to avoid everyone else hearing him as he discreetly slid a few smaller cookies and cream Hershey bars under her drawing pad. "You're beautiful." he murmured softly and his smile widened slightly as he noticed Cynthia blush, clearly she hadn't expected the compliment.

Cynthia fiddled with her necklace and avoided Leon's gaze, her cheeks were lit with a pink blush.

Leon straightened up and went to his desk on the other side of Holly who gave Leon a discreet high five while Cynthia looked at them out of the corner of her eye, still blushing.

:)

Holly watched with a smile as Cynthia jumped when Leon leaned down and whispered in her ear while discreetly pushing a few chocolate bars of her favorite kind beneath her drawing pad. Cynthia watched him in shock, blushed slightly at something he said that Holly couldn't hear and fiddled with her necklace while looking down at her desk.

"Good job," Holly whispered to her brother and gave him a discreet high five, "that was perfect Leon."

Leon smiled, "I'm trying my best," he smiled warmly at Cynthia, amber eyes soft as he noticed her looking at him with a confused look on her face, she still didn't understand what was going on. "Just wait till she finds out what's written on the back."

"What did you write?" Holly asked as Cynthia looked back down at her desk and looked at what he had written.

"Something," Leon replied as Cynthia looked up at him, her blue eyes surprised.

"Tell me," Holly whispered and poked him, "I'm helping you remember!"

"Fine," Leon rolled his eyes as Cynthia looked back down at the candy bar, "I wrote that I'm sorry and I'm trying if she wants me to continue then do a braid like she had when I promised."

Holly smiled and looked at her friend who seemed to be thinking quietly. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see tomorrow."

"Yup," Leon replied and looked a bit nervous at the thought of her saying no.

:) :) :)

Leon had nothing to worry about as it turned out, Cynthia arrived at school the next day with her hair up in a ponytail with a braided headband across the front, just like Leon had asked.

Leon looked thrilled that she had accepted the first gift and promptly ran off to Cynthia's locker to put the next one, a white soccer ball with her name in bright blue.

:)

Holly watched, waiting for her brother as he talked to Cynthia, his friend didn't really say anything in return, but Holly could tell she was listening and smiling at him which was an improvement, that was for sure, and she could see the new white soccer ball tucked under Cynthia's arm. A moment later Holly was stunned as she watched Cynthia lean up on her toes and kiss Leon on the cheek before racing off toward her mother's car.

Leon wandered over to her and Jay, he looked rather stunned and dazed, having not at all expected that. "Uh…" he mumbled and awkwardly pushed his hands into his pockets. "I didn't know what was going to do that."

Holly smiled, "well you made a good impression then, right? What were you talking to her about?"

"I was apologizing," Leon replied still a little out of it, "but I didn't think she would do that."

Jay snorted, a smirk crossing his face, "do you want me to hit you with a bat? Maybe your brain needs a readjustment."

Holly laughed and Leon didn't react to Jay's joke, too stunned about Cynthia kissing him on the cheek to react to his brother basically saying his brain didn't work.

:) :)

"Hey Cindy," Leon smiled and scratched the back of his head, a small plastic container tucked under one arm, his backpack slung over the opposite shoulder.

"I'll see you later Haliah," she murmured, the words barely audible before she turned around and faced Leon as Haliah jogged off to their other sister Paige. Cynthia's expression was a little nervous, clearly, she didn't know how to react to him anymore. She raised an eyebrow in a questioning fashion and Leon felt a little disappointment, but he didn't comment on her choice to not talk directly to him.

"It's Friday," Leon said, speaking a little slowly, "and I know you haven't been eating lunch lately," a guilty look crossed Cynthia's face at his words as she tensed up and Leon hastily fixed his sentence. "I don't mean it in a bad way," he said hastily, "I just wanted to help out and brought you this." He offered the food container to her and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Cynthia looked surprised and took the container from him, curiously eyeing it and silently asking him what it was.

"It's nothing special," Leon said as he shuffled his feet a little, "I've been learning how to cook pasta and Holly told me it was your favorite…" he trailed off, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Cynthia smiled at him and spoke, her voice raspy from disuse. "Thank you, Leon, I'm sure it's great."

Leon's smile widened into a grin at both her speaking to him and the compliment. "I hope it is, let me know if you get sick from it okay?" He joked.

Cynthia's smile widened and her blue eyes softened. "I won't get sick, you've always been a good cook Leon," she said as she slipped the container into her backpack and slung it over one shoulder before she parted ways with him after the compliment.

Leon watched her leave, feeling pride well up in his chest at her direct compliment and he felt all warm and fuzzy, a feeling he didn't really mind having around, if only he had seen his father watching him from the front office where he was checking on a few things.

 _What are you doing Leon?_ Brad wondered before he narrowed his eyes and watched the two wilds' interaction. _He's courting her!_

:)

Holly laughed as Leon wandered away from Cynthia and over to her, Jay, and Bree after school with a goofy grin on his face. "What's gotten into you?" she joked, she knew exactly what he was grinning about, Cynthia was talking to him now and she had full heartedly enjoyed his latest gift. The gift had been a pasta dish that Holly had had the chance to steal a bit from her friend, and boy was it delicious, her brother was an amazing cook, he really was.

"Cyndy's talking to me," Leon smiled, looking a little proud at the small notion.

"Ooh!" Bree grinned, "and you're calling her Cyndy again!" she squealed excitedly and accidently rolled backward over Jay's foot with her wheelchair. "That's amazing! I can't wait for her to back to normal!"

Jay yelped and jumped backward, "Bree! That's my toes!" he snapped at her, narrowing his eyes to look at her.

Bree grinned sheepishly, "oops…"

"Yeah oops, that hurt you know!" Jay retorted scathingly and balanced on one foot to massage his now throbbing foot.

"I'm sorry!" Bree apologized sincerely, "I'm just excited!" she gave a little bounce.

"Ow!"Jay yelped again and glared at Bree, "Bree!"

"Sorry!" Bree apologized in a half wail, "I didn't mean to!"

"She's just excited about Leon and Cindy's partnership being repaired," Holly soothed her twin brother who stood next to Bree rather than behind her, probably to avoid her rolling over his toes again. "You know she didn't mean to Jay."

"I know," Jay grunted, "but it still hurts. She's not a feather."

"Hey!" Bree snapped indignantly, not appreciating the small jab at her weight, "I am not fat Jay!"

"I never said you were," Jay replied smoothly.

Bree crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, refusing to look at him for the current moment. "You implied it."

Holly looked a little amused, "he didn't mean it, Bree," she defended her brother with amusement in her voice. "Right Jay?"

Jay didn't say anything about not meaning it and Bree scowled before she leaned up and promptly smacked him upside the head.

"Ow! Dang you Firefly!" Jay snapped and rubbed the back of his head, "of course you're not fat, you weigh less than I do!"

"Don't tease a girl about her weight!" Bree shot back with a huff, "it's not funny!"

"I'm sorry," Jay apologized a moment later, his voice gruff but apologetic, "I didn't mean to upset you."

Bree sighed and relaxed her annoyed posture into a relaxed one as she leaned back against her wheelchair. "Sorry about smacking you," she apologized, "I really didn't mean to roll over your feet."

"I know," Jay replied simply, leaning sideways on Bree's wheelchair and showing that she was forgiven.

Leon smiled, his amber eyes gleaming brightly, "I hope Cyndy and I's partnership will be easy like your guys'."

Holly laughed, "nobody can be like Bree and Jay's partnership, theirs is unique and uncommon. Plus," she added, "their partnership is mostly platonic and laid back, something that yours and Cindy's won't be."

Bree hummed an agreement with Holly, she was now scrolling through her phone, looking at the messages her mother always spammed her with.

Jay shrugged, his glasses covered blue gaze directed toward Bree's phone as he too read the messages, a small amused smirk on his face. He was idly playing with Bree's ponytail, which was a rather unusual occurrence in of its own.

Leon smiled, "I mean the comfortability and closeness, I know my partnership with Cyn will be way different, I just hope it'll be easy to adjust to and get along with like how Bree and Jay's is." his amber gazed strayed over to where Cynthia was with her sisters. _I want a partnership with Cyn, it'll be the best thing in the world._

:)

"So I heard Leon's courting Cynthia," Brad spoke a little slowly as his family's usual move on Friday after dinner. He was sitting on the couch next to Skylar, one arm wrapped around his wife's shoulders.

Leon, Holly, and Jay all stiffened and the three siblings glanced at each other, what were they supposed to do?

Jay sighed and took off his glasses to clean them as he spoke. "Yes," he grunted curtly, "he is."

"might as well tell him Leon," Holly sighed and accepted her fate of being grounded for who knows how long.

Leon looked at his father, amber eyes gleaming defiantly, "yes," he said with a hard edge in his voice. "I am courting Cynthia." his amber eyes flashed, "and you can't stop me."

Brad narrowed his eyes slightly, "you are not ready for that kind of partnership Leon, you don't know what you're getting into."

"Maybe I don't," Leon snapped, "but I am done with my friend looking broken and miserable! I want her to be happy, smart, beautiful, and funny! Not miserable, heartbroken, practically mute, and always looking wistfully at me like she wanted me to be her partner so bad that it broke her to pieces when you made me reject her!" he narrowed his eyes, "I want my best friend to be happy, and being her partner will make her happy, so that's what I am doing."

"I don't want my kids having partners this young-"

"Bull crap!" Jay interrupted with a grouchy snarl, "I already have a partner, Holly partially has a partner, all of us have a partner of some sort!"

"You and Holly's partnerships aren't anything close to intimate like a mate, both of yours are platonic, Leon's isn't." Brad replied cooly, "I don't want my son to be a mate when he doesn't know what it means."

"I know what being a mate means!" Leon retorted hotly, "being a mate means my mate is my sole focus, she is worth everything to me and I do my best to protect her from others and herself! Being a mate means I am very close to the one I am mates with and I don't keep any secrets from her, nor do I lie to them because they don't deserve that kind of treatment from me! Being a mate is being willing to give up everything to make your mate happy, safe, secure, and loved!" He snarled and Brad was surprised. "I'm not as dumb as you think I am," Leon growled and got to his feet before stalking towards the stairs.

Brad got to his feet and grasped Leon's shoulder, "Leon, I know you're not dumb," he said calmly, "but you have no idea what you are getting yourself into, I'm trying to protect you."

"Well Brad," Leon snapped and refused to look at his father, his body stiff and rigid. "I don't care, I am courting Cyndy, I love her, I want to make her happy, and nothing you can say or do can stop me."

"Leon listen to me-"

The sound of Leon's phone going off in his pocket interrupted Brad and Leon quickly answered it. "Hey Cyn," he spoke, trying to keep his voice calm and level. His amber eyes softened slightly as Cynthia's response.

"Are you okay?" Cynthia asked, her voice still a little raspy, "do you want me to come over? You sound upset." He heard movement like she had gotten up as she spoke.

"No, you don't need to come over, nothing's wrong Sunshine," Leon spoke warmly, "is something wrong over at your house?" he asked, his voice holding obvious concern. He then glared heatedly at Brad before he shrugged off his father's grasp and stalked off up the stairs, still on the phone with Cynthia.

"Besides Lily being a pain? Not really. My mom got a bunch of tickets to a movie and I was wondering if you, Holly, and Jay would like to join me, Haliah, Paige, and Bree…"

:) :) :)

"Are you ready Leon?" Holly asked her younger brother as they finished getting ready for school after a month of the actual courting part and two weeks after their fight with their father, it was time to see if Cynthia was ready to have him as her partner after the rejection and his courting.

Leon took a deep breath and straightened out the collar of his collared t-shirt before he nodded, "I'm as ready as I can be." He was dressed rather smartly, a spotless light gray collared t-shirt, black converse, and newer black denim pants with his hair gelled in neat spikes on the top.

"She won't say no," Holly reassured him, "she's always wanted you to be her partner remember? Even when we were kids."

"I know," Leon nodded a bit nervously and tucked a small envelope into his back pocket before he slipped on a black active jacket and slung his backpack over one shoulder. "Let's go."

:)

Leon took a slow breath to steady himself before he slipped out of his seat and strode over toward Cynthia who was looking uncomfortable with students staring at her. Like Leon, she was a little dressed up too, with a light blue collared shirt tucked loosely into light gray skinny jeans, white converse, and a light gray active jacket tied around her waist with her black hair up in a ponytail with a braided headband which had a thin soft colored light blue ribbon weaved into the braid and in the ponytail itself. "Hey," he whispered in her ear, "here," he slid an envelope taped to a new drawing pad across her desk, "give me your answer after school in the courtyard."

Cynthia nodded and drew the new drawing pad and envelope closer to her, her blue eyes a little nervous.

"I love you," Leon murmured in her ear.

"I love you too," Cynthia murmured before Leon straightened up and went back to his seat, now he just had to make it through the rest of the day, hopefully, he would.

:)

Cynthia found a secluded corner of the cafeteria during lunch to open the envelope to reveal a note and to her surprise, a silver chained locket in the shape of two cats curled up together, their eyes were different gemstones, one had blue sapphires, the other had yellow topaz. The edges of the locket were studded with tiny diamonds. Cynthia's eyes widened and she stared at the locket. _Oh… wow… how?..._ She shook her head slightly to clear it and looked at the note.

 _~Roses are red,_

 _Violets are blue,_

 _And the sun shines just like you~_

 _Well, that was terrible, sorry about that Cyn, but hey, I tried being_

 _romantic right?_ _Not that it really worked out… Eh, whatever._

Cynthia chuckled softly and lightly shook her head with amusement, of course, Leon thought he screwed up poetry when it really wasn't bad at all.

 _Anyway, so I've been courting you for a month now, and I hope_

 _it wasn't too bad. I tried my best and gave it all I had,_

 _now I hope that it's enough… So, this is my last gift Cyn,_

 _this locket that I hope you enjoy it as much as your other one. If you haven't looked into the locket then do it now or this won't make any sense…_

 _If you haven't looked into the locket then do it now or this won't make any sense…_

Cynthia did as he directed and picked up the precious locket, she pushed on the sides and it swung open to reveal the words 'a piece of me' _._ She furrowed her eyebrows, _Huh?_ She thought in confusion before she turned back to the note.

 _The words are an acronym, it goes like this._

 _A- my_ _A_ _ngel_

 _P- my_ _P_ _artner_

 _I- my_ _I_ _diot (occasionally)_

 _E- my_ _E_ _qual_

 _C- my_ _C_ _ynthia_

 _E- my_ _E_ _verything_

 _O- my_ _O_ _pposite_

 _F- my_ _F_ _riend_

 _M- My_ _L_ _ove_

 _E- my_ _E_ _xample_

 _You, Cynthia my Sunshine, are a piece of me that I never want to lose,_

 _will you please forgive me for rejecting you? I love you and your_

 _happiness is the main thing on my mind. So I plead your forgiveness_

 _and ask you this question, am I worthy in your eyes to be your_

 _partner? In my own eyes I will never see that I am, just like how_

 _you think you aren't worthy of me (which is way wrong, you are way out of my league)_

 _but what do you think?_

 _I love you with all my heart my beautiful Sunshine,_

 _Leon_

Cynthia looked up from the note to look at Leon from across the cafeteria, her blue eyes gentle and loving, the life that had vanished at the rejection and had been slowly trickling back into her bright blue eyes was finally completely there and she looked extremely happy as she dropped her gaze back down to the glittering locket in her left hand. _You've always been worthy Leon, no matter what you do._

:) :) :)

Leon fidgeted nervously as he waited for Cynthia in a corner of the school courtyard next to the tree that she had kissed him on the cheek a few weeks ago. _Where is she? Did she not like it?..._ his thoughts stopped abruptly as Cynthia stepped around the corner of the school and approached him.

"Leon?" Cynthia said a bit nervously, noticing his zoning out.

Leon snapped out of his thoughts and smiled nervously before he draped his jacket on the grass and offered her to sit down on his jacket, "hey Cyn, would you like to sit with me?"

Cynthia smiled nervously as well and accepted his offer as she almost cautiously took a seat on his jacket while Leon settled near her. "Hey," she greeted him, her voice soft, "I read your note."

Leon tensed slightly and he looked a little more nervous, "what did you think about it?"

Cynthia smiled and leaned toward him slightly, "that you have the best cursive handwriting and that you are amazing."

Leon smiled weakly despite how her comment warmed his heart, he needed to know what her answer was, the suspense was killing him. "what about my question? What's your answer?"

Cynthia smiled and leaned a little closer, her breath fluttering over Leon's face. "Yes," she breathed, "you've always been worthy Leon."

The uneasy smile melted off of Leon's face to be replaced with an excited and happy one as he smiled at her.

For a few moments, neither teenager moved, both too happy to break their peace. Then Leon moved, he titled his head slightly and leaned closer, finally getting to properly give his partner a real first kiss.

They broke apart with a jolt a moment later as the partnership between them was finally kickstarted, giving both of them a short almost electrical shock which alerted them and their wilds that Cynthia's fate when it came to partnerships, was sealed.

Leon looked at Cynthia his amber eyes gleaming warmly, an almost lazy smile on his face. Cynthia's expression mirrored his own although her eyes were softer and the smile really was lazy as she leaned forward and kissed him slowly.

They could hear Holly, Jay, and Bree all giggling in the background with Cynthia's older sisters, but that moment, neither of them cared, they finally had their partner, and they had them all to themselves.

 _Additional scene:_

Cynthia pushed her plate away from her, blue eyes dead tired. She then put her arms down on the table and snuggled her head into them before she dozed off, too tired to eat at the current moment. Leon, who was sitting next to her, kept jerking himself awake, trying not to fall asleep at the table. The new partnership between them was exhausting and sometimes their siblings wished the partnership wasn't active, while their parents were kind and seemed to understand, actually, they probably did, being wilds themselves.

Holly quickly pulled Leon's plate away from him as he face planted into the table with enough force to startle Cynthia awake and make the silverware rattle.

"Huh?" Cynthia lifted her head, blinked and rubbed her eyes, looking tired still.

"Uh… is he okay?" Paige asked worriedly, looking at the blonde who had his face pressed against the table.

"I think so," Holly replied and looked at her other brother, "can you poke him, Jay?"

Jay scowled but prodded his younger brother who just gave a tiny snore in response to the poking. "He's fine, just asleep."

Meanwhile, Cynthia got over her surprise and used Leon's position to her advantage. She put her head on his neck and shut her eyes, leaving her arms on the table in the process.

Sarah sighed and amusedly shook her head at the two of them while Bracken did the same and pushed his daughter's bangs from her sleeping face. "We should probably move them," Sarah said, giving her husband a hint and displaying how glad she was that her daughter wasn't miserable anymore.

Bracken got up and scooped up his second youngest daughter bridal style and walked off to Cynthia's room, which was a complete mess because of her, Leon, and their partnership. He carefully put her down in the fort the two had made of Cynthia's bed, desk, and nearly all of the extra blankets in the house. The floor was covered in soft blankets, some were rolled up against the walls as barricades, it basically looked like someone had childproofed her room and turned her into a child.

Cynthia stirred as Bracken set her down and she partially opened her eyes, "no Leon," she mumbled, and half-heartedly pushed herself away from her father, "I need a break." she snuggled into the blankets, her nose flaring slightly at the different scents of the blankets.

Brad came in a moment later, carrying his youngest son on his back, the teenager softly snoring in his ear. "What happened in here?" he asked Bracken as he and Bracken carefully maneuvered Leon to be lying down next to Cynthia.

"Cynthia probably hit something and it pissed her off," Bracken shrugged, "it's either that or someone turned them into kids.

"I think the first one's likely," Brad said as he briefly watched Leon snuggle up to Cynthia and lay on his side, effectively stopping the snoring.

"I agree." bracken replied before he left the room, brad on his heels.

The moment the door shut, Leon's eyes popped open and he squeezed Cynthia's sides, jolting her awake in a wild like daze. "Come on Cyn!"

"No…" Cynthia complained and curled up tighter, her black cat ears settling to be laid back as she relaxed and switched from wild to be normal. "I'm tired…"

"But we haven't done anything yet!" Leon complained and tried to rouse her by tickling her sides and stomach, "just once, please!"

Cynthia cracked her eyes open, "I'm tired Leon," she mumbled, "can't it wait till I can think correctly? My brain is mush."

Leon pouted and nuzzled her neck, "you don't need your brain," he mumbled disappointedly.

Cynthia gave a drawn out sigh, "fine, once, that's it."

Leon beamed and fiddled a little with their fort, making walls while Cynthia tried to somewhat wake up so he would let her sleep later.

 _ **Well, that took a while! XD I hope you all liked it and enjoyed the happy ending! :D**_


	91. Move Trailer Rewrite AN

**_Gah! Stupid computer! I wrote this Saturday and it kept glitching! -_-_**

 _ **Snowcrystal of THunderclan- you feeling better now?**_

 _ **I totally agree Cynthia and Leon are super cute, and Leon's definitely a charmer! :D What do you mean? Like you want to see more of their wild interactions? How about a chapter dedicated to their wilds alone? :D :D :D**_

 _ **Shadows of a Dying Soul- I'm glad you liked it so much! I'm such a bad poet! XD XD**_

 _ **Featherflight123- Briarlight and Jayfeather beg to differ on your opinion of the prophecy! XD**_

 _ **I know right? I would be super surprised if I kept them apart and had Leon be with Isa or Hannah! I can't stand them not being together, it makes me sad! :(**_

 _ **Tests suck, how'd you do? I did okay on mine... I think... oh well! :D :D :D**_

 _ **The Drunken Characters will be an option of one of the eight published with the Great Battle Humanized! :D**_

 _ **Speaking of those chapters, I want you guys to choose eight of these that you each want to see! :D The only way I know what you guys want me to write and prioritize is by you guys voting! :D**_

 _\- Spiked Drinks? Uh oh... poor Cynthia_

 _\- Bree Explains her injury_

 _\- The Flashes Vs. The Dark Blades AU Part 2_

 _\- Meet the Kitties (they meet their warrior counterparts)_

 _-Sick Day extravaganza_

 _\- Savages and a Human Bio Weapon? (crossover with Living In A messed up World and my world the Savage Gen Virus_

 _\- Cleon Wilds Special_

 _\- Wilds, The Next Generation_

 _\- Cleo sings Kissin You by Miranda Cosgrove_

 _\- Leroy Sings Love Yourself by Justin Beiber_

 _\- A Fight Will Do Nothing (Fighting for love and Hope spinoff)_

 _\- Singing World Childhood Adventures_

 _\- Cynthia's Past (Fighting For Love and With Constant Hope)_

 _\- It's... complicated... (Bree and Jay's relationship for Fighting for Love and With Constant Hope)_

 _\- What's Going On? Camp AU_

 _\- Bree and Jay Sing Like I'm going to lose you by Meghan Trainor_

 _\- Fight Or Flight Sequel_

 _\- Author special (as in I am one of the main characters)_

 _\- Fighting For love and Hope Ships (briarfeather, halffeather, Cinderblaze, Ivybreeze, Poppyclaw, Honeynose, etc.)_

 _\- Pretending Sequel_

 _\- Brittany's revenge, It's up to you Jay_

 _\- The Things Sisters Do for each other_

 _\- He Likes Me?!_

 _\- Cliches From Here To StarClan_

 _\- Ashton Strikes back (Guilt Ridden and No Trace)_

 _\- Keep Calm And You Both Will Be Okay_

 _-Never To Walk Again_

 _\- Cynthia's Accident REDO_

 _\- We're Being Hunted_

 _\- Boring Office Work Sequel (bleh, I'm dreading writing this because of how long the first one took)_

 _-Boring Office Work, Cynthia and Ashton's Background_

 _\- Cleo and Flynx sing Strangers by ScratchCat 21_

 _\- Cynthia and Leon Turned Into Children?!_

 _\- Wow.. Who Knew?_

 _\- Our Favorite Treats_

 _\- Blue Flowers And A Table of Chocolate_

 _\- Ask the Characters Number 2!_

 _\- Help! I'm Falling!_

 _\- Wild Felines_

 _ **I have the Great Battle finished, I just need to post eight more chapters! :D :D :D :D :D**_

 _ **O-o I never realized how many chapters I'm working on... O-o that's 39 chapters...**_

 _ **:) :) :)**_

 _ **Sorry about the sparse updates guys, (I missed like half of this week :( ) I've had test after test, after test lately, plus I'm currently in a drawing competition and it's taking a really long time to draw! XD The main charcater is Snivy (the pokemon) and the drawing is done digitaly with backgrounds, shadows, and eleven scenes! XD Anyway, I saw this trailer earlier for a new movie coming out this summer, and I just had to rewrite it! XD As a heads up, Leon's sorta a player in this one.**_

 _ **(Holly Jay and Leon are not directly related, Leon is Holly and Jay's cousin)**_

 _Movie Trailer Rewrite! :D_

 _Leon, Cynthia- 17 ½_

 _Isa- 16 ½_

"Hey, wait!" Leon complained as Cynthia turned and escaped his grip as the last bell rang, "you have to give me an answer!" he caught the popular girl's wrist, his amber eyes focused on her face.

Cynthia rolled her eyes and shouldered her backpack, "I don't have to Leon, I wouldn't tell you even if I did have feelings for you. Now if you wouldn't mind letting me go, I'm catching a ride with Holly…."

Leon smugly held up his phone that displayed a few texts between him and Holly that stated that he would take Cynthia for her. "We can go when you give me an answer." he smirked and a tiny smile tugged at the corners of Cynthia's mouth.

:)

Leon glanced back through the rearview mirror of his car at Cynthia, briefly studying her before returning his attention to the windshield.

Cynthia was looking out the window, her blue eyes slightly amused and a small smile was on her face while she drummed her fingers on her phone that was in her lap.

Leon cracked a grin and glanced back at her again, _Brendon's going to eat his words._

:) :) :)

From _Caylee Mitsuko_ _ **(my author name)**_ author of

 _Boring Office Work_

And

 _Fighting For Love and Hope_

:) :) :)

Leon looked smugly at Brendon, his amber eyes were very smug as he covered Cynthia's eyes from behind and whispered in her ear. "Hi beautiful."

Cynthia laughed and removed his hands from her eyes, blue eyes twinkling softly, "hey yourself handsome," she smiled and she giggled slightly when he playfully kissed her cheek.

:)

"How did you do that?" Brendon asked in awe as he took a seat after putting a tray of fries down on the table, "nobody's ever managed to ask Cynthia out!"

Leon leaned back in his chair, a small smirk on his face. "It was easy Brendon," he said and his smirk widened, "I don't know what the fuss was about."

"You're so lucky!" Brendon complained, "you get one of the most popular girls in the school, and she's the fastest runner on the track team!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Leon asked and picked up one of the fries.

Brendon stared at him, "are you blind?!"

"No," Leon rolled his eyes, "I'm not my cousin."

"She's gorgeous Leon!" Brendon exclaimed, "and she's practically untouchable!"

Leon shrugged, "not for me."

:) :) :)

 _Not at all based on a true story_

:) :) :)

"Hey Leon!" Isa sprinted over to Leon, her blue eyes bright with affection directed toward the slight playboy.

Leon smiled a half lopsided grin, "hey Isa, what's up-?" he was cut off by the blonde leaning up on her toes and kissing him.

:( :( :(

" _The most authentic teenage story in years…"_

:( :( :(

Cynthia looked confused as a lot of the thunder kids looked almost sympathetically at her as she walked down the hallway. _What's going on?_ She wondered and kept walking before she froze and her blue eyes widened and flashed with hurt.

:(

Cynthia narrowed her blue eyes and seized Leon by the upper arm before she pulled him into an empty classroom and shut the door before she faced him with her arms crossed protectively across her chest, blue eyes furious. "Do I even want to know Leon?" She asked coolly

Leon's amber eyes widened, "what?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

:(

Cynthia breathed a heavy breath through her nose and stormed toward the door, her blue eyes were squeezed shut and she stressfully combed her fingers through her black hair, "I'm so stupid!"

:(

"Leon," Cynthia said with one hand on the classroom's doorknob as she faced him, "can you imagine a world," she breathed a heavy sigh, her blue eyes glistening with heartbroken tears, "where you're only with me?"

"I… I don't know," Leon said and ran one hand through his hair.

:(

Cynthia vanished through the classroom door, leaving Leon alone in the dark classroom.

:( :( :(

" _That morphs into something you have to see the end of"_

:) :) :)

"I'm looking for Cynthia Lawson," Leon spoke to a doctor that passed by, "she was checked in tonight?"

:(

"Her leg was shattered and almost destroyed," the doctor said with a sigh, "she's been in a coma since the emergency services got there."

Leon's eyebrow's raised, "uh… coma?" he asked with shock in his voice.

The doctor nodded.

:(

"You should call her family," the nurse told Leon gently as he stared blankly at the comatose form of his friend.

 _This is all my fault…_

:(

"Thank you Leon, well handle things from here. " Bracken sighed as he sat down and leaned his arms on his knees. "We can take it from here."

"I think I'll just going to wait anyway." Leon replied, his voice thick with guilt.

Sarah cut him off, her brown eyes flashed at the sight of the theenager who broke her second youngest daughter. "You guys broke up, I'm not sure why you're even here." she spoke a little tersely.

Leon flinched and cleared his throat slightly, "I'm just going to stay for a second." He turned away from Cynthia's parents and settled in one of the seats nearby.

:( :( :(

"Leon!" Holly snapped at her cousin, her green eyes wide as Cynthia started screaming in pain and her father struggled. "help Bracken!"

Bracken struggled to keep his second youngest daughter down as she regained consciousness and the pain wracking her body caught up with her groggy mind.

"No!" Sarah snapped, her brown eyes tearfull, at her daughter's pain. "it's his fault in the first place."

Leon's eyebrows furrowed he watched through worried amber eyes as Bracken struggled against his daughter and a doctor ran in.

Cynthia's struggles ceased a moment later and her blue eyes slid shut as the doctor put her into another medically induced coma.

Leon's amber eyes were pained, _This is all my fault, I did this to her… what if she can't live with the pain? Will she be in a series of comas for the rest of her life?_

:( :( :(

" _An instant great"_

" _Hilariously funny,"_

" _Tugs on your heart strings!"_

" _Teenage Drama has a new standard to live up to."_

:) :) :)

Leon perched next to Cynthia's hostpital bed and he watched her peaceful expression, how could he have done that? It wasn't fair for her, nobody ever got close enough for her to fall in love with, then she fell in love with him and he broke her heart. His eyes wandered over to her closed blue eyes. And now she couldn't wake up without screaming in pain. _What have I done?_

:( :( :(

 _Leon Bramble_

 _:)_

Leon laughed, his golden blonde hair messy as he grinned at his cousins.

:) :) :)

 _Cynthia Lawson_

:)

Cynthia slapped Leon's hand away from her ponytail, blue eyes twinkling brightly as she smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.

:) :) :)

 _Sarah Lawson_

 _:)_

Sarah rolled her eyes and smacked her daughter affectionately upside the head, "quit daydreaming and finish your homework Cynthia."

:) :) :)

 _Bracken Lawson_

 _:)_

Bracken rolled his eyes and ruffled his young son's hair, "leave yourself sister alone Miles."

:) :) :)

 _Holly and Jay Bramble_

 _:)_

"Jay!" Holly huffed, "your life doesn't revolve around Bree!"

"I never said it did!" Jay shot back.

:) :) :)

 _And Breanna Grayas_

 _:)_

"It'll be okay Cynthia," Bree smiled at her friend and hugged her tightly, "everything will work out eventually."

:) :) :)

"I think I screwed up with your daughter," Leon said quietly to Sarah, his amber eyes locked on the sleeping teenager who was curled up on the couch, her back facing him, shoulders hunched.

Sarah glanced over at her daughter and sighed, putting her arm back down on the table, "yeah, you did."

:(

Cynthia narrowed her blue eyes and frustratedly kicked her desk, knocking all of the papers off and not caring about it all, her blue eyes heart broken and hurt.

:(

"Hey!" Cynthia glowered at Leon and pushed herself to her feet before chasing after him, "give me my textbook Leon!"

:)

Leon smirked and leaned on Cynthia's knees, "come on, studying's boring, isn't there something else we can do?" He raised his eyebrows playfully.

Cynthia smiled and playfully kicked him, pushing him away from her with her feet, "I have a test tomorrow Leon, so no."

Leon pouted before he grinned, tugged her study materials out of her hands and tickled her.

:)

"Let me give you some advice Leon," Bracken sighed as he and Leon worked together on dinner that night, "love isn't easy…"

:(

Cynthia limped past Leon without even looking at him, not willing to deal with him and busy trying to get to her class on time for the first time in over six months.

:(

"... That's why they call it love." Bracken finished and finished up the salad as well, tossing it a few times to mixeverything together

Leon paused his actions of stirring the sauce to look over at the older man, "I don't really get that."

Bracken shrugged, "That's life kid."

:) :) :)

 **The Big Injury**

 _Written By_

 _Caylee Mitsuko_

 _Inspired By_

 _The Sick Trailer_


	92. Flashes Vs the Dark Blades Sequel numb1

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I do now know which ones you want! :D I don't know why it's really good cause it really is just random moments! XD**_

 _ **Dragonwritergirl112- that's okay! :D at least I have one vote from you! :D Well I hope they all sound interesting, they're all fun to write**_

 _ **Featherflight123- Thank you for your votes! :D I have the next chapters that are going to be written and posted decided with your votes along with Snowcrystal's and dragonwritergirl's inputs! :D**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro- Yes, that was a trailer, and yes I can write the 'movie', however, that won't be written until after the great battle and it's predecessors. :D :D :D**_

 _ **Sorry about not uploading in forever and this not being on of the requested chapters, I just finished watching a tv series called "Leverage" and this story was close enough to it that it made it easier to delve back into these worlds! :D**_

Bree stretched her arms over her head and twisted slightly so her back popped, getting rid of the pain in her middle back for the time being. "Ooph!" She made a slightly relieved noise before she rolled her shoulders and rubbed her wrists, typing for almost thirty-six hours straight took it's toll on her tired body that was for sure. But, she managed to recode and fix Hannah's communication link and put a GPS on it so they finally knew where she was.

"You need to eat Firefly." Jay said as he walked into the dark room and flicked on the lights, which made Bree squint for a moment and blink repeatedly. "You haven't eaten anything in over thirteen hours and I'm not letting you two starve." He explained, walking deeper into the room.

"Stick's sitting on the floor!" Bree rolled her amused amber eyes and leaned back against the pillow tucked into the back of wheelchair with her hands resting motionlessly on the keyboard, the pillow made it more comfortable and not as hard on her middle back which still ached despite the pillow and her earlier stretch. "It's not my fault he's refused to get off my feet!"

Jay rolled his blind blue eyes and put down the dog bowl he had in one hand before he pushed Bree's keyboard out of the way and placed the plate of beef stroganof with pasta down on the desktop. "You know what I'm talking about Bree."

"I know!" Bree chirped with a lazy smile, too happy about finishing the coding and other things to really react to Jay's usual curtness.

Jay sighed and leaned over before he showed unusual affection by both kissing her on the cheek, and gently massaging her shoulders, "you're a menace to yourself, you know that?" he grunted with a hint of amusement in his curt tone.

"I'm pretty aware of that!" Bree smiled, relaxing slightly and looking up at him.

Holly stepped into the room and pretended not to see what was going on, what they did while they weren't on the field wasn't her business, her business was what Bree had been working on for the past day nad a half. Not that she didn't approve of it in the first place, since it had been her consistant suggestions that had made them both a couple eight years ago. "What'd you find Bree?" She asked, looking at the computer with curiosity as she noticed the softly blinking red circle.

Bree looked at the screen as well and typed a few commands, "well I found Hannah's position and we can contact her when the need arises, she has a tracker active, I broke the entire group's cyber security, so hacking them will be a cynch…"

:) :) :)

While Bree obediently ate what Jay had given her, everyone settled around her PC and started a conversation with Leon as the main focus. Everyone was in their various positions, Bree was off to the left where she was digging into the first thing she had eaten in over half a day with Jay watching her with a careful eye, Holly was sitting on the desk out of the laptop's view with a voice recorder in one hand, Leon was sitting in an office chair directly in front of the laptop, and Cynthia was standing behind him with her arms crossed protectively over her chest, like she was protecting herself from Leon.

Finally, after waiting for ten minutes, Hannah answered the call. "H-hello?" she asked nervously, pale blue eyes scared and frightened, her face was dirty and slightly bruised, but she seemed mostly unhurt.

"Hannah! Oh my StarClan, you're okay!" Leon spoke with a tone full of relief, "I'm so sorry about not being able to contact you, are you alright?"

"I'm okay," Hannah smiled at Leon, "how've you been?"

"Decent," Leon admitted with a smile, "I met my siblings again, but besides that nothing important happened."

Cynthia gave a stiffled snort and the sound caught Hannah's attention.

Right away Hannah's expression drooped and she looked rather upset, "Is that your girlfriend Leon?"

Leon blanched, "who? Cynthia?"

Cynthia ignored Leon and studied Hannah, her blank expression clearly unnerved the other blue eyed woman and she enjoyed it a little. "No, I am not Leon's girlfriend, he hasn't done anything not client like." She lied flawlessly, completely hiding their drama and burying her broken heart again for what felt like the hundredth time. "I have no intentions with getting involved with a person with his attitude either." She added the comment to prove to herself and Leon that she didn't need him and that she could function just as well without him then with him, plus that she was still pissed off at him. After that part of the conversation Cynthia zoned out, not interested in the small talk and mushy crap.

:) :) :)

Cynthia slid one of her fingerless gloves over her left hand and wiggled her fingers slightly as she tested the fit. She could hear Jay and Bree gearing up behind her, Jay was pulling a bullet proof t-shirt over his head while Bree was strapping a quiver to the back of her wheelchair, her sleek compound bow shining dimly in the light. _What. A. Nightmare,_ Cynthia sighed inwardly and repeated her earlier process of sliding her glove on, but onto her other hand. _If only it was a nightmare._ But of course it wasn't a literal nightmare, she had stolen Ashton's watch, she really did meet Leon, she also really did partially seduce him, and she definitely fell in love with him, despite how much she wished she could go back in time and stop herself from doing it. After all, all it didn't do any good for her, all she received for finally lowering her walls and falling in love with someone was a broken heart and a strong dislike for love in the first place.

It was hard, Cynthia reflected as she examined her modified black pistol for anything that would stop her from using it. With her first experiance in any kind of relationship besides the close friendship she had with Jay, Bree, and Holly, ending horribly with her tentative and fragile heart smashed to tiny pieces like it was dirt beneath Leon's black tennis shoes. Holly broke her out of her thoughts as she checked over a few things, and Cynthia stopped looking blankly at her pistol and tucked it into the belt of her jeans before kneeling down on one knee and tucking a knife in her shoes.

"Bree, are you ready for long range work?" Holly asked and looked up from her tablet, a spyglass partially obscuring one of her green eyes.

"Of course!" Bree chirped with her bow slung over the back of her wheelchair, the quiver full of her special technology related arrows.

"Jay, infiltration?"

"Stick's ready." Jay grunted as he rubbed his german shepard's-who was named Stick- ears, his blind gaze obscured behind a visor Bree designed to give him near perfect vision.

"What about you?" Holly asked her brother, slightly amused at his response and the dog's name.

"I'm fine." Jay replied, answering his sister's question curtly and sarcastically.

Holly groaned, "Jay, enough riddles, this is serious!"

"I am serious." Jay replied evenly, "I'm not sick, nor am I happy, so I'm fine."

Bree giggled as Holly face palmed and replied for the grumpy man who was being an absolute pain in the butt. "He's ready for the field Holly," she giggled, "and Lion is too!"

Jay smirked smugly at his sister's frustration and patted Stick's head as the german shepard's upper lip pulled into a dog like grin.

"What about you Cindy?" Holly asked, her voice softening with a little worry that shone in her green eyes.

"I'm ready, whenever you are Holly." Cynthia replied simply and didn't turn around to face them, instead, she stood up and buckled a digital watch around her wrist, keeping her head lowered and hiding her face as she straightened out her expression and hid what she had been thinking about.

Holly and Bree exchanged worried glances while Jay gazed at the blue eyed girl, his concern displayed enough for Bree to see it… but Bree could see everything on his face anyway so it didn't really matter that much.

Holly wisely didn't comment on her friend's state and instead directed them out of the room, "well lets get going, nightfall is in a ten minutes and we want as much time as possible to carry out the mission…"

"What mission?" Leon asked in confusion, cutting Holly off as he poked his head into the room.

Cynthia's entire body stiffened like a board and she quickly bit her tongue to keep from snapping at him as she refused to let him see how much he had hurt her, despite out much she wanted him to feel hurt too.

"A mission Leonardo." Holly spoke coolly to her younger brother, looking unimpressed by his ruffled appearance, she had no doubt that he had been either sleeping, or just gotten back from screwing around like he didn't have to go to work because of the threat he was under.

"We're saving your 'girlfriend'," Jay grunted, his voice gruff and annoyed.

Leon's eyes widened, "can I come?"

Holly caught the way Cynthia tensed up, hunching her shoulderes slightly and shoving her fisted hands into the pockets of her black jacket, from behind you could hardly see her. "No, now if you would kindly move, we'd like to leave." Her green eyes flashed dangerously, "now." It was more of a demand than an asking.

Leon's amber eyes widened slightly and he instinctly moved out of the way before Holly could knock him out of the way.

Bree's usually warm amber eyes were hardened with anger and she completely ignored him, not apologizing when she accidently ran over his foot as he stiffened at the pain.

Stick growled at Leon and Jay guided the dog away from the blonde his gaze directed in front of him and away from his brother.

Cynthia followed Jay but Leon caught her arm, "Cynthia-" he tried to speak.

Cynthia violently wrenched her arm from his grip and pushed him back, her blue eyes cold like ice. "If you know what's good for you, you wouldn't touch me." She snarled coolly, her expression indifferent and controlled.

Leon winced when he back hit a wall but he tried to talk to her anyway. "Cynthia I know your mad at me," he said as he pushed himself to his feet and approached her, "but I need your help, you have to let me go with you."

Cynthia scowled at he got closer, her blue eyes narrowing into a deadly glare, "I don't have to do anything for you, Leonardo." she said, putting emphasis on his full name.

"Look," Leon sighed and ran one hand through his hair, at Cynthia's breif glance at his movements he kept doing it, hoping to get her calm enough that she would take him with her. "I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to upset you or anything alright? I was hurt and confused, I've been living a lie since I was a kid, I'm sorry I upset you." he tentatively reached toward her.

Cynthia scoffed and slapped his hand away from her, her blue eyes furious, "upset? That's such a light word to use you should use it to fly away from here. You did more than 'upset' me Leon," she hissed at him, a fierce scowl on her face, "I have no ties to you anymore, whatever you do doesn't matter to me, get yourself killed and that's your problem, not mine."

Leon's amber eyes widened, _Uh oh…_ he thought with dread, _What did I do to her?_

Cynthia's blue eyes flickered with remorse at her harsh words but she didn't take them back and instead reinforced them, "I'm no babysitter, I'm a spy, I don't 'let people come with me,' and nor am I responsible for you…"

Leon did the first thing that came to mind, he grasped her wrists and yanked her toward him, pulling her off balance and kissing her while sliding Bree's tracker into her jacket pocket.

Cynthia's stiff posture relaxed as she melted into the kiss, her blue eyes slid shut and she gently gripped his wrists.

 _What am I doing?!"_ Cynthia inwardly shouted a moment later and harshly shoved him away from her, turning her head in the process and rejecting the contact. "What the bloody hell was that for?!" _**(I just noticed that Cynthia is usually the one who does any of the swearing! XD)**_ Her blue eyes flashed with rage and she trembled from it, tears pricking the corners of her blue eyes, "touch me again and you won't live to see another day!" She snarled at him, her body trembling with the force of her rage that was mixing with her broken heart. "I don't have to do anything for you you dosser _ **(lazy person)**_ and if I catch you so much as looking at me funny, I will hand you over to your own group!" She then stormed away from him, still trembling in rage.

Leon watched her leave, his amber eyes wide with surprise and shock at what she said. _No wonder she's an asassin, she can be terrifying when she wanted to be…_

:(

Cynthia stormed over to L.I.O.N and took a seat in the back, her fingernails digging painfully into her palms as she continued to shake with anger.

No one spoke, not daring to with how angry Cynthia was, even Bree, who would've cracked a joke if she had not been so worried about Cynthia damaging L.I.O.N.

But unfortunately for Bree, her AI was both too curious and too soft on people that he knew.

"No!" Bree panicked as she saw L.I.O.N about to answer Leon's call and slapped L.I.O.N's dashboard, startling the AI. "Don't answer that call Lion!" She exclaimed shrilly, her amber eyes wide.

"But Bree-"

"Lion please!" Bree begged, her eyes widening with slight fear.

"But I'm supposed to answer-"

"Lion just don't do it!"

"I don't understand-"

"Just don't answer him!-"

"Shut up!" Cynthia snarled and Bree went silent, the amber eyed women looking wide eyed at the blinking dashboard.

"Bree, what can't I answer the call?" L.I.O.N asked almost timidly, probably nervous by Cynthia's anger.

Bree didn't say a word.

"Lion!" Jay snapped at the AI who considered the blind man as his father and Bree as his mother. While Bree hated to 'disipline' the AI, Jay didn't mind too much. "Breanna said not to! Do you understand?"

When the AI next spoke his slightly southern accented voice was quiet. "Yes father."

"Thank you Li." Jay grunted a little curtly, he used the nickname he and Bree used and watched Bree as she let out the breath she had been holding when L.I.O.N rejected the call.

:( :( :(

"When we get back to base I'm giving you a backbone!" Bree snapped at L.I.O.N as he gave in five minutes later and answered Leon's twntieth call before Bree could stop him after Leon consistantly calling him.

"Uh, hello?" L.I.O.N spoke nervously, obviously thinking Bree was serious, but Jay knew better, she wouldn't do anything to her baby, absolutetely nothing.

"You're too gentle for your own good." Jay grunted to the woman sitting beside him in the front drivers seat while he was in the passenger.

"I know," Bree groaned and put her head down on the steering wheel that was moving on it's own.

"Please promise me you'll protect Hannah," Leon spoke, his voice in a near plead as he looked at them through Holly's laptop screen

"Cindy's the only one going into the building-" L.I.O.N started saying.

Bree cut him off, "Lion!"

"What?" L.I.O.N asked in confusion.

"Cynthia please!" Leon practically begged, looking at the woman his age who was sitting in the backseat with her arms folded across her chest, her blue gaze directed outside the window. "I know I hurt you, and pissed you off, but please promise me you'll protect Hannah!"

Cynthia's heart broke a little more at his obvious concern for the other woman while he had no problem playing with her feelings and she stubbornly refused to look at him, keeping her expression controlled. _If she gets hurt it's not my problem._ She thought, trying to make herself believe it. _My job to get in and get Hannah out, nothing else._

"Cynthia I beg you!"

"Leon that's enough!" Holly snapped her brother as she saw Cynthia's eyes flicker with more hurt and heartbreak, "leave her alone already!"

"Fine." Cynthia said coolly, refusing to even look at him and pretending that he wasn't looking at her. "I promise."

"Thank you Cynthia," Leon said gratefully, his amber eyes gleaming with a thankful look.

Cynthia barely glanced at him before she turned back away, unable to hide how much it hurt to see how relieved he was over Hannah. _Not even a be careful, well that proves it, I'm just an assassin who's feelings are fun to play with to him._ She thought bitterly, _He didn't 'love' Caylee either and I'm glad she wasn't a real person, cause if she was, she would be even more miserable than I am… I give up on love._ She decided as they neared their destination, _it hates me with a passion. First I was kidnapped, then I was raised as an assassin, then my parents were killed, and now I fell in love with a guy who broke my heart beyond repair. Love sucks. Period._

:( :( :(

Bree rolled down L.I.O.N's driver side window and notched a taser arrow in her compound bow before she took a second to aim and let the arrow fly with a faint twang. The guard at the front entrance spasmed from the electricity before he dropped unconscious on the ground, he was going to have a really bad headache when he woke up tomorrow morning. "Guard's down!" She chirped cheerfully and highfived Jay who had smirked at the perfect shot.

"Cindy, you're up," Holly directed briskly, "sneak into the base and locate Hannah, Jay, you circle around the building and take out any scouts on the ground, and Bree, you take L.I.O.N and take down any other visible guards and snipers."

Cynthia nodded and slipped out of the black sports car, her black hair and clothing blended in well with the dark and made her near invisable. "On my way." She then slunk over to the front entrance and slipped inside the large building completely undetected.

Jay glanced at Bree through and opened his mouth to tell her to be careful with a lot of of sarcasm masking his concern, but she beat him to the punch.

"I know," Bree smiled, her amber eyes glowing happily, "I'll be careful. Take your own advice too okay? I have L.I.O.N as protection, you don't."

Jay rolled his eyes affectionately before he ruffled her hair and pushed open the door so he could follow his orders. "I will," he grunted as he climbed out and grabbed Stick's leash, "lets go Stick, track," he ordered. Stick then put his nose to the ground before sniffing around and starting a perimeter job.

:) :) :)

Cynthia had to wonder what was going on with Bree as she ducked around a corner and avoided another guard. The brunette had been even happier than usual this past week and even more excited than when she and Jay got married. A thought crossed her mind as she sucker punched another guard in the chin, knocking him out cold. _Hmm… I wonder…_ She quickly banished the thought with an inward snort. _Nah, this is Jay we're talking about, the guy who doesn't say a thing about his relationship to virtually anyone and doesn't like showing affection._

For a little while she focused on locating Hannah, the faster she found Hannah, the faster she could get out of there and never see Leon again.

:(

Reaching Hannah wasn't too difficult and Cynthia easily picked the lock for the containment unit before letting her out, "Hannah, it me, Cynthia, let's go!" She whispered to the other woman, her blue eyes distinctly visible in the near pitch black darkness.

Hannah looked up from where she was huddled in a corner, clutching the small phone that she could talk to Leon through. "What?" she stared at the assassin, "you're going to get me killed!"

"No I won't," Cynthia reassured her, "I promise. Here," she took a com from her pocket and handed it to Hannah as the blonde stood up, "We're going to get you out of here okay?"

Hannah nodded nervously and put the earbud in, her pale blue eyes scared and frightened.

:( :( :(

But nothing goes according to plan, right?

Cynthia stifferned dramatically at the sound of police sirens outside of the stronghold, "Holly, what's going on?" she asked tersely as alarms started going off and guards strted filling the maze of hallways that the stronghold consisted of. "Why are there police?!"

"I have no idea!" Holly said with her voice full of worry and confusion, "Bree, was that you?"

"No! I didn't call the police, Lion didn't either!"

"Then who did?!"

"I did." Leon's voice filtered through the coms, "I called them."

"Why did you do that?!" Holly exclaimed, "now it's going to be even harder to get them out!"

"It was the only way I could come too!"

"And your selfishness is going to get us all killed!" Cynthia snapped at him and kicked down a door to another hallway to kept running.

:) :) :)

"A window?! Why a window on the second floor?!" Hannah shrieked shrilly as they raced down the dark hallway that was being lit up by the flashing police lights outside.

"Just trust us!" Cynthia snapped at Hannah and raced towards the window that Leon had decided where he wanted Cynthia to drop Hannah, since the stairs were being blocked off with the police trying to get in.

"Someone's behind us!" Hannah yelped in fear and ran faster, her pale blue eyes terrified and scared.

 _No duh, anything else obvious you want to point out?_ Cynthia bit back the retort, knowing that it wasn't Hannah's fault that Leon had played with and shattered her heart, so she didn't deserve the attitude from her. "Don't pay attention to him, just run!"

:) :) :)

"No, don't!" Hannah gasped, her pale blue eyes widening in surprise, "don't kill him!"

Cynthia hesitated as the words Hannah spoke reminded her of something she had said to Leon back when he didn't know who she really was.

" _Don't scare him off, Leon," Cynthia chastised softly as she looked over at the german shepard who had interrupted their date -although Cynthia was supposed to be getting info out of him- by barking a few times and wagging his tail happily, clearly he wanted the food the two adults had. "He's just hungry," she said and leaned back before she untangled their fingers and carefully taking a meatball from her plate before she leaned down to offer it to the dog._

 _The dog avoided her fingers and swallowed the meatball whole before licking its lips and barking happily once._

 _Leon watched the interaction with curiousity and surprise before he smiled at Cynthia, "So you like dogs?"_

 _Cynthia nodded slightly, a warm expression on her face, "yeah, they're pretty fun to be around."_

 _Leon smiled back at her, "I couldn't agree more."_

"Cynthia!" Holly's voice jolted Cynthia free of the breif memory, but the damage was already done.

That lapse of concentration cost Cynthia her life, the moment she hesitated for those two or three seconds, the guard far down the hall, pulled the trigger of his gun. Cynthia's enemy went down half a second after Cynthia felt pain explode in her ribs and she coughed violently, her eyes widening with surprise, she was shot, the guard shot through his companion to hit her and the shot barely missed it's target.

Reacting purely on instinct, Cynthia turned around and pushed Hannah out of the stronghold through the window where Leon was waiting, she didn't hear Hannah's scream of fear as she fell, due to the blood rushing through her ears and the pain rippling through her body all because that gun went off. Now she was barely able to breathe and was able to taste something copper like. _I have to buy them time._ She limped away from the window and away from the shooter, her footsteps silent and uneven, _they won't be able to get out that quickly with Hannah's sprained ankle._ She glanced at the blood welling between her fingers from the wound barely an inch and a half from her heart, _hopefully I'll last that long._ She added as blood started to bubble at her lips with a half cough half wheezing breath.

:( :( :(

"Cynthia, can you read me?" Holly asked, her com was getting some severe interference and she hadn't gotten anything from Cynthia since Hannah had emerged and Leon had caught her. "Cynthia?" Holly could've sworn she heard a gurgling sound, but she wasn't completely sure. "If you can hear me, you don't have to stall! Brad and the police are here, you don't have to stall for us, just come out okay?"

No response, just static.

Holly rubbed her temples with her eyes closed, _Please be okay, please be okay!_

:(

"Where's Cynthia?" Leon asked from where he was crouched down next to Hannah as the evening light was broken by flashing blue and red lights that had arrived half an hour ago, and nobody had seen Cynthia since she pushed Hannah out to their rendezvous point.

"I have no idea," Holly replied, looking worriedly into the building, "she hasn't responded to her com at all… Cynthia!" She pushed herself to her feet and sprinted over to her father who was carrying an unconscious Cynthia.

"No!" Leon got up and ran over too, staring at the blood covered woman his age, "is she alive?"

Cynthia was white as a sheet, her right cheek was bruised and bloody, but her front was soaked with blood, her left hand covered in the now drying liquid.

"I don't know," Brad replied quietly, looking at the woman he had raised when she was a teenager, "we found her upstairs near a few knocked out Dark Blades members, I haven't seen her move since she collapsed."

Leon stared at them, his amber eyes fixed on Cynthia's face and the blood that stained her lips red and trickled down her chin. "What happened?"

"She was shot," Brad replied quietly before lookingat Holly, "Holly, inside my squad car is a blanket, pull it out and we'll put her down on it until an ambulance arrives."

"We don't have time!" Holly shot back as she felt her friend's pulse which was slowing down slightly, "her pulse is slowing down and while her breathing is relatively strong, she won't survive the wait!"

"Lion has healing capabilities!" Bree exclaimex over the coms, her voice worried and frightened, "m-maybe he can help!"

"Bree, calm down," Jay's voice filted in, his voice oddly calm and gentle, "don't panic okay? I'm nearing your position now, get out of Lion and let him find Cynthia."

"O-okay."

Holly did as she father asked earlier and pulled out the blanket before laying it out on the lawn to shield her half dead friend from the dew on the grass.

"I'm on my way." L.I.O.N spoke a few moments later, the AI's voice was concerned and slightly scared.

Cynthia groaned softly when Brad carefully lowered her down onto the gray blanket and she wrinkled her nose slightly in pain before her eyes shot open and she gasped with heavy breaths, her eyes wide and confused, clearly she didn't understand what was going on as she tried to sit up only to nearly black out when her movements caused more pain to flood her body and the bleeding to start again.

"Don't move," Leon said sharply and pushed her back down, "you're hurt."

:( :( :(

"Please," Cynthia rasped, barely able to speak over the blood pooling around her body, her blue eyes glinted with a sapphire blue plead and Leon understood what she was trying to say. His amber eyes softened a decent amount, he owed her, she saved Hannah's life and got shot in the process, not to mention here she was, lying on a small blanket Brad had happened to have while they waited for Bree to arrive with L.I.O.N, with blood steadily soaking the cloth around her and her black clothing.

Cynthia's blue eyes were drooping shut again from the blood loss but she was trying, fighting it, fighting the blackness to the best of her ability. She wasn't an idiot, she knew that her tiny chance of living was shrinking the more she struggled, but she didn't care, she just wanted to feel what it was like when Leon was oblivious and had believed she was Caylee. She wanted to feel loved by the one she loved before she left, she had to feel it at least one more time.

Leon's amber eyes softened further as he noticed her visible struggle against her injuries pulling her unconscious, so he lied and gave her what she wanted, to be loved. He gently lifted her chin before he leaned down and gently kissed her for a few moments before drawing back. "I love you," he lied in a soft tone and watched slightly guiltily as the dulling blue of her eyes lit up slightly at the worlds before it dulled more than what it was before he said anything as she realized half a second later that he wasn't being truthful.

Cynthia felt a wave of hurt wash over her and she accidently let out an attempt of a small wail of both disappointment and hurt, but all that got out was a pitiful strangled gasp like sound as her cheek rested against the blanket beneath her.

Leon looked like he felt worse. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm sorry for breaking your heart."

Cynthia licked her lips and tried to speak. "Caylee… loves you," she managed to say, words slurred and barely understandable, "she's sorry…"

Leon's amber eyes softened, he could pretend she was Caylee, well technically she was, but it wasn't the same. "I love you Caylee," he spoke sincerely and kissed her again like he had when he didn't know that Caylee wasn't really her.

He felt her respond just barely for a few moments before he leaned back as Cynthia's blue eyes slid completely closed and rolled back, and her lips parted as her breathing grew to faint to see and hear.

"L.I.O.N's here!" he heard Bree shout over the coms as the silver car drifted around a corner and stopped in front of Leon.

:( :( :(

A smile spread across Leon's face as he watched Cynthia heave herself to her feet and leave L.I.O.N's leather interior, her balance extremely shaky from her near death experience. He hurried over and stopped her from falling when she nearly did and smiled at her, "hey."

"Hi," Cynthia rasped, her blue eyes withdrawn and as sad as usual.

Leon didn't catch how upset she looked and tenderly kissed her, this time meaning the kiss and not pretending. When they broke apart he smiled at her, "I love you Cynthia," he said completely sincerely.

Cynthia looked like she couldn't believe what was happening, Leon loved her too? "Uh…" she stammered still confused before it sunk in and she smiled lovingly at him, her blue eyes were soft and held admiration, "I love you too."

:) :) :)

Leon's amber eyes widened and he quickly drew back from Hannah to look at the black haired assassin who cleared her throat to get their attention. "It's not what it looks like!" He exclaimed, horror tickling his senses as the assassin who he had just kissed a few minutes ago caught Hannah kissing him.

Cynthia's blue eyes showed none of her emotions, her eyes were blank, facial expression controlled and indifferent, her body language showed nothing of her mood, nor her physical state. "I'm sure it's exactly what it looks like." She spoke coolly, "I came to tell you that we need to go back to our base and that Hannah is coming with us. Now go ahead and carry on, we'll be waiting by Lion." With those words she turned on her heel and left, limping heavily, obviously Lion's healing system couldn't heal everything.

:(

 _I'm sorry, I love you Cynthia,_ Cynthia mocked Leon, _yeah right._ She growled inwardly as she limped back to the others, _he's not sorry, he doesn't love me,_ tears pressed against the corners of her eyes again, _he's a jerk._

"Did you find them?" Holly asked her friend worriedly, noticing how she had her emotions closed off.

"Yes," Cynthia replied impassively as she hid the pain stabbing her heart, "kissing, but yes, I found them."

The other three winced, all three of them had seen Leon kiss Cynthia before she slid unconscious before L.I.O.N healed her with what he could, and after when Cynthia could actually talk and wasn't dying, it made all three of them wonder what Leon was doing.

Cynthia shrugged, "whatever, I get it at this point, I'm a toy to him, simple."

"Leon isn't like that," Holly said and didn't really believe her own words, her green eyes were full of doubt and uncertainty at the thought of what her brother was thinking.

"I'm not sure anymore." Bree murmured quietly, playing uneasily with a thin simple silver band around her right ring finger, "Leon's not exactly being loyal."

Jay grasped Bree's hand, the movement gentle and reassuring as he laced his fingers with hers and gave a light squeeze, the silver band that matched her own was tucked in his pocket for safe keeping while he was on the field. His expression remained nuetral, but the action itself reassured her that he wasn't like his brother and didn't want anyone else. "Leon's an idiot." He said curtly, "He doesn't like to settle for anything."

Leon came over to them a few minutes later, his amber eyes concerned for Cynthia as she flinched when he brushed past her while guiding Hannah along toward all of them. "Cynthia, I swear it's not what it looked like-"

"Just pretend I'm not here will you?" Cynthia snapped at him as L.I.O.N's doors popped open after it morphed into a black sedan, her blue eyes glinted coldly. "Just pretend I didn't make it! It'll make my life much easier!" She climbed into the very back of the AI car and buried her head in her arms, feeling exhausted in every way possible.

Leon looked stunned, "what?"

Jay snapped at his brother as he pulled on Stick's collar preventing him from rushing Leon and attacking him. "Don't talk to Cynthia, don't bother her. If you do I will set Stick on you." he then got into the passenger seat while Bree rolled up the ramp to the driver's seat.

Holly got into the back with Cynthia and Leon and Hannah took the middle seats. "It's okay Cindy," Holly quietly soothed her friend, trying to make her feel better.

"I wish I didn't survive!" Cynthia snarled softly at her best friend, tears gleaming in her blue eyes. "I'd rather be killed in the field than deal with this anymore!"

Holly's green eyes widened before her eyes softened and she pulled Cynthia into a hug, "but I would be missing a sister and so would Bree, who would be there to keep us safe?"

:(

Bree drummed her fingers on the dash, her body language tense and oddly nervous as she frequently glanced between the AI's displays and the rear view mirror back at Holly and Cynthia.

Jay looked over at her, "are you going to tell her?" he asked in a whisper and leaned toward her, his voice oddly lacking any curtness, instead concern was in his voice.

"I don't know," Bree whispered back, "maybe…"

"You should," Jay said before his voice regained his curtness, "I heard girls and women freak out about that kind of stuff."

"Yeah but…" Bree nibbled nervously on her lower lip, weighing her options, "I don't want to overwhelm her…"

"It won't," Jay replied with a small snort.

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm a guy and it didn't overwhelm me." Jay replied with a shrug

"You're a doofus." Bree sighed and lightly shook her head.

"You're a firefly."

"You're Mr. Grumpy Gills!" Bree teased and smiled.

"You're a clownfish." Jay deadpanned with a roll of his blind eyes behind his visor.

"You're a talking mime!"

Jay rolled his eyes, "I got nothing."

"Ha! I win!" Bree cheered and threw her hands into the air.

 _ **Huh, I wonder what's Bree and Jay are talking about! XD Anyway, hope you all like this! Maybe I'll write a second part, we'll see! :D**_

 **Next Chapter: Meet The Kitties**

 _Sneak Peek: "Wait," Holly said as she crouched down and stared at the five cats squished together in the cat carrier in front of them. "What?"_

 _Caylee (me) rolled her eyes and repeated her earlier statement, "these our cat counterparts."_

" _Ooh! I wanna see!" Bree squealed and looked at the carrier in hyper excitement._

 _Cynthia looked a little intrigued, "they're really us?" she asked as she knelt beside Holly and peered into the carrier._

 _The six cats were squished together, a dark brown tabby she-cat was attempting to sleep through having a gray tom practically sitting on her, a silver tabby she-cat was hissing in annoyance at a large golden tom as his tail whacked her repeatedly in the face as he tried to shift his position into a slightly protective one, a small gray tom was attempted to sit comfortably, but he ended up sitting partially on top of the dark brown tabby inside, and a small ginger she-cat with a tan underbelly and an incredibly short tail was curled up in a ball_


	93. Meet the Kitties AU

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Yup! Stick the dog! :D Why thank you, I'm rather proud of coming up with the idea! XDI feel bad for Cindy too, but she and Leon do makeup in the next part of the sequel, which my friend gave me the best idea for! I love the idea a ton! :D It displays so much stuff that it is the perfect plot for the second part of the sequel! :D I updated when you were babysitting? I did wonder why you took so long to review ^-^**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro- I am in the middle of writing the next part ^-^ but it won't be uploaded till after the Great Battle along with a bunch of other chapters I have written but won't upload just yet ^-^ I know right? Cynthia's pain is tugging on all of our heart strings and I nearly cried writing that chapter! I don't know what you are talking about *looks innocently at you* Bree's not hiding anything, nothing at all! (I promise it will be revealed in the second part of the sequel) Leon may be being an absolute pain in the tail (get it?) but he's really hurt, betrayed, and confused, his family lied to him for a long time, he fell in love with a girl who doesn't really exist, his girlfriend is finally free, and Cynthia wants to kill him with her bare hands. (not really, although she's super close to giving him to his group and actually does in the next part of the sequel ^-^)**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I'm glad you thought the last chapter was really good! And here's the kitty chapter! :D I had fun with Leon and Lionblaze's interaction ^-^ It's okay the review was short, as least I got one and I know your excited! :D**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro (again ^-^)- No! Don't cry! Cynthia will be okay, I promise! The one you'll have to worry about is Bree, she's got a lot of stuff that she's about to go through :( Nah, Cynthia won't train Hannah, she'd rather strangle herself that teach the blond how to be a silent thief ^-^ In regards to Fighting For Love And Hope, I am nearing the end of the rewrite chapter, I'm super close to finishing it! :D**_

 _ **Here's a snippet of the sequel to the last chapter! :D :D :D (I'm so mean! XD)**_

" _Bree! Behind you!" L.I.O.N broadcasted through the pretty brunette's watch and Bree spun around._

 _Leon quickly shoved the cloth over her face while Bree fought against him, her amber eyes narrowed as she struggled not to breath in the chemical._

 _Leon ignored his brother's attempts to get up and pushed the cloth harder against Bree's mouth and nose._

" _Bree don't breathe that in!" L.I.O.N spoke and Leon was nearly blinded by the car flashing its headlights, blinding all three of the humans._

 _Leon dropped the cloth, quickly took a taser from his pocket and jammed it onto Bree's watch, getting highly annoyed by the flashing lights from the AI._

 _Bree screamed and struggled against him, struggling to get him to release her and her wrist as the taser melted part of the wrist band to the inventor's tannish skin and short-circuited L.I.O.N and the watch itself._

 _L.I.O.N's lights dimmed to nothing and steam emerged from the car's hood, the super car had short-circuited from the traser's massive jolt and Bree's screaming turned into whimpers of pain as Leon removed the taser from her watch._

" _Bree!" Jay finally managed to get to his feet and find his visor. He gaped at his brother, "Leon?! What are you doing?!"_

 _ **Duhn Duhn Duhn! XD Here's another part! :D**_

" _shock yourself." He_ _ **(Leon)**_ _said, shutting off the taser and throwing it to his brother._

" _Jay don't!-" Bree said before Leon slapped his hand over her mouth and stopped her from speaking any more_

 _Jay looked at the device and grimaced, he then turned on the taser, screwed up his face, and shocked himself. A moment later a thump was heard as he crashed to the floor, unconscious from the jolt._

 _Bree stared at Jay's unconscious form before Leon sharply hit her in the temple and knocked her out._

 _Leon felt some triumph, finally, I'm better that then and I didn't lie, he thought as he lifted Bree up and left the flat._

 _ **I haven't updated in so long! Oh, my heavens! You all probably thought I gave up on the story or something right? Well, I didn't! I promise! I'm just having issues coming up with the requested chapters! I have three other chapters finished or super close to being finished, but I won't upload them till after the Great Battle so updates are really really slow at the moment, I apologize!**_

 _Meet the kitties AU_

 _ **(The Warriors Characters don't mind humans in this one)**_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 19 ½_

 _Holly, Bree, and Jay- 20 ½_

 _Caylee- 21 ½_

 _ **Go to my DeviantArt for descriptions, cause I'm lazy and I don't want to write them out :P**_

"Wait," Holly said as she crouched down and stared at the five cats squished together in the cat carrier in front of them. "What?"

Caylee _**(me)**_ rolled her eyes and repeated her earlier statement, "these our cat counterparts."

" Ooh! I wanna see!" Bree squealed and looked at the carrier in hyper excitement.

Cynthia looked a little intrigued, "they're really us?" she asked as she knelt beside Holly and peered into the carrier.

The six cats were squished together, a dark brown tabby she-cat was attempting to sleep through having a gray Tom practically sitting on her, a silver tabby she-cat was hissing in annoyance at a large golden Tom as his tail whacked her repeatedly in the face as he tried to shift his position into a slightly protective one, a small gray tom was attempted to sit comfortably, but he ended up sitting partially on top of the dark brown tabby, a black she-cat was fidgeting uneasily, and a very small ginger tabby she-cat with a tan underbelly and an incredibly short tail was curled up in a ball at the front of the cage.

"Auh, they're so cute!" Bree squealed happily as she looked at the six cats, "is the dark brown one me?! She's so pretty!"

"Calm down," Jay snorted, "you might scare them to death if you don't calm down Bree."

"Just ignore him," Caylee rolled her eyes and knelt down before opening the carrier and pulling out the ginger tabby, "each of you sit down on the ground and take an ear piece, it'll allow you to understand what they're saying." The small ginger tabby snuggled closer to Caylee, a loud purr rumbling through its tiny body. "This is Tigerwish, she's my counterpart." She introduced the cat small enough to fit in the breast pocket of her denim collared shirt.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Holly asked as she took an earpiece and put it on, a doubtful expression on her face. "I mean, they could be hostile."

"Relax Holly," Cynthia rolled her eyes and settled down on the floor near the cage, sitting criss-cross in a comfortable position. "It can't be that bad."

"We could get scratched and bite." Jay grunted as Bree guided him into a sitting position on the floor, which she copied a moment later, sliding out of her wheelchair and lowering herself with her arms.

"But it'll be so cool!" Bree chirped excitedly, "I mean, these are our counterparts from a different world!"

Caylee snorted and tucked Tigerwish into her shirt pocket, the tabby's head poking out of it, the tabby's bright blue eyes were wide and curious with no traces of fear. "Well let's get started," she said as Leon took a seat between Bree and Cynthia, "now be careful, if you offend them too much they may get hostile so be careful not to annoy them too much. Bree, you're first, since you seem to be so excited and you're clearly not disturbed." She carefully pulled the brown tabby she-cat from the carrier, "Bree, meet your counterpart Briarlight, as you can see, she's just as paralyzed as you are."

"Gimme!" Bree chirped excitedly as she waited impatiently for Caylee to let her introduce herself to her cat counterpart.

Caylee rolled her eyes and she carefully deposited the injured cat into Bree's lap where the brown tabby stared at Bree through drowsy amber eyes.

Bree smiled and gently brushed her finger through the tabby's soft fur, "hi!" She chirped excitedly, her amber eyes gleaming with excitement, "Briarlight's a cool name! And your fur is so soft!"

Briarlight purred with amusement and twitched her ears as she leaned into Bree's gentle stroking of her mottled fur, her purr rumbling through her entire body.

Bree looked delighted that Briarlight liked her and her amber eyes gleamed happily.

"Cynthia, your next," Caylee said as she deposited the ticked off looking she-cat onto Cynthia's lap where Cynthia stiffened like a board when Cinderheart's claws dug into her jeans. "This is Cinderheart, your counterpart Cynthia, and she is just as stubborn and independent as you are."

"Ow," Cynthia hissed before carefully asking the aggravated she-cat in a strained voice, "can you please retract your claws? They're really sharp!"" She practically squeaked at the end of the sentence, the pain from the cat's claws had caused her voice to raised dramatically in pitch.

Cinderheart looked startled but she sheathed her claws and perched awkwardly in the human's lap, her sapphire blue eyes focused on Cynthia's blue ones, the shade matching to the last detail of silver that gave the blue a gemstone like an appearance.

"Leon, be careful with this guy, he may bite you," Caylee warned as she deposited the large golden tom into Leon's lap, "he's rather protective over Cinderheart. This is Lionblaze, he's Cinderheart's mate and your counterpart Leon."

Leon cautiously eyed the golden tom in his lap who was sitting there looking at him through narrowed amber eyes, "I'm not going to hurt Cinderheart, uh, Lionblaze," he stumbled over the tom's name, nearly forgetting it already. "I wouldn't do that."

Lionblaze flattened his ears and eyed Leon, clearly, he wasn't sure about the muscular teen's motives.

"Holly, this is Hollyleaf," Caylee introduced the battle-scarred black she-cat as she set her in Holly's lap "she's your counterpart and just as much of a sharp tongue as you do."

Holly watched the she-cat nervously for a few moments, not quite sure what to do with the cat.

Caylee rolled her eyes and sighed, "and this," she said as she pulled out the grumpy looking gray Tom, "is Jayfeather, and boy does his attitude match yours, Jay." She then dropped the cat into his lap and took a seat on the floor as well.

Jay gazed sightlessly at the cat in his lap, "If I'm blind then he's blind right?" he asked Caylee in a grouchy tone.

Caylee rolled her eyes, "yes Jay, he's blind, now just along with him will you?"

:) :) :)

Leon fumbled for something to say, but something temporarily stumped him and he looked at Holly before he mouthed, ' _what's a mate?'_

Holly looked up from her counterpart, rolled her eyes, and mouthed back, ' _someone the cat is in a relationship with.'_

Leon's eyes lit up, now he had something relatable to the cat sitting in his lap, "your mates with Cinderheart right?"

Lionblaze nodded, a spark of confusion entering his amber eyes, and the tip of his golden tail flicked slightly uneasily.

"Well Cynthia," Leon said, pointing to the teenager sitting next to him who's thigh was brushing his and who was currently softly talking to her counterpart, "is my mate as you call it."

Lionblaze gave him a disbelieving look and spoke, the device in Leons's ear allowing him to hear what he was meowing, "no way, I don't believe you." Lionblaze's mew was rather deep, something that slightly startled Leon.

Leon rolled his eyes and leaned back on his arms, looking at the disbelieving tom, "how can I prove it?"

Lionblaze shrugged his golden furred shoulders before he gained a slightly smug and sneaky look on his face, "Cinderheart's expecting my kits, what about you and your mate?"

Leon looked at the tom and flushed, his face pinkening with embarrassment. He then ducked closer to the cat and nodded slightly, "yeah. But don't tell the others!"

The golden tom's ears perked in surprise and his jaw loosened slightly before he quickly recovered, "Cinderheart's better than your mate." He mewed smugly, his tail curled proudly around his paws.

"No way," Leon shook his head vigorously and denied the cat's words, "Cynthia's way better than Cinderheart."

"Says a human." Lionblaze retorted.

"Says a cat-" Leon shot back.

"We're the same person!" Cynthia and Cinderheart both exclaimed Cynthia's alto voice mixing with both Cinderheart's higher pitched mew and the cat's translated slightly higher alto voice. Both females' eyes gleamed with amusement as they look at the golden-haired human and the golden furred cat. Cynthia and Cinderheart then looked back at each other and Cynthia cracked a grin while shaking her head in amusement and laughter, "boys and their pride."

Cinderheart flicked her tail, her blue eyes glimmering with amusement, "tell me about it." she purred.

Lionblaze ducked his head and licked his chest fur a few times, his fur burning with embarrassment.

Leon on the other hand blushed but recovered quickly and slid one arm around Cynthia's waist, a cheeky grin on his face, "hey, you don't seem to mind my pride."

Cynthia gave him, a bland look, "if I didn't you would've fallen over by now with how large your ego would be." Leon released her and pouted, nursing his wounded pride.

Cinderheart purred louder in amusement, laughter dancing in her sapphire blue eyes.

Lionblaze prodded Leon in the abdomen, his amber eyes glinting smugly, "ha, your mate totally just out witted you."

"Your just as bad Lionblaze," Cinderheart mewed and gave the large tom a firm shove with her nose, "after the battle with Shadowclan you would not shut up, my ears were practically bleeding from how many times you boasted about the story."

Lionblaze's ears flattened embarrassedly and he hid partially behind Leon, awfully embarrassed by his mate's words.

Cynthia's grin widened and she rubbed Cinderheart's head between the ears, her eyes full of amusement and triumph, which matched Cinderheart's perfectly.

:) :) :)

"So you left your brothers too?" Hollyleaf asked Holly curiously, her emerald green eyes flashing with curiosity. Her mew was a rather calm deeper alto.

Holly nodded, "Yeah, but for a different reason, I left because I told Cynthia's secret and couldn't bare the pressure."

Hollyleaf nodded miserably, "I couldn't handle the truth and ran, where I ran into the tunnels and almost died in a rockslide. I broke one of my legs."

"I ended up running into the water filtration system and fell through a grate where I broke my left leg."

Hollyleaf gazed at her counterpart, "wow, our stories are so similar it's oddly disturbing."

"I completely agree." Holly agreed a moment later, a small smile on her face.

:) :) :)

"Wait, so Lionblaze was in this special prophecy and you thought you weren't good enough for him?" Cynthia asked, looking at her counterpart in surprise.

Cinderheart nodded meekly, "yeah, pretty stupid right?"

Cynthia snorted with laughter, "are you kidding? That's so much better than all the crap Leon and I have gone through for the past four years! I wish I had been you at that point in time!"

Cinderheart's whiskers twitched with amusement, "a lot of your issues were fear related, that's so much better than an inferior complex."

Cynthia sighed, "insecurity is worse."

Cinderheart shivered, her fur standing on end and her tail slightly fluffing out, "agreed, that is the worst."

Both of them looked at Lionblaze and Leon who were awkwardly staring at each other, and Cinderheart mewed, "the things we do for the toms, or guys in your case."

"Yup, pretty much."

:) :) :)

"Come on Jay," Bree sighed, "just talk to him!"

"Please Jayfeather?" Briarlight mewed hopefully, nuzzling his cheek in the process from her position in Bree's lap.

"No." Both Jay and Jayfeather grunted curtly and they both refused to talk to their counterpart.

"How grouchy can you get?" Briarlight mumbled under her breath.

"I know right?" Bree sighed.

"I can hear you Bree/Briarlight." Jay and Jayfeather growled.

Bree and Briarlight just giggled, finding it amusing how in sync the two grumpy males' replies were.


	94. Cleon Wild Special (Cinderblaze Focused)

_**Snowcrystal of ThunderClan- Yes, I'm updating again ^-^ I never really stopped, I just got caught up in life and my brain had refused to work properly :P I've been writing chapters still, haven't finished a lot of them, but I have been writing them! :D Yeah, Jay/Jayfeather is really grumpy! That actually reminds me! I need to finish a chapter that I'm calling Jay's Grumpiness And Not Grumpiness Special Where he's grumpy and not grumpy as both a cat (Jayfeather) and his usual Jayness as a human ^-^**_

 _Cleon Wild's Special_

 _Cuddles and Homework, Well Leon's Homework_

Leon stretched his arms above his head and yawned as he wandered into the flat, his shoulders popping slightly at the movements. He froze a moment later and blinked, making sure he wasn't seeing things. "Hi, Cyn…" He said in an almost stunned voice.

Cynthia lifted her book to look at him from her position lying partway on the floor with her legs leaning back against the back of the couch, crossed at the ankles. She was wearing a light blue tank-top that had the words 'I'm a tiger, can you hear me roar?' paired with white socks and black shorts. She was also drenched, thoroughly soaked to the bone as an attempt to keep cool against the fever wracking her poor body. "Hi yourself," she greeted and dropped her book back down in front of her face, apparently sick of her contacts, since a pair of blue rimmed glasses rested awkwardly above her nose where the blue rimmed pair was sliding up toward her forehead from her upside down position.

Leon nodded slowly, keeping his attention on her book and trying to make out the upside down title while squashing his wild away. "Hey, you handling it okay?" He asked and situated his bag a little more before he shut the door behind him, he knew what was going on, Cynthia was obviously both bored, tired, overheated, and definitely in heat. Which meant she was both feeling like she was in an oven, and was scared at accidentally offending him so he would break their partnership -which wasn't going to happen. Plus, it was early May, meaning spring was in full swing and that her feline induced condition was twice as bad as it usually was, he was lucky that she hadn't jumped on him when he got in the door.

Cynthia gave a small shrug and continued reading her book, carefully avoiding anything that would set off her wild. "For the moment," she replied smoothly and managed to swallow the purr that her wild had been driving her crazy with the for the past two hours. She jumped a moment later when she suddenly hiccuped from the pressure of the purr and her blue eyes shifted to the in between color of her normal sapphire blue and the azure blue color of her wild's eyes.

Leon almost laughed at the hiccup but he carefully controlled his laughter and instead walked over to the dining room with his latest truckload of homework -although he blamed their wilds for it piling up. He then settled in a chair and started to work on the homework while controlling his laughter at Cynthia's adorable sounding hiccups that jolted her entire body.

:)

"What're you doing?" Cynthia purred in curiosity about half an hour later as she plopped down next to him at the table, her right shoulder brushing his left. She leaned against him, her head resting lightly on his shoulder as she laced her fingers through his free hand, her damp black hair tickling his skin just a little along with her black ears.

Leon tensed slightly, he really needed to finish his homework, most of it was due tomorrow afternoon, meaning he had to finish it now. But at the same time, he had to be careful and make sure that anything he said wouldn't screw up their partnership and hurt Cynthia's feelings with her vulnerability so close to the surface. Relaxing his body language, Leon purred back a reply and kissed her hair. "Boring old homework, want to help me?"

Cynthia shook her head slightly and Leon felt her damp black hair brush his face, "no, not really" she rumbled and snuggled closer to him. "You're cool," she murmured, apparently pleased with his lower body temperature when compared to her own heightened one.

Leon took a second to think, he really needed to finish his homework, and while he could write the essays while she was sleeping later, he had some things he needed to finish right now. "What do you want to do then?" He asked her, nuzzling one of her feline ears with his nose while putting down his pencil, turning to face her and wrapping his now free arm around him.

Cynthia snuggled closer to him, "I don't know," she purred and pushed her nose against his neck, breathing steadily with deeper breaths.

"How about you sit on my lap while I work on my homework?" Leon asked with a purr, "you can snuggle with me while I finish this."

Cynthia mulled it over for a few moments before she agreed and straightened up completely, her azure colored blue eyes soft and gentle. She scooped up his books, pencil, notebook, and other supplies before she strode over to the couch and dropped the supplies on one of the cushions, waiting for him.

Leon stood up and jogged to his room where he fetched a thin but very fuzzy blanket that was the color of a lion's mane. He then jogged over to the couch and pulled out the pull out lap desk that Bree had designed just for him and Cynthia before he sat down on the couch.

Cynthia sat on his lap facing him with her ankles around his waist before she snuggled close to him and tucked her head beneath his chin, looking up at him.

Leon then spread out the blanket on top of Cynthia and tucked it around them both before he organized his supplies and got back to work, a small smile on the male wild's face, his amber eyes content and happy.

Holly found them still in that position an hour later, the partnership now asleep, Leon was still holding his pencil, and Cynthia still snuggled against her partner's body, the in heat wild content to snuggle while Leon was busy. Although the partners' snuggle ended up being a nap for both of them.

:) :) :)

 _The Nice Side Of A Spring Wild, A.k.a, When She's Not Flipped_

Leon was in the middle of a basketball practice when his phone went off. Everyone looked at him and the golden blonde flushed with slight embarrassment as he went and jogged over to his bag to answer the call. "Hello? This better be good Holly, you interrupted-" he started saying but Holly cut him off.

"Something's wrong with Cynthia, she just passed out in the middle of class."

Leon's amber eyes widened, that wasn't good. "How am I supposed to come help? I'm in class too, although it is basketball practice."

"Gunner is coming to get you, we need to get Cindy back to the dorm!"

"Okay, I'll be waiting," Leon replied before hanging up and mumbling excuses to his teacher while thinking hard, trying to figure out what was wrong with Cynthia. I don't think she's in heat, she was fine earlier. So what could've made her pass out like that?

"Leonardo Bramble?" Gunner called as he entered the gym, "Will you please come with me? Bring your stuff with you."

Leon ignored the whispers about how he was in trouble and slung his backpack over one shoulder before he jogged over to Gunner and the duo left the gym. "Is Cyndy okay?"

Gunner didn't say anything and continued leading the way to a classroom, the silence heightening Leon's nerves.

When they entered the classroom Leon saw what Holly had been telling him about, Cynthia was unconscious, her head resting against the cool wood of her desk, black hair partially hiding her face, and her arms were resting on the table top. If he didn't know that Cynthia never fell asleep in class, he would've thought that she was just sleeping. Holly was crouched next to her best friend, gently rubbing her back as an attempt to slowly wake up the unconscious wild. Mr. Connor, also known as Clark, was crouched down on Cynthia's other side. The rest of the students were watching Cynthia and Holly with wide eyes from their positions at their desks, no doubt they were shocked that Cynthia had passed out.

Leon crouched down next to Holly, "do you know what made her pass out?" he hissed to his sister.

Holly shook her head, "I have a few theories," she murmured softly, "but we need to wake her up and get her back to the dorm, we can figure out the reason there."

Leon nodded and gently shook Cynthia's right shoulder and noticed that despite the fact that she wasn't in heat, her body temperature was at the same risen amount that it was when she was in heat.

Cynthia stirred, her fingers gripped the edge of the desk and she shifted her position slightly.

"Cyndy," he spoke Cynthia's nickname name softly, coaxing the wild to sit up, "you gotta wake up so we can take you to Jay and make you feel better."

Cynthia made a slightly drowsy noise, but she managed to lift her head and release the desk to sluggishly push her body into a sitting position by leaning on her elbows. "What happened?" she mumbled, her words partially slurred and very confused.

"You passed out," Leon replied, keeping his tone low enough that the other students couldn't hear clearly and rubbing her forearm, "we don't know why."

Cynthia blinked confusedly at Leon, her sapphire blue eyes drowsy and confused as she focused on her partner. "I'm tired," she mumbled, the words still slightly slurred, "it's hot in here…" She faltered and almost slipped out of her desk as she almost passed out once again her vision blurring.

"Woah," Leon quickly steadied Cynthia by wrapping an arm around her shoulders so she was braced against his body, "yeah, something's definitely off." He whispered to Holly as Cynthia's blue eyes shut before she forced them open, "Cyndy, brace yourself against your desk while I stand up alright?"

Cynthia did a form of what he asked, slouching against her desk and gripping the top edge with her fingers. She watched him move, her blue eyes not particularly focused at the current moment.

Leon got to his feet and bent over so Cynthia could wrap one arm around his shoulders, which she did before he straightened up, pulling her to her feet. "We'll bring her to the nurses office, Holly, can you get her other side?" he spoke in a normal tone before he lowered his voice and spoke in Cynthia's ear as Holly went to Cynthia's other side and pulled her other arm around her shoulders. "try and get your feet free of your desk, think you can do that?" Leon asked Cynthia quietly, his amber eyes concerned

Cynthia shook her head but tried anyway and clumsily attempted to step over the bar that connected the chair to the desk. However, she could barely lift her feet six inches and lurched forward when her shin hit the metal bar. "Ow." She mumbled and tried to glare at the bar, not that it really worked with how confused and drowsy she looked.

Leon and Holly quickly steadied her and Leon gave Cynthia a small smile before he used his free arm to curl it around her beneath her knees and lifted her legs over the bar before he gently put her back down.

"Let's go," Holly murmured and she and Leon started to make their way down the hallway with Cynthia between them, the mentioned girl's feet just dragging over the floor as they walked.

o-O

"Well, she may be a spring wild." Leah sighed as she took in the drowsy and confused appearance of Cynthia who was sitting next to Leon with one arm around her waist to keep her from keeling over. "It means her wild is highly affected by the Spring season, some days she'll be very energetic, others she may be more lethargic and sluggish, unable to really move much on her own."

"How do we know if she is one?" Holly asked from her position sitting next to her brother and her best friend.

"The only way to find out is if we take her outside and we see how she reacts to both the sunlight and the semi-cool air." Leah replied briskly, "if she's a spring wild then she'll be extremely comfortable and overly content with the cool air, bright sunlight, and Leon near or next to her."

"Well we can't go outside, but there's a window over there," Holly pointed to the window that was currently closed with the blinds down. "Could we test it with the window instead?"

Leah nodded, "that's a good idea, Holly, help me move these chairs over there."

"I can help," Leon volunteered and moved to get up.

Cynthia gave a complaint and sluggishly wrapped her arms around her partner, stubbornly refusing to let him go help so she could have her partner next to her.

"Cyn, I want to help them," Leon gently pushed her off of him, "I'll be right back, I swear."

Cynthia blinked at him before she mumbled something inaudibly and ignored him, sluggishly putting her hands in her lap and drowsily staring at them.

"It's okay Leon," Leah reassured the teen as Leon looked between the now irritated and hurt, drowsy Cynthia, and his aunt and sister who were taking a few of Leah's comfortable office chairs over to the window. "I forgot to mention that it's like she's in heat, but she's a lot more relaxed and just wants your company while she feels like she hardly has enough energy to move or has too much and wants to shake the extra off."

"Oh, oops," Leon sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "do I have to do anything special to apologize? Cause I kinda just rejected her."

Leah shook her head, "not that I know of," she said as she put down her chair, "just apologize sincerely and she should just blow it off." She and Holly were setting up the chairs and opening the window.

Leon nodded and spoke to Cynthia in a hushed tone while he reached over and gently massaged her shoulders, a habit the duo had developed since the beginning of their partnership. "I'm sorry," he apologized in a low murmur before pressing a short kiss to his sluggish partner's cheek. "I didn't know you weren't feeling too good."

Cynthia gave her response by relaxing her shoulders, sluggishly gripping one of his wrists in a gentle grip, and idly swinging her legs from her position sitting on one of the examination tables.

"Okay Leon, bring her over here," Leah directed once she and Holly finished putting down the chairs, her amber eyes rather gentle was she looked over at the close partnership, "I hope she's not a spring wild, for your sake."

Leon looked a little confused as Holly and Leah exchanged knowing looks, but he did as Leah asked and looped one arm around Cynthia's waist before carefully hoisting her up to her feet and carefully making his way over to the chairs, Cynthia barely able to help him by lifting her feet a little and sliding her feet sluggishly across the floor, leaning most of her weight on Leon as she did so. Leon then lifted her up and deposited her on one of the chairs before taking a seat in the other one after opening the window.

Cynthia took a deep breath and shut her eyes before she rested her arms on the table and smiled lazily as she put her head in her arms. She rested her cheek on the sleeve of her hoodie while she nudged Leon's right foot with her left, clearly feeling better now that she was in the spring element and Leon was next to her. A very small purr vibrated her vocal cords, the purr was small due to that fact that she wasn't currently flipped.

Leon looked relieved that Cynthia had a little mere energy and was happier now and he leaned forward on his left arm while starting to casually rub her back, making the female wild even more content. "It's not too bad," he said aloud to his relatives, his amber eyes focused on his content partner.

Holly smiled at her brother but whispered to Leah, "just wait till she's flipped right?"

Leah chuckled lightly, "yes, then he may change his opinion."


	95. Meet The Author And Two Of Her Friends

_**Wandering Snowleaf- it is a rather weird concept but hey, it's interesting! XD**_

 _ **Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- hmm... sorta, so certain wilds have a stronger reaction to certain seasons, like Cynthia for example. Cynthia's wild is majorly active during the spring so when she's not flipped she is very lethargic, low on energy, reluctant to move around, and her emotions are rather high. However, when she's flipped she's much more energetic, curious, happy, and over all content. It's rare for a wild to be affected by a season, most don't have a reaction to any of them and remain as normal as ever through all four seasons.**_

 _ **iDragonSpyro- I am really mean, I apologize about that ^-^ Leon did that because he is extremely frustrated, hurt, and highly betrayed. He comes around in the second part of the sequel about half way through after he's the only one who can get Cynthia out of the Dark Blades' stronghold and to Holly and Jay before she dies. But even then he's a little violent and really angry. Personally, I like being able to write how bad Leon's temper really is, he has a violent and dangerous temper, the only one with a temper worse than him is Bree (believe it or not)**_

 _ **I'm still working on that Fighting For Love And Hope chapter! XD I swear it'll be out soon! I get more inspiration when school's going on ^-^**_

 _ **Featherflight123- I love the wilds too! :D sometimes they are really hard to write, but I enjoy writing them ^-^ and I agree, Cinderblaze (or Cleon) is awesome! :D :D :D By the way, I am almost finished with Cynthia and Ashton's Background for "Boring Office Work", I just got to the part where Holly finds out about what's going on and that's after Cynthia's eighteen ^-^**_

 _ **Eerie Song of The Deep- Fluffiness! XD :D**_

 _ **You want a second part to "Meet The Kitties"? I can possibly do that! ^-^ I don't know when it would get done, but I could do that! :D :D**_

 _ **Guest- I'm glad you like them all! :D :D Hazel is my default female character for scenes that need another female character besides the main ones, Fin's the guy who's the same way ^-^ In an upcoming chapter where Fin and Leon (along with Jay) are moderately drunk Hazel has a conversation with Cynthia and helps Fin follow Leon and Cynthia :) I can write a Hazel x Fox (Hazel x Fin) chapter if you'd like! :D It wouldn't be too hard! :D :D I just need to finish the other six chosen chapters ^-^'**_

 _ **Bartholomew "Brody" Brody Templeton-**_ Brody is a 5' 10" seventeen-year-old with intelligent oceanic blue eyes surrounded by dark gray rimmed rectangular glasses- his eyes change to a teal color if he's looking at a computer screen- and short curly light brown hair. He loves video games and would play them nearly all the time if he had a chance, he also has a tendency to point out different cars and if they're a good style or not, and his favorite game is _Destiny_ , so dissers beware. Brody's style is semi laid back semi geeky that says, "I like video games, Starwars, and joking around, have a problem with it?" When he is featured in chapters he is typically wearing a t-shirt with some kind of Star Wars or video game related t-shirt -although his favorite is a black one with a Monalisa style 'painting' of Darth Vader an exploding Death Star in the background- with black or dark jeans, light brown tennis shoes with gray laces and soles, and either has a zip up dark grey hoodie with the words "I like Destiny, so don't talk bad about it! :D" in black slanted bolded lettering on or tied around his waist. Brody is very smart and has a decent amount of sarcasm and wit that tends to make Caylee and Diego crack up, plus he is skilled with technology. While he may not be able to completely take over the school remotely like Bree can -if she ever wanted to- he can easily bypass computer and internet security, which he usually does and promptly hooks up his Nintendo switch or his tiny portable PC to the school computers during class and plays some game to pass the time.

 _ **Caylee Caterina Mitsuko-**_ Caylee may have a Japanese last name and her family is from there, but there is no resemblance to the origins of the name, she is very American (Much to her mother's disappointment) Caylee is a 5' 6" sixteen-year-old girl with rather reserved and slightly haunted amber eyes; which darken to a puppy brown when amused or relaxed, surrounded by a pair of navy blue rimmed glasses that seem darker due to her curly dark brown hair that's nearly black in color. Caylee loves hacking things and pushing people's buttons by pranking them (her favorite victim is Diego simply because he always gives her a flat look while trying not to smile.). She also loves to write and draw, spending most of her time cooped up in her bedroom or hiding at one of her friends' houses with her laptop, a small root beer bottle, and a bag of M&Ms. Interrupt her writing and you aren't one of her close friends, and she may just kill you. Caylee's style is a casual mostly tomboy style that says, "I dress how I want to and don't care what you think about me." When Caylee is featured, she is usually wearing skinny jeans or varying colors (usually gray, light blue, or dark blue), a light blue t-shirt under a white light weight decorative hoodie vest with the words, "when writing do not disturb", along with black and neon blue running shoes, and a light gray satchel like bag slung over one shoulder that can double as a backpack. Caylee is highly intelligent, very skilled in fighting, and doesn't talk when without her friends or family. She has a very sharp tongue and is affectionately nicknamed "The Sass Queen" by Brody for her "stunning" skills in sarcasm and over all sass. She can seem rather reserved and unfazed by most things, the only thing that seems to faze her is fast flowing water and scared screaming. She has a backstory with Diego while Brody and Charity are her newer friends.

 _ **Diego David Harrison -**_ Diego is a Russian born American who has a very very faint Russian accent. He is a 5' 8" sixteen-year-old boy (who's four months younger than Caylee and gets teased about it) who has rather amused and light hearted light brown eyes that don't really coincide with his mature and reserved nature; he also has medium length messy light brown hair that's usually hidden beneath a cap. Diego loves video games, cops, cars, and military stuff; he is quite enthusiastic about talking about any of those things, although his over all favorite thing to do is prank people (usually with Caylee's help). Diego's style is half slacker half prepared that says, "some day I want to be a police officer, can you tell?" Diego is usually seen wearing a dark green t-shirt under a green camo military like jacket that's on or around his waist, with dark blue, khaki or back cargo jeans, black combat boots or sturdy sneakers, and usually has a black lightweight backpack slung over his shoulder (unless he's stolen Caylee and Brody's bags). Diego is smart, slightly reserved, a really good wrestler despite his lean build, and has a tendency to make sure that Caylee and Brody don't wither away from their long hours on computers. Diego will do anything to protect his friends, but Caylee is one of his priorities, knowing exactly what she can and can't handle, and what she's been though -having been there nearly the entire time.

 _ **Charity Coralis Lewis-**_ Charity is a very bubbly and cheerful sixteen-year-old girl who's Caylee's height with sparkling aquamarine blue eyes and shoulder blade length dirty blonde hair that is more brown than blonde. Charity loves painting her nails, doing hair, giggling, and helping everyone out. Charity's style is mostly girly but a little tomboy and it says, "I love clothes, but sometimes I can be really lazy." Charity is usually seen wearing a light red tank top beneath a white half see through cardigan with light gray skinny jeans, white sandals or converse, a silver stylish wristwatch around her wrist, a pendant of half a heart (Caylee has the other half tucked beneath her shirt), and a small white handbag or white stylish cloth backpack. Charity is very smart, loves the stars, is almost as cheerful as Bree, and loves being around people. Charity usually drags Caylee and one of their guy friends with her so she can go on a double date, staying oblivious to what's going on between the other three.

* * *

 _Meet the Author and her friends_

 _Diego, I Am Going To Die If Charity Messes With My Hair One More Time!_

Caylee was lounging in Charity's room, lying on her stomach on the bed with her laptop out in front of her, her fingers flying across the keys when Charity herself burst in. Caylee yelped and promptly fell off of the bed and crashed to the floor with the thump that Charity's mother Triana probably heard. Seriously Charity?!" Caylee complained as she gingerly picked herself up from the creamy carpet. "Was that really necessary?"

Charity flashed a bright grin at her friend and bounced -literally bounced- over to be standing a foot away from the dark haired brunette. "Not really," she admitted with something close to shame before she brightened and flashed a milliwatt smile at Caylee. "I'm just excited! I came up with a really pretty hair style for curly hair!"

Caylee's amber eyes widened owlishly as she pushed the curly hairs that had escaped her ponytail out of her face, "Oh no, you are not trying it on me Charity!" She insisted vigorously and folded her arms over her chest stubbornly.

"I'll give you the password to my brother's laptop!" Charity bargained half a second later and smiled happily when she saw the spark of mischief in her friend's eyes. While Caylee hated anyone touching her hair -which was a shame since it was very curly and dark, meaning it was perfect to test styles on- she had been asking Charity for the password to her older brother's laptop since Diego had suggested covering his desktop with cat memes. Charity's older brother Curtis hated cats with a passion.

"Fine," Caylee huffed, "but you better give me that password when you're done."

Charity nodded and bounced a little in excitement.

:)

Ten minutes later, Caylee was bored out of her mind and inwardly cursing her earlier self. So she decided to take out her anger on Diego, after all, it had been his idea in the first place. _*I am being tortured for the password.*_ She texted him, a scowl on her face as Charity tugged on her hair and put it in the positions where she wanted it.

 _*That's a strange way to start a conversation Tigres.*_ Diego responded a few moments later, _*what torture?*_

 _*Hyper's doing my hair -_- *_ Caylee responded grumpily _*and I don't like it.*_

Diego's response took a little longer than usual and Caylee was about to go to Brody about her problem instead, but he replied before she did. _*Ouch, do you want me to come chase her away? I'm eating garlic bread at the moment, I'm sure that'll send her running for a while if I threaten to get it on her clothes.*_

Caylee inwardly snorted, Charity hated getting greasy things on her clothes, and while she loved eating the garlic bread itself; if Diego showed up with his fingers all greasy and covered in garlic and threatened to tickle her senseless, Charity would probably lock herself in her basement. _*Maybe, if she tries to put makeup on my face and as long as you don't chase me around trying to get it on me or making me smell the garlic on your breath, that's just gross.*_

 _*As you wish,*_ Diego referenced the movie they had been forced to watch in English, it had actually put them both to sleep around the part where the bad guys kidnapped the princess. _*Send me a text when you'd like to be rescued in my brother's convertible, I stole it for the day ;P *_

 _*Wow, your brother is going to kill you.*_ Caylee inwardly rolled her eyes, _*it's a miracle your mom didn't earlier today.*_ Earlier today the light brown haired sixteen-year-old had scared Caylee when she was in a tree in his back yard and he narrowly managed to save her book before she fell into the pool. Which was why she was at Charity's now. _*Is it the blue convertible?*_

 _*No comment about how mad my mom is at me,*_ Diego responded smoothly, _*and yes, it's blue.*_

Caylee abruptly shifted the conversation from the convertible, _*I hope you know what I'm going through to get this password.*_

 _*I am fully aware Caylee, on the bright side she can't make you any less beautiful right?*_

Caylee rolled her eyes and Charity gave her a funny look. "Diego," Caylee responded simply and Charity giggled before continuing to do her hair. _* Sure Romeo, what ever float's your single wooden plank of a boat.*_

 _*I'm hurt! It's a raft, not one plank!*_ Diego retorted indignantly, Caylee could almost hear his indignation. _*After all, I need to fit at least two on my boat.*_

 _*Four,*_ Caylee corrected him, _*If I have to be on a boat with you, you better believe we're taking Brody and Charity.*_

 _*But Charity's torturing you,*_ Diego pointed out.

 _*Yes, but she's my friend and I'm not getting stuck again with just you and Brody. That trip was a nightmare. Literally, I had nightmares for weeks after that.*_

 _*Hey, it's not our fault the school decided to send us all out into the woods and my partner bailed.*_

 _*Maybe not, but the tension was thick enough to cut through with a hack saw.*_

 _*Sorry about that.*_

 _*Just apologize to Brody about pushing him into the river already.*_

 _*But I don't want to :( *_

Charity pulled Caylee from her conversation before she could reply with a mischevious grin, "now it's makeup time!"

Caylee paled and sprang away from her, struggling to text Diego as she did so with Charity on her heels. _*Help! Diego get your butt over here and help me get out of here! I'm not letting her put makeup on me again!*_

 _*I'm coming :) *_ Diego responded a few seconds later. Now Caylee just had to out run Charity till Diego got there.


	96. Spiked Drinks? Well That's An Issue

_**Okay, so obviously I've never had any experience with alcohol at all, so I'm really winging it here, I do know how strong some are compared to others so I hope it's decent! XD**_

 _Oh Dear, This Might Be A Problem (New Series)_

 _ **Bree- Has a very high tolerance for alcohol, but she's a very vulnerable and giggly drunk. When she's not being vulnerable and timid she's giggling at anything and everything.**_

 _ **Jay- Has a high tolerance (not even close to being as high as Bree's) but he's a very affectionate and emotional drunk with no filter from his brain to his mouth.**_

 _ **Cynthia- Cynthia's tolerance is pretty decent, and she's a silent drunk. When she's actually drunk she's very quiet and rather care free when it comes to Leon, she's much bolder and has a habit of cuddling against him before she passes out.**_

 _ **Leon- Despite Leon's body weight and size, he's a decently light weight, meaning he can't handle his alcohol very well. He's a klutz of a drunk with a heavy dose of anxiety and humor, meaning his balance is very off, his thoughts are completely muddled, and he gets frightened that Cynthia will leave him.**_

 _ **Holly- Holly rarely ever drinks, but she has a low tolerance and she is a care free drunk, meaning she's pretty happy with whatever.**_

* * *

 _Spiked Drinks?... Well that's an Issue_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 19_

 _Bree, Holly, and Jay- 20_

 _Haliah, Paige- 20 ½_

 _Brendon, Trystan- 21_

 _Hazel, Fin- 18 ½_

"What's up with Brendon?" Paige asked her sister curiously as she watched Brendon act like a complete idiot. Paige herself was dressed in a pale green knee length dress with her hair up in a bun with curled tendrils hanging around her face.

"Is he drunk?" Trystan, Paige's boyfriend, asked, as he approached Paige and her friends, he looked concerned at the creamy haired man, "I swear he wasn't like that when I picked him up from his dorm." Trystan, like the smart guy he was, was wearing a white long sleeve button down shirt, pale green tie, black slacks, and a black suit coat. He had also exchanged his green rimmed glasses for a pair of rectangular rimmed black glasses and his hair was styled neatly.

Haliah sighed, watching her boyfriend lumber over to them through amused green eyes, "I don't know why he would be but he's sure acting like it." Haliah's outfit consisted of a thin strapped green sundress with white sandals and her hair was up in a pretty fancy braid.

"Hi gorgeous," Brendon drawled as he wrapped an arm around Haliah's shoulders, his attention focused on Haliah alone. His outfit was a black shirt, green tie, and black slacks with his hair styled a bit messily.

"Someone probably spiked the punch," Holly said, pointing out the near obvious. She was standing with Finli, dressed in a light green blouse and black ankle length skirt with her hair down and loose.

Cynthia made her way over to them and hid behind Holly, "hide me!" she yelped, ducking behind the shorter girl. Cynthia was dressed in a strapless royal blue ankle length dress with her hair down besides the tiny twin braids that went behind her head and kept her hair from getting in her face. _**(Does anyone** **recognize** **the dress? I'll give you a hint, it's in a singing chapter!)**_

"Uh, why?" Holly asked and moved away from her friend, green eyes highly confused.

Cynthia stiffened as Leon approached her from behind, "Leon's acting like he's drunk!" She hissed as her blonde haired husband wrapped his arms around her from behind and mumbled something in her ear. Cynthia blushed scarlet at whatever Leon said and pretended that she wasn't red in the face despite the embarrassment shining in her blue eyes.

"I bet Tyler did it." Paige sighed, and she looked pityingly at her black haired sister who's face was getting redder by the second.

Jay rolled his eyes, "It's obviously him. And," he added, swiping a cup before bringing it up to his nose, "it reeks of alcohol."

At Jay's words, they pulled their drinks up to their noses and sniffed them. "I can't smell it," Brendon whined to Haliah before he buried his nose in his girlfriend's blonde hair.

"I can," Holly retorted as she wrinkled her nose. "Yuck."

Cynthia looked very miserable and highly embarrassed, she was not a fan of a drunk Leon, especially when she couldn't drink anything here in case it was spiked.

Jay directed his blind gaze toward his cup and glared at it before he shrugged and drained it.

"Jay!" Bree spluttered, staring at him through shocked amber eyes, "You just said it was spiked!"

Jay shrugged and leaned against her wheelchair in his usual position, "high tolerance."

"More like medium tolerance," Bree mumbled, not looking forward to having to deal with her fiancé later when he had a hangover.

"No promises," Jay grunted.

"You're sleeping out on the couch, I'm locking the bedroom door," Bree mumbled and the group giggled slightly at her remark, knowing full well she was going to do it.

Haliah's green eyes then widened slightly and she quickly looked at her highly embarrassed sister. "You didn't drink any of it right Cindy?"

Cynthia shook her head. "No, I have no intentions to drink or eat anything here." With her and Leon's three-month-old baby girl at her mother's, while they were at their college's party that Cynthia hadn't wanted to go to, Cynthia had a very good reason to keep away from all of the food and not eat or drink anything that was provided. Cynthia turned her head toward Leon's, looking at him at the corner of her eye with her face still a brink pink. "Do I even want to know what you were up to while I was with Hannah for a few minutes?" She looked thoughtful for a second before she amended her statement, "while I was with Hannah for about ten minutes?."

Leon's smile widened and he cuddled Cynthia against his body, hunching his shoulders slightly, looping his arms more snugly around her waist, and resting his forehead on one of her shoulders. "I had a contest with Brendon." He giggled.

Cynthia gawked at him, "excuse me? You did not just say what I thought you said."

The others looked alarmed, a drinking contest between Leon and Brendon? That was just asking for trouble, even if the drinks used were just spiked.

Leon giggled, "I had a contest with Brendon, I wish you had been on my team, then I wouldn't have lost."

"A simple contest caused both of them to be this drunk?" Haliah blanched from where Brendon was simply watching her, a soft look in his jade green eyes.

"Jay, did you figure out what it was spiked with?" Holly asked her twin who grunted and disappeared to get another cup so he could find out.

Bree groaned and covered her face with her hands, "great…" It was well known throughout their small group that she had a really sensitive palette in regards to most foods and drinks alike. Plus it didn't hurt that she had a very high tolerance to alcohol. The brunette had only been drunk a handful of times, once because she was challenged a very long contest of shots(the only time she lost, and only because the other guy cheated) and another time because Jay was experimenting for no reason than because he wanted to and mixed up some home made drink that had the poor cripple giggling and hiccuping for hours.

"Leon, how far did you get in the contest?" Cynthia tentatively asked Leon, not really sure she wanted to know that answer.

Leon heard her reluctant tone and mumbled his answer, feeling slightly ashamed, "eleven."

Cynthia spluttered, "good grief! You know you have a poor tolerance, Leon!"

"I know," Leon muttered before he whined, "I forgot you couldn't come help me!"

Cynthia sighed and rolled her eyes, she then muttered under her breath, "I wouldn't have gotten involved anyway."

Jay returned a moment later and gave Bree the nearly completely full cup who glanced down at it before narrowing her eyes at him.

"I'm not drinking this entire thing, Jay," Bree said sharply with a slight glare, "and quit trying to get me intoxicated."

Jay rolled his eyes and huffed grumpily, "I never said you had to drink it all, I'll finish it."

Bree narrowed her eyes more, there was no way she was going to let Jay drink anymore, she'd rather knock herself out than deal with him drunk while she was sober. "You put me in a corner." She grunted irritably, clearly living with him was causing his attitude to rub off on her.

Jay cracked a slightly smug smirk, "I know."

"You are soo sleeping on the couch," Bree muttered before she raised the cup and reluctantly sipped it for a few moments. She then shivered and made a face, "ugh, well I know why Leon's drunk."

"Would you mind telling me why?" Cynthia huffed as she dealt with Leon's bear embrace.

"Let's just say it's really strong."

"What is it Bree," Holly sighed with a roll of her eyes.

Bree opened her mouth to respond before she looked sharply up at Jay, "no wonder your perfectly fine downing this stuff."

Jay flashed a brief cheeky grin, which made Bree and his siblings a little worried, clearly someone

"It's been spiked with Jay's favorite." Bree sighed and everyone stiffened, Jay's personal favorite was Vodka, a rather strong drink.

Cynthia looked over at Leon who giggled, "yup!"

Bree then grimaced before she reluctantly downed the cup Jay had given her, not giving him a chance to drink the rest of it. She coughed afterward and didn't look particularly happy with what Jay had made her do.

"Looks like I'm driving," Holly snorted. She lived in the same apartment complex as Bree and Jay, in fact, she was on the same floor as them while Cynthia and Leon lived in a different complex with a bigger apartment.

"I can," Bree responded breezily, "that little won't do a thing."

"Still, I'm driving." Holly insisted and Bree sighed.

"Fine."

XD XD XD XD

"Cyndy," Leon giggled and brushed her ear with his nose, "can you show Lixa to Fin?" He asked hopefully, hugging her even tighter. "I wanna show 'im our princess."

Cynthia groaned and muttered, "I forgot how bad Leon is when he's drunk," Leon then gave a hurt whimper into her neck and she quickly amened her statement, "don't take offense Leon, and maybe later when you're able to think straight." They were trying to leave, well Cynthia was. She had other things to do than deal with Leon's drunkenness like this and watch Jay bicker with Bree.

"No!" Leon complained as Cynthia continued to help him toward the entrance of the media room. "Fin wan's to see Lixa!"

"Not right now Leon."

Leon stubbornly refused to move, "then we're no' leavin'!"

Cynthia sighed and pulled out her phone before she dialed her mother's number. She tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear and continued helping Leon out toward the commons where she could hopefully get her bag and give him something to counter the alcohol. Her mom picked up as she reached the entrance to the commons.

"Hello? Is something wrong Cynthia?"

"Ugh, if you mean by someone spiking everything you can drink here then yes."

"Hi Sarah," Leon giggled when he heard her voice, "Cyndy's preddy."

Cynthia rolled her eyes, removed his arms from around her shoulder and dumped her giggly husband into one of the comfortable chairs in the commons. "Ignore him, he's not able to think correctly at the current moment."

"I can tell," Sarah's voice was a little amused, "you didn't drink anything did you?"

"Why does everyone think I did?" Cynthia huffed indignantly and wrinkled her nose, "I'm no fool! I wouldn't drink anything with the fact that I literally just had Lixa a few months ago!"

Leon looked up at Cynthia, a mildly concerned expression crossing his face, "Don't be mad Cyn," he mildly slurred, "I know you wouldn't."

Sarah chuckled, "just making sure Cynthia. Now, did you need me for something?"

"Yeah, Leon's refusing to leave until I let him hold Lixa, can you by chance swing by with her? I'm trying to get this lunatic back to our apartment but clearly, he's not drunk enough to not be stubborn." Cynthia huffed as she rummaged through her bag and found her water bottle. "Here Leon, drink some of this," she coaxed as she started to twist the cap off, "you need to get something else into your system."

"Of course, as long as you don't really let him hold her," Sarah responded, "and I'm guessing Leon is the one who drove?"

"Yeah, he wanted to test the new brakes he put in his truck… Woah Leon!" Cynthia cut herself off abruptly as Leon slid his arms around her waist and swiftly pulled her down to be sitting in his lap, his nose nearly brushing hers.

"Cynthia are you alright?" Sarah asked her daughter in worry.

"Yeah, Leon just pulled me into his lap and startled me," Cynthia responded before she wrinkled her nose and used one hand to push his face away from hers, keeping a distance between them. "And his breath smells like alcohol which is disgusting." She continued to twist off the cap of her water bottle.

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes, do I need to take anyone else?"

"No, Leon, Brendon Bree, and Jay are the only ones who ingested any of the spiked drinks. Leon and Brendon had a contest, which is why Leon is very out of it, Jay had Bree test what it was spiked with, and he just drank some to spite her." Cynthia said with exasperation and handed Leon her water bottle, "there is no way you are getting close to my face until you drink this Leon."

"I'll be right there Cynthia, your timing is actually perfect, Lixa should be waking up in a bit."

Cynthia groaned, "right, I forgot about that, see you then, text me when you get here."

Leon gave a goodbye as well, "Bye!" He nearly yelled in Cynthia's ear before he took her water bottle and quickly drained it.

Cynthia flinched away from him, "ow! You don't need to yell in my ear! I need to be able to hear!" She snapped at him before she quickly texted Hazel to bring Fin over so that she could show him Lixa and then she and Leon could go home.

Hazel arrived a few moments later with her boyfriend, one of Fin's arms thrown over her shoulders, while she was hunching slightly so she was Fin's height. Usually, the girl was shorter than the guy, but Hazel was at least two inches taller than Fin. "So what's this about meeting Lixa?" She asked as she deposited Fin into the soft chair next to Leon.

Cynthia managed to shove Leon's arms off and stood up, "Leon is refusing to leave until Fin meets his daughter Lixa, so I had to convince my mom to bring Lixa over and pick up Leon since my car's not here."

Hazel chuckled, "well aren't we just lucky? We've got a pair of idiots for our significant others."

Cynthia cracked a grin, "totally." Her phone buzzed in her bag and she quickly checked it before she tucked it away, "I'll be right back, I have to go get Lixa."

Leon perked up considerably, "Lixa?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes, "yes Leon, I'm going to get Lixa really quick, I'll be right back."

Leon looked slightly scared, "but wha' if you no come back?" he stumbled over the words.

Cynthia let out a long sigh before she heaved Leon back to his feet, "fine, but there is no way you are holding her, you can hardly stand up."

Leon nodded happily, "okay!"

Cynthia and Leon slowly made their way to the doors, Hazel and Fin on their heels as Sarah got Lixa out of the car, the baby girl was currently sniffling.

The sound made Cynthia uneasy, Lixa had been fussy for a while but it had stopped last night, which was why Leon had even managed to drag her to the party. Cynthia's mothering instincts flared when Lixa actually started to cry, the baby girl clearly unhappy about something or other.

Concern flooded Leon's expression and he caught the way Cynthia forced herself to keep helping Leon and not rush over to her daughter and find out what was wrong. "Go," He mumbled and withdrew his arm from around her shoulders to prop himself against one of the nearby pillars, glassy amber eyes softening at Cynthia's conflicted look. "I'm okay."

Cynthia studied him for a short moment before she did as he asked and quickly jogged over to her mother before she took her daughter in her arms. Cradling Lixa in one arm Cynthia gently tickled her stomach with her free hand and cooed softly.

Lixa's crying died to sniffles as she looked at her mother, round hazel eyes looking innocently up at her mother. She reached up and awkwardly wrapped her small fingers around Cynthia's cat necklace that Leon had given to her back when he had asked her to save a dance for him when they were sixteen.

Cynthia took Lixa's blanket from Sarah and tucked it around her daughter, making sure she was alright before she took her to where Hazel was with the two boys. "Don't touch her just yet," she requested as she approached them, "she's still pretty young."

Hazel smiled and looked at the blonde haired infant, "how old is she?"

Leon smiled at his daughter, leaning against Cynthia for support as he clumsily adjusted his daughter's blanket more snugly around her tiny shoulders. "Fin, dis is Lixa, shes's my princess." He slurred slightly.

Fin's bright green eyes gleamed cheerfully, "She's cute," he then looked at Cynthia and smiled, "Lixa's pretty like yu Cindy."

"Thank you Fin, and she's three months, thirteen weeks."

"She's beautiful," Hazel smiled at the set of new parents.

Cynthia smiled before she looked over at her husband, "can we leave now Leon? I have a few other things I need to do tonight."

Leon nodded with a grin, "yah, we can 'eave now."

 _Thank StarClan!_

:) :) :)

(Later with Bree and Jay)

Bree unlocked the front door of their apartment and went inside, her arms burned, after carrying a rather tipsy Jay on her lap up three flights of stairs, her arms felt like lead.

Jay mumbled under his breath as he staggered into the house, "are you really locking your door?" He asked in a mumble.

"You better believe it." Bree responded coolly, "I want to sleep and I don't want you fidgeting all night with the gunk in your system."

Jay thought for a moment and his blind eyes followed her as she put her keys, water bottle, and shoulder bag on the table and started rolling down to her and Jay's room. Jay jogged over to her, scooped her up and out of her wheelchair, and dropped down on the couch, lying on his back with Bree pinned to his chest.

"Really Jay?" Bree huffed, her voice highly muffled by Jay's shirt. "I'm not supposed to be sleeping out here, you are!"

Jay shrugs his shoulders and simply threw a blanket over top of them both.

"You're a pain," Bree muttered, her voice still muffled by Jay's shirt.

"I know," Jay responded and made his hold more comfortable for both of them. "But you love me anyway."

"Unfortunately." Bree sighed and reluctantly got comfortable, knowing that Jay wasn't going to let her up will morning and he had a hangover.


	97. The Greatest Heist

**_Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I did? XD sorry :D I'm glad you like it! :D_** ** _I hope it looked okay ^-^'_**

 ** _They are? maybe I should redo the normal descriptions ^-^' technically no, since Brody is only mentioned ^-^ (funny fact, he's actually based off my boyfriend ^-^)_**

 ** _SilverstarofOceanClan- I'm almost done with the chapter, school's starting up again for me so I should have more chapters out more often ^-^ (school gives me more inspiration than the summer time does ^-^)_**

 ** _ooh! Send me the link to the story! I wanna read it! :D :D :D_**

 ** _Briarfeather is amazing right? ^-^ I came up with a couple name for Bree and Jay ^-^ it's Jayna (Breanna x Jay)_**

 ** _I don't hate anyone! XD I'm glad you like the Oh Brother chapter! ^-^_**

 ** _expellarmus- yep! I do plan on writing that backstory, I just haven't started it yet ^-^ besides a few scenes anyway_** ** _^-^_**

* * *

 ** _Sorry guys! I'm really having issues with the requested chapters! I will have those ones up soon, but I feel bad for not uploading for a while so I'm going to post a chapter a day till I run out of the finished chapters I have ^-^_**

 _Assembling The Team For The Greatest Heist Ever_

Holly sighed and took off her glasses before she started cleaning them with her shirt, "We need Cynthia, Leon, and Bree." The entire team tensed at the three names and all of them had different reactions.

Haliah knocked over her glass of milk; Paige's hazel eyes widened like golf balls and she stared at Holly in shock; Trystan did a spit take and nearly fried his laptop with the water; Brendon scowled and curled his hands into fists; Hadara's green eyes widened and she looked over at Jay with her hands in her lap; and Jay stiffened dramatically and his blue eyes flashed angrily.  
"No way," Brendon exclaimed, "There is no way we are having them help us!"

"We split our separate ways Holly," Paige spoke, her voice held traces of shock and surprise, "we all chose to stay together and they chose to split up."

"They didn't split up," Holly sighed, "they're together, all three of them."

"It doesn't matter," Jay grunted, anger simmering at the bottom of his voice, "they won't agree to this."

"If we're going to do this we seriously need their help, while Trystan's a decent hacker, Brendon has some muscle, and Paige is a pretty good thief, all three of them are better then all of us." Holly explained as she put her glasses back on and looked at the security layout of the building they needed to sneak into.

"No." Jay snapped, his voice full of anger, "we are not going to intrude on them Holly."

"Jay, we need their help-" Haliah sighed when Holly's logic clicked in her mind.

"We're not doing this, alright!" He snarled as he slammed his hands down on the table and scowled, his blind blue eyes were hidden behind the last thing Bree had given him before she and the other two split from the rest of the group and vanished hardly a day later. "They had every right to leave, we can't just waltz in and expect them to help us!"

"Jay calm down," Holly attempted to calm her brother, this was what she had been trying to avoid, bringing up bad memories and upsetting her brother. "We'll just talk to them first, we won't force them into anything."

Jay glowered for a few moment moments before he plopped back into his chair and fumed, "fine."

Holly looked relieved and continued the debriefing while Jay zoned out, the blind equipment specialist was thinking about when the three left, more specifically when Bree left.

 _Bree briefly looked like he had slapped her before she quickly brushed it off and shrugged, acting as if she didn't care that he so rudely rejected both her opinion and her feelings. "Okay!" she said, her voice as cheerful as usual, "I'll just pretend nothing's changed then!" She smiled, the smile not quiet reaching her bright amber eyes._

" _Come on!" Bree giggled and playfully pushed Jay toward the door and toward the living room turned debriefing room, "I found him Holly!" She chirped and playfully pushed him into a seat before she wandered over to the table a little ways away behind the other seats and took a seat there with Leon and Cynthia. Her expression went from cheerful to indifferent and certain and her eyes changed to be slightly grim._

 _:(_

 _Bree looked up at Jay- the brunette was a few inches shorter than him- and studied him for a breif second, "am I sorry that I'm leaving?" She repeated his question and adjusted the hold she had on her tech filled backpack. "No, I'm not." She gave him an answer, her reply was blunt and simple, "I'm not sorry that I'm leaving before I get too dragged down into your mopiness from your previous relationship and wind up injured."_

 _The truth stung and Jay flinched, he knew she was being truthful, both because she never lied to any of them, and because she had been waiting patiently for him to get over his sore pride and return her feelings for the past two years. Now that she was twenty years old, she was probably tired of waiting and figured he wouldn't ever get over his failed relationship with their resident actor, Hadara. But he already had, from the moment he watched her set off thousands of car alarms, fire alarms, and smoke detectors all at once remotely from her laptop inside their team van before she wasn't paying attention and fell off her chair with a shout of a few curse words that he had never heard out her mouth before and after the particular moment, he had had feelings for the hyperactive, sugar crazy, and highly intelligent hacker._

 _Bree eyes softened visibly at his flinch, "it's okay Jay, I'm just going my own way."_

 _Jay looked at her, "I…" He couldn't say it, he couldn't say that he didn't want her to leave. Bree's amber eyes widened half an inch and Jay narrowed his own, "I don't have feelings for you Bree." He said in a grunt, hiding how upset he was by rejecting what she was thinking._

 _Reluctant acceptance flashed across Bree's eyes and she shrugged, "I know you don't."_

 _Cynthia and Leon gestured toward Bree to hurry up, the two of them were standing anxiously at the door, their shoulders brushing._

" _Take care of yourself." Jay grunted, his visor covered blue eyes were fixed on her as he watched her expression._

" _I'll miss you too," Bree smiled, that was Jay's version of an 'I'll miss you' and she accepted that was as good as she was going to get. Bree then turned and jogged off toward Cynthia and Leon before she vanished with the other two out the door._

Jay gave an inward sigh, _You never know what you have until you lose it._ He decided miserably, _and now we're going to ruin their new lives._

:( :( :(

"Let's hope that Paige's information is correct," Holly sighed as they turned into a small neighborhood in Trystan's sedan that contained his hacking equipment. "Or else this is going to be extremely awkward."

"I'm pretty sure it is," Paige said as she searched for the address they were looking for, "my informant is one of their friends."

"It's right alright," Brendon said as he pointed to a small cream colored house where a silver car was sitting in the driveway with a familar brunette sitting on the hood with a laptop on her lap. The brunette looked up and her eyes widened before she fumbled with disconnecting cords and jamming the laptop into the car before taking off at a sprint and disappearing inside.

"Well there goes any plan." Holly sighed.

"What?" Jay asked, his voice still full of anger.

"Bree saw us." Holly sighed and Jay tensed up before he started scowling.

"Lets go," Holly sighed, put the vehicle in park, turned it off, and unbuckled herself before she pushed open her door and got out. The others followed her lead and fanned out behind her, it probably looked weird to any of the neighbors, but most of the neighbors weren't there at the moment, that was why they choose this specific time. Holly softly knocked on the door, everyone else was waiting in bated breath other than Jay who was just scowling at the wall.

The door was pulled open from the inside to reveal a wary Leon, who body language was tense and annoyed. "What do you guys want." He grunted with his arms cross over his chest, the door was propped open with his foot.

"To talk to you," Holly said to her younger brother, "we're here to talk."

"Well you're not invited." Leon grunted, he looked different after six years of being away from the group, he was taller, broader in the shoulder, and slightly more muscular. "None of you are."

"Let them in Leon," Bree's voice filtered into the team's ears and the brunette strode into view, she looked different too, her brown hair was longer, she was probably an inch taller, more freckles littered the bridge of her nose, and her amber eyes were more intelligent and confident than before. "They don't mean any harm," she pointed out, her voice lacking the enthusiasm she was known for, which gave away her reluctance, "they have the right to explain why they're here."

"Are you serious?" Leon asked indignantly, "they replaced us and refused to explain why Cyn couldn't accept my proposal, and you want me to let them in?"

"Leon," Cynthia approached, the black haired thief's footsteps were dead silent, she made no sound as she moved, "I agree with Bree, they can meet the others downstairs."

Leon gave a noise of disagreement but moved out of the way at his companions' words and pointed to a white door at the edge of the hallway, "that's the basement. Don't go upstairs." He warned with a hint of a growl in his tone.

Cynthia nudged him with her elbow as a reminder to be nice to them before her blue eyes widened as a small golden blonde haired girl rushed over to her and Leon after darting down the stairs before she stared at the large group at the door with wide hazel eyes. "Lixa!" The black haired thief hissed before she quickly ushered the six-year-old up the stairs and both of them vanished from sight.

"Follow me," Bree startled the other team out of their shock and led the way to the door which slid sideways into the wall and she led them down a set of stairs which ended in a spacious room that had multiple uses; with the large flat screen on one of the creamy colored walls with two holographic screens that accompanied it which had special pens littered all over the white carpeted floor next to each of them. A platinum blonde haired woman with leaf green eyes was casually sprawled in a black two seater with a giggling three year old playing with the zipper of her black leather jacket, and a black haired man with amber eyes was sitting stiffly next to the blonde woman, his expression rather grumpy.

"Ivory, Braxton, meet our previous team." Bree introduced them all to the two strangers before she stifled a laugh that turned into a strangled snort as she shoved awy her amusement and she pointed to the toddler, "and that is Flynx."

Ivory narrowed her eyes at the strange people and sat up straight, making the toddler in her lap complain as she sat up and the woman studied the strange team. "Who're they?" she asked, her voice rather indifferent and cold.

"This," Bree introduced the other team with a hint of reluctance and aggrivation in her voice, "are our old team-"

"The one who turned their backs on us." Leon interrupted her as he pushed the group and made his way into the room before he strode over to Braxton and Ivory.

"So they're the ones who can't see what's in front of them?" Braxton asked dryly as he straightened his position to be slightly defensive and on guard.

"Yeah," Leon shot his sister a glare as he picked up the toddler in Ivory's lap. "They decided to come crying for our help."

"Leon, will you please just be polite?" Cynthia sighed and startled Holly's entire team. Most of them had never had the chance to learn the signs of Cynthia's silent movement, and those who had had forgotten after six years. "They're not going to stay here for that long and this is your house, not theirs." She pointed out and soothed the blonde's simmering temper as she approached him.

Leon just gave a grunt and gave the toddler to Cynthia, obviously he was still ticked off by his sister's refusal and her past inability to see what was dead obvious.

"You guys can sit where ever there's space," Bree told them all, her voice still oddly flat.

"Thank you Bree," Holly thanked the hacker, her voice warm and she took a seat in an armchair closest to the back wall.

"They aren't hurting anyone by talking to us all Leon." Cynthia murmured as she shifted Flynx to be held close to her left shoulder. She looked him in the eye, the thief and the hitter having a silent contest as Flynx mumbled and snuggled closer to his mother, shutting his multicolored eyes in the process.

Leon apparently lost and he sighed, looking away from her and at the two teams gathered in their basement, "fine, but if something happens they're leaving right away."

Cynthia smiled slightly, "I know, just don't blow up at them okay?"

"I won't." Leon mumbled and wished fervently that he could've kept their old team from their home.

Cynthia briefly kissed his cheek before she vanished silently up the stairs, the only give away of her movement was the extremely faint brushing of the cuff of her jeans against her socks, something only a highly trained person tuned to the thief's silence could pick up on.

Leon turned toward the two teams and strode briskly toward the front of the room, "Ivory, we need those extra chairs, they should be in the team closet; Bree, shut off and retract the screens, we don't need them right now; Braxton, find the pens, I'm guessing Flynx got to them so they are everywhere." He directed the other members of his team in a calm manner with his arms crossed over his chest.

The three members of his team got to work, Ivory disappeared down a very shot hallway to pull out swivel chairs for those sitting on the floor, Bree flicked her wrist and a holographic screen emerged right in front of her, and Braxton started collecting all of the pens while mumbling under his breath.

Once everything was shut off, the chairs were positioned how Leon wanted them, and the holo-pens were all collected, Leon addressed Holly, who of which was impressed with his leadership skills. "Holly that is Cyn's spot so please find a different spot."

Holly did as her brother asked, not wanting a conflict, so she took a seat on Jay's right. "Sorry Leon," she apologized, "I didn't know that it was reserved."

Leon didn't reply and just sat down on the swivel chair closest to Cynthia's armchair with his arms resting on the back of the seat in front of him.

Bree took a seat to his left, sitting in one of the swivel chairs with her hands clasped in her lap, amber eyes slightly narrowed and highly suspicious as she studied the other team.

Ivory and Braxton reclaimed their positions on the two seater and waited.

Holly studied her brother, _Cynthia's the only one not here, so is she the leader then? Leon directed them though and they all listened with no issues, so are they both leaders?_

Cynthia emerged from the stairwell a few moments later with a tablet tucked under one arm. The thief then took a seat in the armchair and looked at Holly, her blue eyes calm and indifferent. "You wanted to talk to us," she said, her voice calm and unaffected by her annoyance, "so talk to us."

Holly took a deep breath before she got straight to the point. "We need you, Leon, and Bree's help in the biggest heist we've ever pulled off."


	98. Jay's Grumpiness and Non Grumpiness

_**Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- Many things happened to them! ^-^ I have to write the part two but yes, there'll be one ^-^**_

 _ **dragonwritergirl112- there will be yes ^-^**_

 _ **SilverstarofOceanClan- Okay I think I've read it before ^-^ It's supposed to be a little difficult to understand ^-^**_

Jay's Grumpiness and Non Grumpiness Special

(Cat and Human)

 _ **Cat AU Drabble**_

 **(Not Grumpy)**

 _I love you Jayfeather, but I sometimes hate you, and I'm not fat either!_

 _ **(Briarlight's expecting Jayfeather's kits and everyone knows AU)**_

For only expecting two kits, Briarlight felt like a giant badger. Currently the dark brown mottled she-cat was sprawled on her side in the sun on half rock, the sunshine pleasantly warming her fur and making the paralyzed she-cat feel rather sleepy and oddly content. She had less than a quarter moon till her kits were supposed to be born and the dark she-cat could barely sit up as best she could without her front legs partially sprawled awkwardly in front of her and her belly looking uncomfortably squished against the ground with her position due to her non functioning limbs. A shadow ruined the she-cat's sunshine and she opened one eye to look at whoever had disturbed her before she grumbled and closed it again, clearly not in the mood to deal with the gray tabby tom who was blocking her sunshine.

Jayfeather's blind blue eyes were focused on the grumpy queen, slight amusement shining freely in his affectionate blue eyes. Ever since Briarlight had told him about how she was expecting his kits, the medicine cat had been estatic! Even more so when the rule about medicine cats having kits and a mate was changed a few moons previous. The medicine cat put down the leaf wrap that held a mix of herbs to help keep the paralyzed queen healthy and strong before prodding her shoulder with one paw. "Eat these Briarlight," he mewed with another prod when Briarlight just complained and shifted into a more comfortable position lying sprawled on her side. "You need to eat them."

Briarlight nipped his paw when he tried to prod her again and twitched her ears with annoyance before she managed to roll over onto her belly and get her paws beneath her before she partially sat up, her back legs splayed sideways behind her. "I was about to fall sleep!" She complained with a grunt and watched Jayfeather nudge the leaf wrap open.

"Well you need to eat these." Jayfeather replied simply and perked his ears, listening for the sounds of her eating the herbs like he asked.

"Why don't you try carrying kits," Briarlight shot back as she managed to lean over and lap up the herbs and make a face, "I feel huge!"

"It's normal to gain weight Briarlight," Jayfeather pointed out as he leaned toward the leaf wrap and sniffed the leaf for the herbs. "You have kits _inside_ of you," he mewed and carefully prodded her large belly.

"I hate these kits," Briarlight mumbled and settled back into her earlier position lying on her side on the warm rock. "They make me fat and clumsy."

Jayfeather chose to wait to say anything and instead jumped up behind the grouchy she-cat before he started soothingly rasping his tongue over the soft mottled fur of her head and twined his tail with her limp one, helping lull the grumpy she-cat to sleep. After Briarlight's amber eyes slid half way closed a a small purr was rumbling through the she-cat's body Jayfeather finally spoke, his tone rather warm for the grumpy cat. "You don't hate the kits, your just tired of carrying them." He mewed between strokes of his tongue.

Briarlight gave a sleepy twitch of her ears which brushed against Jayfeather's whiskers, signaling she had heard him and that he could go on if he wished.

Jayfeather instead chose not to say anything for a while and kept grooming his mate's mottled fur, gently calming her down in the process.

Only once the sun started brushing the treetops as it started setting did he again speak, nuzzling her cheek in the process. "I love you." He murmured gruffly, his voice less grouchy that it usually was.

Briarlight's purr deepened and Jayfeather took that as her reply as she slightly uncurled her spine to brush her back against his flank, settling her body closer to him so their pelts mingled.

 **Human (Original World) Drabble**

 **(Grumpy)**

 _No Bree, I don't want to… Fine…_

 _(Bree and Jay are invited to a barbecue at Leon's but Jay doesn't want to)_

 _Bree, Jay- 22 ¼_

"Jay!" Bree complained playfully as she slung her arms around Jay's neck from behind the recliner in her wheelchair and propped her head up on his left shoulder, "it'll be fun!"

Jay brushed some of her bangs from his face and continued reading his book, the fingers of his left hand brushing over each bump of his page while Bree watched his hand move, silently reading the briale from his movements, a skill she picked up after ten years of being his friend and being married to him for over a year now. "No Bree, a barbecue at my brother's house doesn't sound fun."

"Why not?" Bree asked and settled a little more comfortably, her head leaning against his. She really, really wanted to go, and if she went, she wasn't leaving Jay at home all by his lonesome, he did enough of that even when she was home.

"Because Leon's cooking sucks, their daughter is rather loud, and Holly's son Connor is even more loud." Jay replied dryly and turned the page of his book while accepting Bree's position and leaning his head on hers, allowing the affection with no fuss and a silent appreciation of it.

Bree took barely a few seconds to figure out what she would say next. "Then eat before you go, Lixa's just a kid, and Connor loves you!"

Jay rolled his eyes, why did he marry another smart alec again? "Bree, I said no."

Bree pouted and lifted her head to look at him, "come on, please! I'll make something before we go so you don't have to eat there, but please come with me!"

"No Bree, and that's final." Jay rolled his eyes before tensing up, oh great, now it was a challenge no doubt. "That's not a challenge either."

Bree gave a shrug that he could feel from the weight of her arms lessening before going back to normal and smiled, a mischevious and competitive look in her amber eyes as she removed her arms and rolled around the couch before pulling her body up onto the furniture. "Okay, it's not a challenge then." She picked up a book that she had left on the coffee table and leaned against him while she read her own book, being completely silent, something she knew unerved Jay. While she was relatively quiet at their house, she wasn't ever completely silent, usually Jay could hear her music upstairs, or her steady humming, occasional mumbling under her breath or the sound of fabric brushing fabric from her twitchiness. But right now she was dead silent, and it certaintly was bothering the curt man Bree had married.

:) :) :) :) :)

Bree buried her face into the sleeve of his hoodie, struggling not to smile and ruin her attempt to make him uncomfortable enough that he would agree with her as she managed to produce a remarkably realistic, drawn out, puppy whine of a plead from the back of her throat, vibrating the front of her throat in the process. Okay, so she was bored of waiting, that a problem?"

Jay stiffened, seriously? The puppy whine? That wasn't fair play, and the brunette knew it. "Really Bree?" He complained and directed his blind gaze at her head, "that's a below the belt move Bree. Both figuratively and literally." He felt Bree smile against his hoodie and the sound stopped as the smile strangled the sound itself, but she continued doing it a few moments later. Let Jay clarify, the puppy whine was something Bree used to either get his attention when she was flustered and didn't know what to say and instead used a puppy whine to pout, or, like this instince, she used it to let him know that she wanted whatever it was really badly, and he couldn't resist the pitiful sound, if he did it was a once in a blue moon kind of thing. Not that he didn't try, the sound just sounded too pitiful and upset that it pulled on the curt man's heartstrings. Plus he didn't like to see Bree unhappy.

"You gotta come with me then!" Bree said in a sing song voice before she continued whining at him, snuggling closer to him with her face buried in his hoodie.

"Ugh! Fine!"

"Yes!" Bree cheered and enthusiastically pressed a short kiss to his cheek before giggling as Jay groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.


	99. Wild's special numero cuatro (4)

_Auh! Jay's Got A Crush On His Partner!_

 _Jay, Holly- 18 ½_

 _Cynthia, Leon-17 ½_

Jay was acting oddly, being more quiet than usual -and that's hard to do- and being on his phone more often to talk to his partner, which was even odder for him, usually, he preferred to be alone. Currently, he and his family were eating lunch, but Jay was picking at his food without much of an appetite. He was fidgeting slightly in his seat and drumming his fingers on the table.

After about ten minutes of the drumming -that was driving Holly up the wall- she cracked. "Jay! Stop doing that!"

Jay jolted like he had been spacing off and he narrowed his eyes at his sister challengingly as he continued to drum his fingers on the table.

Holly groaned, her brother was acting super strange, and really annoying too. Usually, Leon was the annoying one, gushing about sports, his wild partner, more sports, and other jock like things, but now Jay was even worse. "Leon," she groaned and looked over at her other brother who was chatting to his father about the latest baseball game.

Leon paused his conversation, exchanged a short silent conversation with the girl sitting next to him -Cynthia- and returned to his conversation with his father while Cynthia handled the situation.

"Jay, you are driving Holly crazy, can you please stop the tapping?" Cynthia asked in a mumble from where she was slouched in her chair with Leon's hand on her right knee. She was particularly uncomfortable today, as shown by the cap hiding her black cat ears from view, the redness of her nose and cheeks and Leon's hoodie draped over her shoulders. Clearly, the season had decided to give the Spring Heightened wild a case of the chills and a fever at the same time. While she wasn't sick at all and couldn't give any of them the fever, she was really uncomfortable.

Jay turned his gaze to Cynthia before he decided to ignore her and kept drumming his fingers, still fidgeting and glancing occasionally at the clock.

Holly's eye twitched a few minutes later, the tapping was driving her crazy! Even though she knew it was a nervous habit of his. Wait… Was he nervous? Holly studied her brother, wondering why he was so nervous. The only thing he was doing after lunch was going with Bree to a new movie that the brunette had been dying to see all week... Then something clicked and Holly smirked, Jay had a crush on his partner Bree. She studied what he was wearing, he was even wearing something besides a hoodie all the time. He was wearing black jeans, a light blue t-shirt that went with his eyes, and a dark gray leather jacket with a semi high collar -a gift from Bree for the Partner Festival last year. "Hey Jay," she asked with a smirk, "nervous about going to a movie with your crush?"

Jay froze briefly and he denied it, but the appearance of his Wild's ears was proof of his lie. "No."

Now everyone's attention was on Jay -except Cynthia who didn't look surprised and was instead looking at Leon when he jumped at Holly's words.

"My little boy has a crush!" Skylar partially squealed, delighted at the idea of a girl finally haven caught her oldest son's attention.

"No, I don't." Jay huffed, his wolf ears twitching uneasily as he continued to push food around his plate, cheeks gaining a faint rosy hue.

"Let's see…" Holly teased, "amber eyes that are as warm as a fire…"

"...wavy dark brown hair that falls to her shoulder blades…" Leon cooed, teasing his brother.

Jay's cheeks glowed a little redder as he tried to ignore them.

"...Freckles across her cheeks and nose…" Holly added on.

"So bubbly nothing can knock her down," Cynthia added before letting out a small cough and pulling Leon's hoodie tighter around her shoulders. Leon temporarily stopped his teasing to give his under the weather partner his full attention.

"Who's the lucky girl son?" Brad asked, highly amused by the teenagers' teasing and Jay's slowly growing blush.

"I don't have a crush!" Jay exclaimed, in frustration.

"Bro," Leon said while hugging his partner to help fight off the chills, a small smirk on his face, "you've got it bad!"

"Says the guy who's had a crush on Cynthia since we were little!" Jay shot back.

"What can I say?" Leon shrugged, a blew a short raspberry on Cynthia's cheek. "Cyn's amazing."

"Who's the girl who finally caught his attention?" Skylar excitedly asked Holly, and ignored Leon's comment, her green eyes bright and excited.

Holly smirked and opened her mouth but the doorbell rang and Jay shot up from his chair and practically bolted for the door.

Bree was outside the door, tucking a loose strand of her brown hair out of her face as she waited with a bright smile for her partner. "Hi!" She greeted him brightly. She wasn't in unusual clothing, but she had skipped her brightly colored hoodie and went with one of Jay's which was a light gray.

"Hi, let's go." Jay ushered her and moved to close the front door.

"Jay! You left your phone!" Holly exclaimed and gave Cynthia a pointed look who groaned, slipped out of Leon's grasp and trudged toward the door to distract Bre. While Holly finished terrorizing her brother.

Jay darted back into the room and scooped up his phone, he looked eager to leave.

"Her stuttering shyness," Holly teased her brother who groaned, spun around, and turned to leave.

"Cindy!" Bree gasped at the sight of her under the weather looking friend, "what happened?!"

"Spring happened," Cynthia grumbled.

Holly caught her brother by the wrist, her green eyes softening slightly, "she likes you too," she told him, "she's liked you for ages."

Jay gave her a look that said, "you expect me to believe that?"

"Oh!" Skylar then smiled as she realized who the girl was, "Bree's had a crush on you for years Jay, she adores you."

Jay rolled his eyes, shook Holly off, and made his way to the door.

Cynthia moved back to let him through and smiled weakly at them both, "have fun you two," she encouraged before Jay shut the door. She glared at Holly and trudged all the way back to the table before she plopped down in Leon's lap, not giving him a choice about the situation.

Leon pressed a short kiss to her ear, his way of giving her permission before he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her snugly to his body, all the while he rested his head on her shoulder.

Skylar smiled fondly at her youngest son before turning to her daughter, "now we just need to find you your match."

Leon snorted and covered it with with a cough when Cynthia jabbed him in the ribs. "Courtesy of Holly." she droned monotonously and the entire table laughed.

* * *

 _Cynthia and Leon's Little Girl_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 21_

The feline hiss startled everyone, excluding Cynthia of course. Her black cat ears were flattened against her skull, showing she was uneasy and nervous. She was also shaking from the exhaustion of Lixa's birth and the stress of not having her partner there to support her while she went through the experience. Lixa was wrapped in a blanket, tucked into her shaking young mother's arms, now asleep. It had been only ten minutes since Lixa was born, but the baby was tired; her mother was frantic and fearful, she didn't want anyone touching her baby, even Leon -not that he was there. Cynthia's ears twitched slightly and she curled her body farther into the corner of the room and protectively around her daughter, breathing heavily.

Usually, when a wild had a child their partner was there too, giving the female reassurance that nobody would touch their new baby without her permission. But Leon wasn't there, he had practically vanished the moment Cynthia's first major contraction hit, so Cynthia was on her own. " _Go away!"_ She snarled at them, azure blue eyes darting toward each person in the room, exhaustion, and fear displayed on her face.

"Back away toward the far corner," Leah quickly instructed, wary of how powerful Cynthia's instincts were. "Someone call Leon's cell, see if he'll pick up."

Cynthia was panting now, trembling from her exhaustion and stress levels, feeling very alone, betrayed by Leon's absence, and helpless. The last emotion doubled when Lixa started crying, giving her mother a fright and leaving her with no idea what she wanted from her. " _What little one?"_ She eventually cooed to her daughter, looking at her with scared and wide blue eyes. Lixa's cries quieted and she made a small coo in the wild language, which Cynthia understood impatiently.

Her daughter was feeling her stress. Infants had a high chance of mirroring their mother's moods and feelings due to how close the relationship between an infant and their mother is from the moment they're born.

Cynthia awkwardly brought her closer to cuddled her against her body, not sure if that was what the newborn wanted. For a few moments Cynthia was distracted and captivated by her daughter falling asleep in her arms, then someone thought it was safe to step closer and she snarled viciously, scaring the man half to death and reminding him that she was young, currently partnerless, and more stressed out that he had ever been in his life. Then she heard someone say her partner's name and promptly snarled, shoving one of the hospital machines over, her blue eyes shining with hurt and betrayal at her partner's absence. " _Don't talk about him!"_ she snarled angrily, " _He abandoned me!"_ She shoved another machine, tears blurring her vision " _he left me on my own!"_ She keened unhappily and harshly rubbed at her eyes to make the tears go away. " _He left me again!"_

:(

"Hello?" Leon asked stressfully, he was pacing in the hospital lobby, unsure if he should join his partner or stay out of it. Lately, she had been so moody with all the pain she was in, that he didn't know what she wanted anymore.

"Leon?-" Hannah was cut off by the sound of a medical machine crashing to the ground and a familiar voice snarling what he understood as 'don't talk about him! He abandoned me!'. Ice grabbed hold of his heart at his partner's broken sounding snarl, she sounded exhausted, stressed to her limit, hurt and betrayed. By him. Cynthia started keening, sounding like she was devastated that he didn't go with her and help her give birth to their baby. But her last words made his freeze completely.

" _He left me again!"_

"I promise I won't say his name Cynthia," Hannah promised the wild and he heard shuffling like everyone was standing next to each other. "Lee," she came up with a name on the spot, "we need you over here, Cynthia's frantic, she won't let anyone get near her and she's probably going to pass out here in a bit."

"I-I'm on my way," Leon responded a bit shakily, what Cynthia had said had hit him to the core, "I don't know if she'll want to see me though."

"That's okay, just get over here!"

:(

"Cyn?" Leon asked cautiously as he stepped into the mess of a hospital room, "are you okay?"

Cynthia's head shot up and her red rimmed blue eyes focused on him. She hissed warningly and cuddled closer to her newborn daughter, betrayal and hurt shining brightly in her eyes. " _Leon."_ she snarled his name, hurt about him not coming with her in the first place.

" _I'm sorry,"_ Leon crooned to her and took another step into the room. " _I didn't know if you wanted me here or not."_

" _Of course I wanted you here!"_ Cynthia snarled furiously _, "I wanted to be able to sleep while you watched over me! I wanted to know my partner loved our daughter!"_ More tears welled in her blue eyes. " _I wanted to know my partner still loved me."_ She whined softly and cuddled Lixa even closer to her body.

Leon felt guilt weigh down his body, of course, she had, Leah had told him a thousand times that no matter her mood he needed to be there during the birth with her, to reassure her they were all safe, but after her snapping at him for offering to come along, he had stayed back, done as she asked, even though her harsh words were spoken from the pain she had been feeling. " _Of course I still love you,"_ he growled softly to her, his tone soft and sincere, " _I didn't come because of my own mistakes, it's not your fault at all, I promise."_ He stepped closer to her, standing only a few feet away from his partner who was huddled on the floor, too tired to stand.

Cynthia watched him approach for a few moments before she used her free arm to gesture for a hug, her blue eyes teary and emotional.

Leon quickly knelt down in front of her, scooped her into her lap, and wrapped his arms gently around her waist. " _You're so brave for doing it without me,"_ He crooned softly into her hair _, "you're amazing Sweetheart."_

Cynthia gave a weak purr, clearly, her exhaustion was taking hold now that she felt safe in her partner's loving, warm, and strong embrace. " _I want to sleep…"_ she mumbled and nestled her face against the soft material of his hoodie, her hold on Lixa was loosening.

Leon kissed the top of her head and gently took Lixa from her, " _Are you sure you don't want to sleep up on the bed?"_ He asked, not objecting to her statement and wants.

" _No, you're my favorite spot to sleep on."_ Cynthia murmured drowsily before she fell asleep, out for a little while, her black cat ears moving into a more relaxed position as she did so.


	100. The Great Battle

_The Great Battle_

Leon raced into the neighbor gathering area, his breath rattling in his chest as he followed Firen into the grassy tree rich park, everyone was there, waiting impatiently for their leader. ' _This battle is like nothing we've seen, from what Jay's told me I might've just met my match. But I can't give up and let everyone down, I will fight to the end.'_ Leon thought as he squeezed between her siblings and his parents, accidently brushing arms with Cynthia who jumped and shifted away from him, both of them awkwardly looked in opposite directions, avoiding looking at each other. Being a martial artist there was no doubt Cynthia would be sharpening other people's skills while Leon was off using his power to protect the city, all four neighborhoods despite the hostility between them all.

"Are we ready for this?" Holly whispered in her brothers' ears, green eyes worried and slightly scared.

"I will be with Bree," Jay told his sister sharply, putting one hand on his friend's shoulder, blue eyes gazing blankly in front of him, "She will help me when I cannot help myself Holly."

"I'll take care of him, Holly." Bree reassured the black haired girl, amber eyes lit with a determined fire, "Jay can handle himself, but when he can't I will be there."

"You don't have to worry about me," Leon reassured his older sister, looking over at her, "I can't be hurt remember?"  
"Leon, I will always worry about you," Holly chuckled weakly, "You need a responsible person watching over you."

"I can take care of myself," he reassured her, feeling Cynthia's blue gaze on him but forcing himself to not make eye-contact with his friend. "If anything we have to worry about you," he side hugged his sister, his brother briefly fumbling to do the same on the other side.  
"Thunder residents, we face an enemy stronger than we have ever known!" Firen shouted, his voice projecting over the entire clearing from his position standing tall and proud on the stump the teenagers called the Great Stump, an over grown tree stump that's roots spread throughout the entire clearing and surrounding park. "The danger comes from the alley group as well as our own! The Dark forest has sworn to destroy Warrior City!"

Gasps rang throughout the clearing and Firen paused, letting the startled murmuring die down before continuing, "A battle is coming that we have to win, for the sake of everyone that ever lived. We must fight alongside the other neighborhoods, because this enemy threatens us all! Each of the three other neighborhoods; Shadow, Wind, and River will send a small group of people to fight alongside us and join our patrols. We will send three patrols to their neighborhoods. He looked down at his coleader, "Brad, you choose who will go."

Theo pushed his way forward to ask his question in a loud voice, making sure everyone could hear him, "Won't they take advantage of this to move in and kick us out like they tried before?!"

Leon's jaw clenched at the memory, a bloody battle of protecting their homes and his mother nearly be killed by a fatal shot to the stomach along with Cynthia going missing halfway through the battle only to end up being kidnapped with Leon, Jay, and Holly, the only ones able to find her with Diana's help. He smirked slightly, boy did he hope that the other teen's nose was still drastically crooked from the wallop of a punch he had delivered to the guy's face. ' _That won't happen again thought.'_ He thought looking at Cynthia through the corner of his amber eyes when she wasn't looking at him, ' _Even if she says I'm too special to be with her I won't let anyone hurt her-'_ His attention snapped to the front as his cousin Ivory moved around him to walk up to the front of the clearing, dresed in her usual black with her pistol hanging in the custom loop on the right side of her jeans.  
"I know how they fight. I can teach those moves to the clan and how to counter them." Ivory's voice was calm, steady, and cool, the blonde had plenty of experience with both public speaking and people ignoring her, so she could keep her cool in situations like this. Leon, on the other hand, would probably die before he spoke in public like that.

"How do you know?"

"Traitor!"

Other people snarled and Ivory kept her expression indiffferent as Firen spoke over them, defending her. "I sent her to spy." Firen stated simply and the reactions changed, everyone staring at the skilled blonde in surprise and a few in awe.  
"You were spying in the Dark Forest?" Diana asked her twin sister in surprise, blue eyes wide with shock and awe, she knew how rough and scary the dark forest was.  
Ivory gave a sharp nod to her sister, green eyes impassive, "Yes. I was sent from Firen to spy on them once I figured out what was going on."  
"You're so brave!" Miles squeaked from his spot next to his sister who gently hushed him and the eight year old shuffled closer to his favorite sibling, Cynthia ruffling her brother's hair, leaning down to gently whisper something in his ear. Leon watched the interaction, his heart felt like it was being jabbed with a knife once again. Something he once would've smiled at, now made his mood just a little worse with the missed chances and his hands curled into fists.

"We will win this battle because we are fighting for our lives and the lives of our community! Our enemies have been rejected before. They fight only out of hate and that will be their weakness." Firen shouted over the murmuring, the statement being received with excited and determined chatter.  
"We'll beat them!"  
"They won't win!"

Firen nodded, green gaze traveling proudly over his community, "Then let's start training. For our homes!" As Firen spoke a thought chilled Leon to the bone.

' _The kids, they'll be left with Bridget and Daisy, but they can't fight!'_ Rushing over to his father Leon managed to form a complete and understandable sentence, "I'm going to go work with Bridget and Daisy, we need them to be on their toes and to defend the kids, I have a few ideas even though Daisy's never thrown a punch in her life."

"Good." Brad scanned the clusters of people, "Spider can train Mei and Packer. He's known them the longest. They won't mind taking orders from him."

Leon glanced at the long legged man and noticed for the first time a few wrinkles on his face, ' _He'll be joining them before long.'_ The short hairs on the back of his neck stood up, ' _If we're all still here.'_

Brad curled and uncurled his fists, rolling his broad shouldesr, "We need to prepare for a new type of enemy."

"We have to fight as viciously as the Dark forest warriors." Anger bubbled in Leon's gut, "They're forcing us to break every law and rule we have."

"Defend your community above all things," Brad reminded his son. "If that means fighting like wild animals, then we must fight like wild animals."

"I'll fight like a lion if it means protecting the community." Leon said firmly, shaking away the memories of the animal that he had been given a nickname to, the memories painful at the moment. While his father continued dividing everyone into training groups, he jogged over to the daycare. Pulling open the door he walked over to the mess of kids all huddled together with Bridget and Daisy.  
"What are we going to do?!" Bridget whispered to Daisy, her scarred face screwing up in worry for the kids they were in charge of.

"We'll help!" Miles declared, blue eyes gleaming with determination.

"You will stay and help the other kids." Leon ordered firmly, knowing how stubborn the young boy was, "You're their last defense Miles." He turned to the two women, "I'm going to teach you two how to defend these guys."

"I don't know how to fight!" Daisy exclaimed, "I can hardly throw a punch!"

"It doesn't matter," Leon told her, "You and Bridget are going to work together, you've got a dozen kids here relying on you so you can't let them down. There is nothing more dangerous than a women's protective instincts." He said, walking over to the two of them as Miles disappeared into the small crowd of kids. "Nothing in the world." He had learned that lesson pretty well when Miles had wandered off, leaving his sister a raging tiger, furious and dangerous. "Get ready."

Daisy shrinked back while Bridget stood her ground. Leon lunged forward and Bridget lashed out as fast as lightning, her fist barely brushing his cheek. "See? All your instincts will protect these kids."

"How dare you attack her that!" Daisy fumed while Bridget looked determined,

"It's okay." She met Leon's gaze, excited, "Let me practice another."

"You can learn this one, too." Leon said to Daisy before focusing on an imaginary attacker and moving in a fluid motion, darting his foot behind them and landing two quick punches. "It's realatively easy to do and weakens your attacker."

"Let me try it!" Bridget asked and Leon complied, his back meeting the floor a moment later with a sharp smack.

"Good, if you work together, one can add more punches while the other trips and pushes the enemy down." Leon was relieved to see that the fear had faded from the partially blind warrior's gaze as he got to his feet after the move. "Just make sure you keep an eye on those kids." Leon looked over at the huddle of children who were edging closer and looking more excited. "You guys, stay hidden, as hidden as you can get." the kids obeyed, scurrying off to go hide. Leon turned back to Daisy and Bridget, "Working together will make you as strong as the fittest warrior." He felt a rush of satifaction. For the first time in weeks, he felt as if he was doing exactly what he should. He'd spent too much time worrying. Now he was ready to fight like the fighter he was born to be. The foreigner Midlee's words echoed in his ears. _You are only guided, not forced._

' _I'm guided!'_ He froze, his heart leaping. ' _It's all my choice!'_ "Can I leave you to practice?" He asked Bridget, his mind already on his blue eyed friend.

"Can we work out some moves of our own?"

"Uh, of course." Leon rushed over to Miles and crouched in front of him, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders, "Where's you sister Miles? I want to talk to her."

"Which one?" Miles asked innocently, knowing full well which of his sisters the teenager was talking about.

"Cyndy, Miles."

"She's with Isa and Diana!"

"Thank you, Miles, keep the others safe alright my little man?"

"I will do my best!"

"Good." Leon got to his feet and sprinted out of the building, swerving to his right and finding his father, "Hey dad, where's Diana and Isa?"

Brad paused his training to look at his son, looking a bit concerned, "I sent them with Cynthia to sharpen their skills in the gym-"

"Thanks!" Leon raced off.

"-near the lake. Leon! Where're you going?!" He shouted, wondering what one earth got into his son.

Leon didn't respond. Instead, he ran along the empty streets to the gym near the lake, yanking open the door as Cynthia was talking.

"... quicker," Cynthia said as she demonstrated, jabbing forward, the punch taking barely two seconds, "try shortening your blows like this-"

"Cyndy!" Leon called from the door, amber eyes anxious.

"Leon?" Cynthia asked, whirling around to face him, "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Bridget and Daisy-"

"I have to talk to you!"

Cynthia mumbled something to Diana and Isa before running over to him, "What's the matter?"

"Come with me." Leon grabbed her wrist and started pulling her towards the lake, ignoring her yelp of surprise and slight stumbling. When they reached their destination he let her go, watching her for a moment and taking a deep breath to steady himself.

"Is something wrong?" Cynthia asked, almost reaching for his hand before stopping herself short and clasping her hands behind her back.

"You have a destiny…" Leon said, taking a few more deep breaths as he paused, "just like everyone else. But you also have a choice." ' _Please don't get mad at me!'_ Cynthia backed a few feet away from him, blue eyes wary but she didn't say anything so he pressed on. "And so do I. Our destinies guide our feet, but they don't shape every step. That's up to us. We walk the path we choose." Cynthia still said nothing, taking a few more steps back.

"Whatever our destiny says, we still have to choose our own path, don't you see?" He almost pleaded, "We can be together if we wish-"

A twang and Cynthia moved, rushing towards Leon."Leon move!" Despite being about ten feet away from Leon she managed to tackle him within the space of a second, throwing them both out of the way as an arrow embedded itself in the bark when Leon's head had been. Leon blinked dazed up at the sky before something registered in his brain as Cynthia got off of him, her cheeks pink, but her blue eyes glittered worriedly.

"Are you okay?-" She asked but Leon asked another question.

"How did you do that."

"Do what?" Cynthia asked, looking extremely confused.

"You moved ten feet in about a second! How'd you do that?" Leon asked, the answer already ringing in his ears, ' _Cynthia's the fourth! And Firen's the fifth! We have everyone from the prophecy!'_

"Uh, I ran?" Cynthia said, sounding even more confused, "What does that have to do with anything?"

A smile spread across Leon's face as he hugged her, laughing slightly, "You are more special than you think you are Cyn," He laughed softly before drawing back enough to look at her, "Not everyone runs that fast Cyn, I've never seen that before in my entire life."

"Wait, you mean…" Cynthia trailed off, looking for confirmation.

"There will be one of no relation but with the speed of lightning." Leon recited the line of the prophecy Jay had told him, "That's you!"

"No, I'm just a normal person able to run fast, how-"

"You're special Cyn, you've always been as special as I am, just believe me alright?" He asked her, leaning closer to her, surprised when she didn't move away, "You have always been special to me, and now you are even more special to the world."

"How? Leon-"

"Will you fight alongside me?" He asked with a double meaning that Cynthia seemed to pick up.

"Always." She decided, believing Leon's words and letting out a small laugh as his lopsided grin before it was cut off by Leon sealing the deal. As if on cue the lake behind them turned pink as the sun started to set, shortening their preparation time as it painted the sky a beautiful shades of pink, orange, red, and yellow; framing the two fighter's in the pink light being reflected off of the lake's crystal clear water. What could've been the perfect moment was broken a moment later when Leon lost his balance and the two teenagers fell into the lake with a splash that startled them both apart.

:) :) :)

"Use your toes to balance Rose, You need to be able to fight no matter where you are. These warriors want to kill you!" Ivory advised, watching the ginger haired girl struggle to do as she asked.

"How do we kill them?" Clark asked, turning his attention on the blonde giving out advice. "They're practically untouchable!"

"They are normal people with skills in fighting, kill them like you would a normal lunatic. But remember, outside of this battle there are no killing." Ivory stated calmly, pushing away the huanting memories of Alex's screams when she killed him to gain better status in the dark forest. During her efforts of pushing it away she hadn't noticed Brad giving out more duties until he called her name. With a sense of foreboding she did as she was told, ' _They're going to ask me to tell them who's been training in the dark forest aren't they? Well too bad, I'm not telling you.'_

"Which Thunder people are training with you in the Dark Forest.

"I'm afraid I can not give you that information Brad." Ivory said cooly, well aware of Brittany, Mike, and her father watching her from behind. "It's not common knowledge."

"I know they didn't know what they were getting into but this is our chance to protect them-"

"Well, I would tell you, but you aren't the leader Brad. And I'm not betraying those who have been tricked into doing something wrong." Ivory told him sharply, green eyes flashing, "They will not be ridiculed. I'm sure they will fight for our community and will not betray us." She pushed back her sleeve to glance at a black metal watch around one wrist, "I have to go make an appearance in the Dark Forest. Have fun playing a suspicious and paranoid game of guess who." She rolled her eyes and jogged off, with the intent of nudging a few people in the group to join the right side.

:) :) :)

Jay grumbled under his breath as he navigated his way back into the clinic from the whole Brad and Ivory fiasco, going into the quiet clinic, the silence pierced by his girlfriend Bree quietly humming as shel helped Leah sort the many medicines into piles and doses, loading up her wheelchair for field work while Leah would stay there at the clinic and do as much as she could with Cyllia and Silvia's help. "What are you humming now?" Jay sighed as he rolled his blind eyes, making it way over to the two, "A song about raining cats?" He joked sarcastically and Bree laughed.

"Nope! It's called we are the champions, do you want to listen?!" Bree asked with a little forced cheer that he could hear in her voice, she was scared and he could tell for once.

"Sure," Jay sighed, holding his hand out for her earphones, "It's got to be better than the drama taking place outside."

So he listened to the song, finding it very catchy and actually quite interesting, not that he would tell her that though. The three of them worked in silence for a while, Jay's thoughts straying. ' _Who's the fourth person? The battle's coming and we haven't fullfilled the prophecy.'_

"Jay!" Leon burst into the clinic and threw the doors open. How could Jay could tell? Well by the outragiously loud footsteps and his brother's voice. "Come with me, I think I found something."

"Alright, keep your shoes on." Jay snorted, getting up once again and following his brother out of the clinic to an empty clearing a little ways away from the main area of the neighborhood.

"Leon? What did you want to show us?" Diana asked

:) :) :)

Diana was tired, after all that training she had done today she really wanted to rest up for the battle that was about to occur. But Leon had rushed over a few minutes ago, soaking wet _***He fell into the lake XD***_ but looking happier than he had in days, and insisted he come to the clearing.

"I think I found the fourth person!" Leon's grin was almost ear to ear, making Diana suspicious.

"I thought we were done arguing about that!"

"No really, I found her."

"Her?" Diana asked with raised eyebrows and whirled around at someone's next words.

"Well, I do believe I am a girl." Cynthia stepped out of the shadows, as wet as Leon was but also smiling.

"Leon," Jay sighed, "your girlfriend isn't related to us."

"Of course not! But remember that line in the prophecy? There will be one of no relation but with the speed of lightning!"

"Cynthia does not run fast."

"Oh yeah?" Cynthia said, taking it as a challenge, "Track me, Diana."

"What? How do you know about my powers?"

"I just guessed, with how you knew about the dam being built three cities away and all." Cynthia shrugged, "Anyway, track me." And she vanished, the bushes rustling slightly.

Diana expanded her senses, searching for the black haired girl. She found her jogging near the lake and was baffled how Cynthia had moved that fast. "She's near the lake."

"What? That's not possible."

"She's near the daycare now. Uh… I have no idea where she went." Diana said, looking everywhere for her. Besides behind herself.

"Boo," Cynthia exclaimed and Diana jumped a mile.

"Do you believe me now?" Leon asked impatiently.

"Yes," Jay grunted, his voice highly surprised.

"Yeah," Diana said, her blue eyes still a little wide from her scare.

They were interrupted by Clark running by, "They're gone!"

"What?" Diana breathed and her eyes widened further.

"Come on!" Leon grabbed ahold of Cynthia's hand and pulled her along toward the main clearing in the city where everyone was congregating around Clark, the air was filled with low murmurs from everyone discussing their speculations.

Diana and Jay followed Leon at his heels and together the four pushed their way to the front near Clark, their blue and amber eyes concerned and worried.

Ivory pushed her way through everyone else to be standing in front of Clark, her body language tensed and slightly concerned. Who?" she asked sharply, her fingers brushing the hilt of the knife tucked into her front jeans pocket.

"Brittany, Mike, and Bradley!" Clark panted, his blue eyes were slightly wide with surprise and shock. "They vanished when they were training with me and Rose a minute ago!"

Ivory's green eyes hardened and she let her gaze briefly flicker over to her sister, "be careful Diana." She said before she turned and started running off, her blonde ponytail fluttering behind her as she sprinted away towards the dark alleys of the city.

"Where are you going?!" Diana yelled after her before she realized with a jolt what Ivory was doing, "Ivory don't!" She broke free of the crowd and ran after her sister, "you can't help them now!" She exclaimed and grabbed onto her twin's arm, blue eyes scared and worried for her sister, "you'll get yourself killed!"

Ivory's leaf green eyes softened with unusual gentleness, she knew what she needed to do, she was the only one who could ultimately stop the battle, and she wasn't letting her sister's friends and their neighbors be killed in something they didn't knot the severity of. "I'll be fine Diana, but they wont if I don't go and keep an eye on them, I can't let innocent people die to save my own live."

Diana looked torn, she saw the sense in her sister's words but didn't want her sister to put herself in more danger. Eventually, she flung her arms around her sister and hugged her tightly, "promise me you'll come back!"

Ivory returned the embrace for a few precious moments before she made Diana release her. "I promise," she said, her leaf green eyes determined, "I will come back, I've been training for this for years, I won't be killed Diana."

Diana sniffled slightly and hugged her sister one last time before she let her go, "then go save them," she said with a watery smile, "what're you waiting for?!"

Ivory cracked a warm grin before she turned and sprinted off, being swallowed in the shadows of the dark alley.

:) :) :)

Diana paced part of the clearing, nervously biting her lower lip as she expanded her senses, listening to her sister's cool voice, if she found her, she found the leaders.

"If I was a spy Traktor," Ivory's cool toned voice caught her attention at the very edge of her hearing. "I wouldn't be here would I?"

Focusing on it, Diana expanded her senses further, through blackened alleys and down to the abandoned subway system that was full of trees crammed together, the bark stained permanently with crimson blood.

"You could be lying," Traktor's voice sent chills down Diana's spine, "after all, you are trained to lie."

Diana didn't fancy meeting Traktor anywhere, he was a bulky man with the look of an insane lunatic combined with a gang boss, quite a creepy mix.

Ivory gave traktor a blank look, "really? I've been here since I was eight and you suspect me of being a spy? Would a spy not hesitate to do this?" Ivory whipped out a knife and the blade nicked Traktor's shoulder, leaving a deep and thin cut in his bulky shoulder. She dodged his counter attack with filuid ease and tucked the knife back in her sleeve. "Ask around, I'm not sneaky, there's no reason for me to be." She gave a shrugged and caught the knife Traktor threw at her by the flat side of the blade between two fingers, her expression remained calm and impassive. "Besides, I'm respected here, in Warrior City I'm just a boring teenager and I prefer having no one mess with me in fear for what I am capable and rare others are." She replied and threw the knife behind her. A trainie about a hundred feet away yelped and fell backward when the knife narrowly missed their head.

Traktor smirker and crossed his thick arms over his strong chest, while he approvingly nodded slightly. "You have passed the test, I should never have doubted you, Ivory."

Ivory smirked, "heck yeah, I have the shortest warrior initiation time since yourself, Traktor."

Traktor let out a bellow of laughter, "that is true, killing Alex in under a minute is quite impressive, I will admit."

Ivory flashed him a smug smirk, her body language just oozing the emotion. "Hey, I deserve points for flaying him like a fish too, that's not easy either."

Traktor shook his head in slightly crazed amusement before his eyes turned cold and full of a lust for bloodshed. He raised his voice, making to so nearly all of the gang could hear him. "The time has come!"

Cheers and shouts echoed through the abandoned subway, their loud exclamations of excitement ringing through the cement walls of the large subway.

"This is the last night we will all spend in our dark home, for we will drive away Warrior City and claim it as our own!"

"What?" Brittany whispered her amber eyes that matched her sister's, growing wide with shock and nervousness. She was huddled next to Mike and Bradley, the three of them looked nervous and scared.

Atol sauntered over to his father and Ivory, Braxton at his heels, the black haired teen looked incredibly grumpy and more iritable than Jay. "Tonight we take back what is ours!" He shouted and the cheered grew louder, "Tonight we will destroy the people who inhabit Warrior City like a wild fire until only those who bow down to us remain! We will remake the city into the great city that my father led those many years ago before foreigners joined us!"

"No more hiding!" Cheered a scarred man whose red eyes gleamed nefariously in the dim light.

"We will rule!" Ivory shouted, her voice drowned out by the many cheers that accompanied her words.

"Follow us tonight," Traktor spoke again, "and I promise you will have more power than what you know what to do with!"

The cheering hurt Diana's ears and she was about to draw away before she gasped when she saw Sunny from the Wind neighborhood and Marlene from the River neighborhood, both of them were staring at Traktor and Atol with wide and shocked eyes. Nearby, Mike was backing away toward the trees, his eyes scared.

"The city's become soft!" Halden exclaimed from his position blending into the Dark Forest crowd, "we have to show them that only the strong should live!"

Diana felt bile rise in her throat, _How can a City resident believe in cruelty like that?_

Out of the corner of her vision, Diana saw Isa, the thunder neighborhood residant guided Mike back to Brittany and Bradley, her blue eyes understanding as she beckoned Flynn and Harry of the Wind neighborhood closer. "Don't let them see your fear," she whispered, having been told before hand about this entire thing by Ivory herself, "keep quiet and do exactly what he says, let Ivory do her thing and you'll see your neighborhoods again."

Bradley opened his mouth to object but snapped it abruptly shut as Malic turned to face him, her reddish hued eyes narrow with suspicion. "I don't hear you cheering for our leader," she spoke slowly, her tone threateningly.

Isa met her gaze, putting up a brave front. "We're just planning our strategy Malice, " she lied flawlessly, "ours is a little different since we have an edge when it comes to fighting the city, our neighborhoods trust us."

Malice narrowed her eyes, "let's hope you're prepared to fight for your lives," she growled and leaned closer to Isa. "because fighting alongside us in the only way you'll survive!" she hissed.

A thin dark haired man pushed his way through the crowd and stopped next to Malic, "how are our recruits doing?" he sneered, his yellowish eyes gleaming with a love for bloodshed.

"Derek," Malic greeted the annoying man with a growl, "they're terrified."

Derek's cool gaze swept over the small group of city residents, "don't be scared," he said with a roll of his eyes, "you're on the right side." his eyes narrowed suddenly as he realized Ivory wasn't with the city residents. "Where's Ivory?" He asked with annoyance, "she should be here already." he glanced over at Malice as he curled and uncurled his fists.

"She's right behind you," Ivory spoke cooly and used her silver knife to nick the back od his head, "keep talking about me I dare you."

Derek went silent and even Malice didn't dare provoke the third commander, after all, Ivory had been the one to kill Brian for the position.

Atol spoke up again, his icy blue eyes gleaming coldly, "are we ready?!" he shouted.

"Death to the city!" the other dark forest warriors cheered, Ivory included.

Diana shivered slightly, it bothered her how well her sister could hide her emotions and lie flawlessly like this, it was terrifying sometimes. But she didn't focus on that as she withdrew her senses with a snap and shot off to find Leon, Cynthia, and Jay. _They're coming!_

"The Dark Forest is coming!"

:( :( :(

"Are you ready Jay?" Bree asked the grey speckled black haired teen her age, her amber eyes concerned for her best friend and boyfriend, her voice oddly flat.

Jay gave a sharp nod, he would be defending the clinic to the best of his ability, hopefully it was enough. He could feel Bree's anxiety like an annoying bee sting, and his blind eyes softened a little. "I'll be careful," he reassured her, hiding how worried he was too, while he was staying in the clinic, Bree was going to be out on the field with her medical supplies, her job was much more dangerous than his own.

"I know you will," Bree mumbled her anxiety not at all appeased by the words.

Jay sighed and squatted down next to Bree, going down to her level and focusing his attention on her, "I have both Leah and Skylar to help me Bree," he said with a tone close to gentleness, "I'll be fine, you don't have to worry about me."

"I know," Bree sighed, her amber eyes locked on his blind blue ones, "but I'm going to worry anyway."

Jay inwardly smiled slightly, that sounded just like her, Bree would worry about him no matter where he was or what he'd be doing. "Well worry about yourself, you have the more dangerous job."

Bree snorted, "but I have more fighting skill than you, plus I have a heavy wheelchair to help me out."

Jay couldn't really argue and instead shrugged, leaning closer as he did so, "I'll be fine." He reassured sincerely with a hint of his usual grumpiness.

"I know," Bree responded simply, her amber eyes concerned and lacking her usual hyperactive cheer and excitement. There was an unspoken question that she didn't voice but Jay could read in her mind. ' _Promise me you'll be careful.'_

"They're coming!" Diana's exclamation startled them both and the two medics tensed up dramatically, Bree sitting rigidly upright, Jay's shoulders visibly tensing.

"I promise." Jay briefly kissed her before he pushed himself to his feet and sprinting from the clinic toward where he could hear Diana and a lot of chatter.

Bree watched him leave, watching his thin and lanky form disappear before she turned around to help Leah, "can I help? She asked, her voice was still flat and lacked enthusiasm.

:( :( :(

Which way are they heading?" Jay asked as Cynthia and Leon hurried over as well, the couple was slightly pink in the face.

Diana's senses were overwhelmed with drumming footsteps, some loud, some light, some heavy, some lite as a feather. "I can't tell! She exclaimed, her blue eyes wide with fear, "they're everywhere!"

Firen's eyes gleamed brightly and he rose his voice, "It is time to defend our home! All of you! Fight for everything you live for! Fight for the entire city!"

Cheers rose up from the multitude of Thunder residents, all of them looked fierce and ready to win, nobody was going to take their home from them, no one.

Brad stepped forward, "Sarah, Theo, and Spider, go to the Shadow neighborhood," he ordered, his amber eyes gleaming fiercely. "Fight like they are your own family. Wispy and Hazel, you must help Wind." The four fighters all nodded and sprinted off, only Sarh hesitated, glancing at the daycare where her other kids were hiding.

Cynthia locked eyes with her mother and nodded slightly, promising to do her best to protect her younger siblings.

"We'll keep Lily, Sage, and Miles all safe," Firen promised, his green eyes glowing.

Sarh nodded and sprinted after Theo and Spider, her speed quick despite her age.

Brad glanced over at Fin to find the warrior was already sprinting away with Tanner and Rose on his heels. "We'll get to River before the Dark Forest gang!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Bree emerged from the clinic, her wheelchair packed with medical supplies, a bow laid across her lap and a quiver was strapped to her back, her unique choice of weapon, a bow and arrow for her eagle like vision. "Leah has the emergency supplies hidden in the loose covering," she alerted Jay who nodded, thanked her, and jogged back into the clinic, armed with a small knife in his belt.

Diana heard the click of a pistol's safety going off and she glanced back at Cynthia and Leon to find the former had unclicked the safety of her black pistol while Leon was fitting brass knuckles over his hands, the two of them waiting patiently for their assignment."

"Dust, Ben, Paige, Brendon, Haliah, and Gunner, you'll help defend the hollow," Brad spoke, his voice firm.

"Gunner comes with me," Firen insisted and his green eyes flashed, "Cynthia Diana, Sam, Cloudtail, Leon, and Holly, you six come with me." the ginger haired leader turned and sprinted off, the mentioned six fighters on his heels.

Barely a moment after they left a young Shadow neighborhood residant came spirnting over to them, "We need help!" He howled at the top of his lungs.

"I'll go," Leon's amber eyes flashed at Cynthia's words.

"If she's going I'm coming too."

Firen nodded, "Gunner, Leon, and Cynthia, you three go with him back to the Shadow… Bree, you accompany them." He raised his voice to the last part, making sure that Bree, who had just shot past and shot down a Dark Forest gang member, heard what he said.

Bree's usually warm amber eyes hardened and glinted like rock, "Of course Firen."

Diana's heart pounded in her chest as she watched Leon, Cynthia, Gunner, and Bree all race off. _This is it, the battle is here. May the powers of the stars truly be in my hands._

:) :) :)

Leon sprinted through Shadow neighborhood, Cynthia a few steps ahead of him, "Head towards the center!" he directed Cynthia, "if we go towards the center that's where most of the fighting will be!"

Cynthia gave a small nod and veered to the left, heading toward the neighborhood's center point.

The air was thick with the clashing of metal, sounds of guns going off and the sounds of battle. While Leon liked a good fist fight, this was ridiculous, the air smelled of blood and dead Dark forest gang members were all over the place. _This is disgusting!_ He thought as he followed Cynthia toward the neighborhood main medic who looked like he was panicking.

"Why isn't Shadow attacking?" Gunner asked as he eyed the Dark Forest Gang members standing at the edge of the clearing, their eyes gleaming with a love for blood.

"Do you want us to lose more people?!" Linus snapped as he dashed between the injured residents, his blue eyes gleaming with panic. "I'm running out of supplies!"

Leon looked around the clearing, "you need supplies. Do you have any more in the clinic?"

Linus nodded, "some, but I can't leave and fetch it!"

Leon spotted Kirsten trembling near the edge of the main clearing. "Go to the clinic and fetch some of the supplies," he directed, "As much as you can carry."

Kirsten's eyes lit up and she ran off, clearly relieved to know what to do.

Leon heard a growl and a gunshot and turned around to see Cynthia with her pistol raised and a Dark Forest gang member lying on the ground.

"I wouldn't attack on your own you bloody idiots." Cynthia snarled and the Dark Forest Gang members looked a little restless, but they didn't approach again.

"Bree, give Linus some of your supplies," Leon directed before he went over to Radburn and whispered lowly, "start gathering together fighters and form a line, but do it slowly."

Bree darted over to Linus and offered him the supplies, "you can use these until Kirsten returns!"

"Where's the Thunder patrol?" Gunner inquired as he noticed none of the thunder residents sent to Shadow were there.

Linus didn't look up from treating the injured, "they probably chased the Dark Forst Gang member off."

Kirsten came sprinting back, her arms full of medicine and other medical supplies.

"Okay, thanks-" Leon thanked Linus.

"Leon!" Cynthia's voice and the sound of her pistol going off again made Leon jerk toward her and narrowly avoided getting a fist to the face.

"Get the injured to shelter!" Leon yelled as he slammed his fist into a member's face, the bone of the guy's nose crunching beneath his brass knuckled fists.

Kirsten and a few others scrambled to help Linus hide the injured while the four Thunder fighters and the healthy Shadow fighters fought the gang members as more of them flooded into the main clearing.

"Hold your positions!" Leon yelled, "don't let them get to the daycare!"

"Too late!" Bree gasped as they all heard shrieks from kids.

"No, you don't! Cynthia snarled and shot off, barely visible as she shot off toward the daycare to take care of the enemy in there.

The Shadow fighters remained in a line, those with guns or long range weapons doing their best to keep the enemy back.

Bree fired multiple arrows at a time, each one making it's target while Leon bulldozed through the Dark Forest Gang members, his stomach in his throat from all the blood.

But the Dark Forest Gang members were advancing on them, pushing the fighters back toward the daycare/

Leon heard footsteps from the opposite direction and his heart jumped, _We can't handle any more!_

Then they came into view with Hadara in the lead. "Now!" Hadara shouted and the new people swarmed, turning the tides once again.

Leon actually grinned, _The Rushing Water City!_ The neighboring city had come to help them.

"Who are they?" Kirsten asked with wide eyes.

"They're fighters from the Rushing Water city!" Bree called to the Shadow resident and fired off three arrows.

Hadara skidded to a halt next to Bree, "we meet again," she greeted the other girl with a warm smile.

"Yup!" Bree chirped and shot more arrows, "how's your city?"

Hadara shrugged casually, "as quiet as usual." She threw a throwing knife and another enemy went down, "how about yours?"

"Well…" Bee grinned and downed a few more gang members, "we're currently fighting in a war, but besides that, we're all good!"

Leon laughed as he smashed his fist into another gang members' face, "it's good to see you again Hadara and you certainly picked the perfect time to come!"

:)

"Bree, Hadara, we're done here, can you drive off the last few straglers?" Leon asked, his voice authorative at the current moment.

Bree nodded and shot off out of the main area wth Hadara on her wheels.

:) :) :)

Hadara almost smiled at the sight of the remaining Dark Forest Gang members fleeing from them. "What do we do now?" She asked Bree curiously.

"We need to go back to my neighborhood-" Bree was cut off by a Dark Forest gang member jumping out from a tree and shoving her wheelchair over. "Oph!" Bree yelped and growled under her breath, her amber eyes narrowing to slits as she was pinned beneath her wheelchair.

Hadara moved to help her but two other gang members appeared and drove Hadara away from the pinned girl as she dodged one of the knife strikes and unsheathed her own blade.

Bree, on the other hand, glowered at the man who tipped her over and took out an arrow from her quiver. She then gripped a small rubberband in the back and pulled it back, she took a moment to aim before she let go and the arrow shot toward the man and dug itself into the front of his throat, killing him instantly.

The weight of her wheelchair vanished as the other member kicked it away from her and flattened her to the ground.

Bree spat out dirt and used an arrow like a knife, digging it into the other member's shoulder.

Bree howled and her entire body stiffened as the Dark forest gang member pulled the arrow from his shoulder and shoved it into the area between her collarbone and her neck, pushing it down enough that the sharp tip wasn't visible. With a flash of pain filled anger, Bree slid a knife from her quiver and jerked her arm behind her, she managed to dig the blade beneath the guy's ribs and he colapsed. Bree panted for a few moments and grasped the shaft of the arrow dug into the base of her neck. With a sharp movement she snapped the shaft of the arrow to keep Hadara from seeing the injury and drew her bow, her arms shaking as she drew the bow taught and let the arrow fly.

:(

Hadara dodged more attacks and inflicted a few of her own, _I can't beat him!_ She thought, then an arrow dug itself into the Dark Forest gang member's juglar. The dark forest gang member's eyes widened and he let out a gurgle before dropping to the ground and his blood stained the cement. Hadara looked behind her to see Bree holding her bow, the dark brown haired girl's face was ashen and pale, but she seemed reatively unharmed, besides the absence of her wheelchair and how she was kneeling on the ground anyway. "Thanks!" Hadara panted and smiled.

Bree flashed a grin and hid a wince at the movement, "no problem!"

Hadara sheathed her knife and walked over to Bree, she pulled Bree's left arm over her shoulders and pulled the paralyzed girl upright before starting to continue walking toward the Thunder neighborhood.

It was quiet for a few minutes, the silence was only broken by Bree's heavy breathing and the sound of her useless feet dragging over the ground.

Things got bad to worse rather quickly when Bree's head drooped and she sagged in Hadara's hold, struggling to stay conscious, her right shoulder and that side of her shirt was turning a crimson color from the blood leaking from around the arrow tip still in her neck.

"Bree? Are you okay?" Hadara asked worriedly and paused to look worriedly at the paralyzed girl.

Bree gave a feeble nod, "yup," she croaked, "I'm good."

"Are you sure?" Hadara asked worriedly, unable to clearly see the blood covering her shirt with the red color of the t-shirt itself.

"Yup," Bree reassured her and tightened her grip on her bow, working hard on not dropping it. "I'm okay."

Hadara didn't look convinced and she consistently glanced over at her as they kept walking. _She's hurt…_

Hadara's assumption was correct when hardly a moment later Bree lost her grip on her bow, and she hung her head, barely at all conscious. "Bree? You awake?"

"Yes," Bree croaked in a mumble and didn't move to do anything. "I'm fine…" she crumpled.

Hadara quickly lowered her to the ground, "Bree!"

Bree just groaned and twisted her head slightly, her amber eyes were rolled back and blood stained her shirt red.

Hadara stared in horror at the silver arrow tip that was jammed in Bree's body from just above her collarbone, blood stained the shoulder of the girl's shirt. Carefully sliding one arm beneath her knees and the other beneath her shoulders and under her quiver, Hadara carefully lifted the injured girl and started running back toward the Thunder neighborhood with Bree's bow and quiver held on top of the injured girl, "I'll get you back to Jay," she said to Bree, her voice frightened and scared. "I promise."

:( :( :(

Diana paced nervously, the Dark forest Gang has vanished for the moment but she could hear their footsteps as they sprinted over toward them. Then she smelt it. _Fresh blood!_ She could smell it on someone nearing the clearing. Diana's eyes widened and she caught sight of the person who was injured and she sprinted over to them, "Jay!" she shrieked with wide blue eyes, "Bree's hurt!"

Bree was white as a sheet, her body was laying limp in Hadara's arms and the right side of her shirt was stained with blood.

 _So much blood!_ Diana thought panicked as Jay burst out of the clinic and sprinted toward his injured girlfriend.

"Bree!" Jay exclaimed and felt Bree's neck for any blood. When he moved his fingers Diana saw blood staining his fingers. "Take her to the clinic," he said, his voice shaking slightly, his blind blue eyes were wide and worried, "now!"

Hadara did as he asked, sprinting with him toward the Clinic with Diana on her heels.

 _Bree can't die!_ Diana thought with alarm, _she can't!_

:( :( :(

Ivory's leaf green eyes narrowed as she sprinted toward Thunder neighborhood, Mike, Bradley, Isa, and Brittany were all on her heels. Blood stained her clothing but it didn't faze her, nothing of that sort matter to her right now, what mattered was that her home was being destroyed and she was ticked off. Leaping over a fence she continued running, slowly pulling ahead of the others to sprint toward where she could see her sister struggling against a Dark Forest Gang member, Diana's back was to a wall, and while her sister could flip off of it in her signature move, Diana wasn't trained to do it. Leaping at high as she could, Ivory grabbed a hold of a window ledge and jumped from ledge to ledge with the intentions of flattening the guy bothering her sister. "Hey! Sloan!" she shouted, "look above you!"

Sloan looked up and his eyes widened, "what?!"

"Get away from my sister!" Ivory yelled and jumped off the ledge, she landed feet first on his shoulders and flipped off of him onto the ground. Sloan's knees buckled and as he fell, Ivory jammed her silver blade into his neck.

Sloan gurgled and collapsed at Diana's feet, thoroughly dead.

Ivory flicked the blood off of her blond bangs and flicked them out of her face, her green eyes bright and alert. "You okay?" she asked her sister who just stared at her. "What?" she asked a moment later, "is there something on my face? Besides blood?"

Diana shook her head, "you… wow."

"Oh, right," Ivory cracked a smirk, "You haven't seen me fight before, well watch and learn sis."

:) :) :) :)

"You killed my father!" Atol yelled, icy blue eyes darkening with rage as he lifted his gun to shoot Firen and give an order to attack. But Ivory darted in front of Firen, blocking Atol's aim and making him hesitate, not wanting to kill the person he called his daughter.

"Atol, stop." Ivory said, cautiously getting closer to the dark brown haired man a few years older than her, hands raised in surrender, "Don't say that order." She got closer and Atol's hand shook slightly, "I know you angry at losing your father," She spoke quietly, green eyes locked on his blue ones, "I know what it feels like to lose something you care a lot about and you know I do. Put the gun down and order them to stand down."

"He killed my father Ivory." Atol growled, "my brother kicked me out of here in the first place."

"I know," Ivory said, getting closer and closer, blood streaked all over her clothing and face, "if you don't stand down you're going to lose your apprentice as well." She said, getting closer and ignoring the weird looks he was getting. "I don't want to fight you…" she said, hesitating before finishing the sentence, "You're like a father to me, and I don't want to fight my family."

Leon's face twisted into a scowl and he surged forward but Cynthia stopped him, knowing exactly what Ivory was doing. "Don't, Leon, he raised her, gave her the attention she didn't get, he is like the father she never had." She whispered in his ear, "Just like your father is my foster father Atol is Ivory's."

Atol looked at Ivory, the hand holding his gun shaking harder, "My father is dead." The usually calm and arrogant dark forest warrior said, his voice was angry, shocked, and lost.

"Looks like I'm all you have left," Ivory said with a small amount of cheek coloring her tone, "Your father is dead Atol, but you have a sister and daughter left, don't waste it in anger." she got closer, only a few feet away from him.

"Stand down." Atol looked at her for a few more moments before he said that and the other dark forest warriors murmured to each other, all of them obviously angry and eager to fight.

"Brad, tell everyone to stand down." Ivory said as Atol handed her his gun, kneeling at her feet, a sign of surrendering to her.

A shriek of anger and fear got Ivory's attention, using Atol's gun a gunshot rang out as the dark forest warrior dropped to the ground while Paige scrambled back behind her sister. Standing at her full height with her green eyes gleaming with authority Ivory was a sight to behold, standing tall and proud despite what she was in the middle of. Looking at the dark forest warriors she turned the pistol on them besides Atol. "I have leadership, being both Traktor and Atol's heir, those who are inhabitants of Warrior City may come stand behind me if they wish to return to their communities with no punishment. Those who do not better scram before I get to see what this thing can do." Moments later a crowd of the surviving people Warrior City who had been tricked by the dark forest had gathered around Ivory, looking nervous. All besides Braxton who had calmly walked over to Ivory and stood beside her, amber eyes sharp and protective. The other dark forest members had scattered and Ivory knelt next to Atol, talking to him in a quiet voice, Braxton crouching beside her as Firen stood up, wiping the blood from his lip.

"Warrior City remains!" He shouted and there were cheers for the victory even as Ivory took care of her foster father with Braxton at her side, her two boys.

 _ **There will be three, kin of your kin who hold the power of the stars in their hands,**_

 _ **One, a warrior trained in herbs; One, a warrior trained in hearing; and one, a warrior trained to battle.**_

 _ **They will be joined by a fourth, one of no relations but with the speed of lightning.**_

 _ **Four will become five by a fire's flame and the battle between light and dark will be won,**_

 _ **Within a leaf strewn river, hidden in the shadows, lies the key to the battle's end.**_


	101. Q & A Special 2

_**~Phoenix Song~**_

 _Ivypool's style is a mix of knife fighting, street fighting (a mix of karate and grappling techniques), and wrestling, which I've learned over the years ^-^ I'm an expert at knife fighting (took a series of classes after I was assalted when I was younger) my mom's friend taught me street fighting for three years (to give myself more self defense) and I was one of the top wrestlers in my junior high (even though I'm pretty thin) with those skills I've blended them to create Ivory and Cynthia's different fighting styles. My natural style is more like Cynthia's hand to hand fighting than Ivory's except I usually wield a swiss army knife or my black bladed switch blade (which I can legally carry for certain reasons). But yes, I can flip off a wall like Ivory and run six feet up a wall before back flipping off. I'm not as good as her, but I'm pretty good ^-^)_

 _ **~Featherflight123~**_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 95)

 _Technically I already have, I just haven't uploaded them ^-^ Caylee is Tigerwish (obviously, since she's mentioned in the Meet the Kitties chapter) Charity is Cherryblossom, Brody is Brackenfang, and Diego is Duskspots ^-^ Sure! I can write about it and upload a chapter! Maybe it'll be on their crazy antics as apprentices ^-^ The Sequel is in the planning stage, I do plan on making one ^-^_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 96)

 _You have inspired me! I am in the process of writing a Sequel, it's called Hangovers, The Horror ^_^_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 97)

 _Yes, there will be a sequel ^-^ and it'll feature the reason's behind their split ^-^ I know right? (although I imagine Cynthia singing that instead of Bree ^-^)_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 98)

 _Yep! Briarfeather (Jayna) and Cinderblaze (Cleon) are the top two wonders of the Warriors world!_

 _I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D :D :D_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 99)

 _I know right? The ending is pretty romantic on the later part ^-^ I'm getting better at writing ^-^ the more chapters I write the better it's getting! ^_^_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 100)

 _I actually wrote most of it a while ago, so I could redo it... If I wanted to ^-^ I never liked the ending of the battle (I mean come on! ***Spoiler Alert*** Firestar dies! And so does Hollyleaf! NOOO!) I always imagined Cinderheart/Cynthia having super speed ^-^ She is kinda my main character isn't she? I guess it's because the Bramble kids are focused on in the cat's series and I wanted my other two favorite females to be a focus ^-^_

 _I know, I got really lazy toward the end and got tired of revising and adding onto it ^-^' if I rewrite it I will definitely include more of Cynthia's powers and more of what happened to Bree ^-^_

 _I'm grateful that you enjoyed the chapter, I spend a lot of time on this one ^-^_

 _ **~Cloudlesssky~**_

 _The Long Dry? I haven't heard of that one ^-^' but I did write the Great battle, it was for the 100th chapter special ^_^_

 _ **~SilverstarofOceanClan~**_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 28)

 _I'm glad you like this! You're not alone in the whole issues with writing Briarfeather getting together, I'm rewriting mine cause it doesn't fit well with the story line anymore ^-^'_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 46)

 _Such a long squeal! (I think my ears have died XD) I'm thrilled you liked the chapter that much!_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 64)

 _I don't hate you, I just like writing romance and lots and lots of fluffy things ^-^_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 99)

 _Yep! Another chapter is up and I'm updating for frequently again! ^_^_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 100 _**(Oh my gosh! :D :D :D)**_ )

 _Finally someone notices! XD And mwahaha! you will never know! XD(Ask her yourself and she may tell you ^-^ look at the Author's Note below for information on that topic)_

 _ **~Inkie Ermanillie~**_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 96)

 _The end is certainly aww worthy ^-^ I am writing a sequel for that one at the moment ^_^_

 _ **~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 98)

 _Yup! Their personalities have switched! XD I found that one hilarious to write ^_^_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 99)

 _ **(I PMed you regarding this review ^-^)** _

_Do you feel better now? Wisdom teeth suck :/_

 _ **~iDragonSpyro~**_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 98)

 _I don't know how one starts ^-^_

 _me either_

Okay _, then what?_

 _It's going well for me at the current moment, what about you?_

 _Cinderblaze (Cleon) Is totally the best shipping in the Warriors Series (I firmly believe it ^_^)_

 _Briarfeather(Jayna) is whole heartedly adorable! ^_^_

 _Leon is being a_ jerk, _isn't he? It turns out well at the end though ^_^_

 _I know what you mean, I like it because he's being more of a bad boy, but at the same time I'm mad at him for acting that way :( )_

 _bye bye! Hope you have a good day! (please read the Q & A before you leave ^-^_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 100)

 _So I've heard ^-^ I think this chapter is the most reviewed and loved chapter so far! ^-^ I prefer my prophecy actually ^-^' Well the next thing I cook up is a Q & A ^-^ but the next thing should be either the Pretending Sequel or some random idea ^-^_

 _ **~DawnXHamilton4LIFE~**_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 100)

 _Nah, she couldn't kill the one who taught her her self-worth ^-^ she's just comforting him over the loss of his father ^-^ It was really fun to write ^-^ I'm glad you think it's good and thank you for the congratulations, I didn't think I'd get this far ^-^_

 _ **~dragonwritergirl112~**_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 98)

 _Cuteness galore! ^_^_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 99)

 _I love fluff, hence the cute and fluffy chapters ^-^_

 _Do you like the fluffy stories? Or do you like the wilds series?_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 100)

 _Really? Wow, I didn't think it was that good ^-^' thank you for the compliment! I do prefer my prophecy over the original one, and I do have a cat version of the prophecy too, I just have to get there with the_ rewrites _^-^' It's that amazing?_ Well _, I'm flattered you like it that much! ^-^_

 _ **~Guest~**_

(Reply to Review for Chapt 17)

 _That's like this? A Collection of Warriors as Humans? Of course! Any particular ideas you'd like featured?_

 _ **(So many reviews I haven't responded to till now! XD XD)**_

* * *

 **H** _ **ey guys! So I had this completely ridiculous idea (that turned out pretty great) and I have created emails for the main characters so you can talk to the characters directly (Cynthia, Leon, Holly, FInli, Jay, and Bree have emails) So I suggest creating a new email for this purpose only (I don't want anything to happen to your guys' emails, that would suck :( ) and emailing the characters! PM me and tell me your interested so I can give you the addresses! Those who don't have an account and are interested let me know and I'll think of something. (Maybe I'll put them in my profile ^-^) All of the other characters can be emailed through Caylee's (her's is a gmail under the name 'youngcrazyteenagewriter') I just didn't want to make a bazzillion of them ^-^' I promise I'm not scamming any of you, my friends have already tested these out for me and so far they're working great! So let me know if your interested or have any concerns. (btw, none of these are connected to my emails, these are completely separate) I made these so you guys can talk to and ask the characters questions, thats all. This way you can show them your empathy for their situations, your frustration at their actions, and bore them all to death with thouseands apon thousands of questions! If you read all the way to the bottom of this Author's Note put the words nocturnal writer in your PM if you're interested in this concept! ^-^**_

 _ **(Also, let me know if you guys prefer this style of setup, I kinda like it ^-^)**_

* * *

 _Q & A _

_#2_

 _Jay, after the HoloWatch chapter we're all wondering something… WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG! I mean seriously dude! Bree's liked you for ages!_

 **(I Can See World)**

"Well excuse me for being focused on the girl I was engaged to! I never realized it before because Breanna can hide anything she doesn't want someone to see, even if that's a crush or love. Bree's a very independent woman, she won't let anyone see what she doesn't want them to see from her. Besides, I ended up with her in the end, so stop mobbing me with your crazy Jayna fans."

" _But it's fun!"_

"Then I'll go find the Haya fans."

" _Fine…"_

 _XD_

 _Bree, how do you live with Jay's constant grumpiness? I mean, he's a pain in the butt!_

 **(Normal World)**

"Actually he's not always grumpy, he just has a prickly exterior! When it's just us he's a very soft hearted person, even if he does make me irritated sometimes. Believe it or not he's a romantic with a slightly curt voice, that's all! Jay's a big lovable guy, and I've always loved him for it. Plus I love his exterior, it gives him a more… cute grouchy type appearance, which is also pretty cute in my opinion!"

:D

 _Akili_ _ **(duh duhn dun! XD)**_ _you're a new character who's involved in an upcoming chapter, care to tell us a little bit about yourself?_

 **(Upcoming chapter: Savage Gen Virus Crossover)**

"When Savages fly you, crazy author!"

" _... I will make them fly."_

"Ugh, fine. I'm Akili Grayas, I'm a human bio weapon with an antidote that runs through my bloodstream and saliva. I am a dirty blonde with icy blue eyes and am two inches shorter than Cynthia. Do the math if you want to know my height. I have a boyfriend named Lloyd and I was born in a test tube. Good enough?"

" _It'll do."_

"Thank the idiotic scientists who made me!"

" _Shut up Akili."_

"If I get to leave I'll be quiet."

" _Then shush!"_

"..."

" _My perfect day is now complete!"_

 _XD_

 _Cynthia, we all feel super bad for you, Leon's being extremely rude to you! Without giving much away from the upcoming part can you tell the readers how it turns out between you two?_

 **(Flashes Vs The Dark Blades World)**

"You think? He was being an ass. How it turns out between Leon and I in the end? Well… I nearly die, again. I save Leon's life, and two and a half years later I have a silver studded ring that is the best thing to use in a punch. Oh, and both of us share a room."

" _So… little assassins or body gaurds running around?"_

"StarClan no! What goes through your crazy author brain?! I'm not having kids with Leon till he's less 'pain in the butt' and more father material, he's like a fifteen-year-old boy maturity wise!"

"Hey! I am totally seventeen at least Cyn!"

"See my point?!"

" _Auh…"_

 _Cleo we all know you're pregnant with Leroy's son and in the sequel, we get to see a lot of him, without giving too much away from the next part, can you tell us what he looks like and what he's like?_

 **(Fight Or Flight World)**

"Well… Leroy and I's son is named Christopher, but everyone calls him Chris, he has sunset colored eyes like his father, darker hair, and is quite the little chubby guy. Um, he's very smart for an infant, he's incredibly cheerful most of the time, and he loves me and Leroy to death."

:)

 _Brody has a few questions of his own so I'll pass it over to him._

 _ **Cynthia, we all know Brandon ticks you off on a daily basis, so how many times have you tested a chemical bullet on him?**_

 **(Fighting For Love and Hope Realm)**

"Hmm… that is a good question, I think I've tested each one of my bullet on him once, including the prototype taser bullet, which knocked him out and almost stopped his heart. Unfortunately."

"Cindy! We need Brendon!"

"No, we don't Holly! He's a jerk!"

" _There's no need for a cat fight you two! Get_ _along!_

 _XD_

 _ **Holly, we occasionally get a hint that Finli is around in the Wild's world but we never see him, so how is he?**_

 **(Wild's Realm)**

"Well the reason you don't see him is because he's actually not a wild. Finli's a normal human with wild parents, for some reason his wild just never surfaced. Not that he doesn't have the possibility to become one, he just isn't one. Yet… On the subject of our relationship, he's my partner -our partnership is half romantic, half platonic- and we're both as happy as a pair of wilds can be.

" _Well I'm sure Cynthia and Leon are happier than you."_

"Well they're Cynthia and Leon so probably. Finli makes me happy though and that's what's important to me."

 _ **Leah, is it frustrating to have Cynthia come into the medical bay every other week? She does seem to be an accident prone.**_

 **(Fighting For Love And Hope Relm)**

"You have no idea. It's like having a thorn in your side twenty-four-seven! You're always worried about it and it never goes away!"

XD

 _Okay, Brody, it's my turn now! Speaking of Wilds, Cynthia, does your wild embarrass you a lot? It sure seemed like she makes you do a lot of embarrassing things._

 **(Wild's World)**

"You have no idea… I swear her favorite thing to do it embarrass me."

" _Maybe she's just overly focused? I mean, that can always be a possibility."_

"That's one of the problems! Cinder's so focused on Leon, I mean Lion, that she embarrasses me all the time!"

" _Poor Cindy, you're so unfortunate."_

"I do not appreciate the sarcasm."

" _Well, you're very welcome for it!" :D_

XD XD

 _This is going to be odd, but I'll ask it anyway. Caylee -who is me- Out of all of your friends who do you tolerate the most?_

 **(Author's World)**

"Well… it depends. Sometimes my friends annoy me and I don't like them very much for a few hours, but I guess if I had to choose it would be Brody or my other friend Casi -who isn't in any stories yet- Brody because he's a very calm person and I may have a crush on him, and Casi because she knows me very well and doesn't annoy me half as often as the other three."

 _Cynthia, Leon, the Pretending Sequel is pretty crazy, right? I mean Cynthia, you have a little surprise for us! Tell us a little about that crazy surprise and what it means for the sequel!_

 **(Pretending World)**

"Oh boy, do I a have a little surprise. It's pretty crazy -since Leon had no idea for little over a year- and when he did learn about it he freaked and acted super immature."

"Hey! I had no idea what to do! Excuse me for throwing the fact that you-"

" _LEON! NO RUINING THE STORY!"_

"Sorry, Caylee. And I only acted immaturely because I had no idea what to do and I was confused."

"Seriously Leon?!"

" _Okay that's enough, we do not need to start an argument between you two!"_

 _XD_

 _ **I hope that this Q & A was decent! I had fun writing them and I hope you all have a good day and until the next time I update! (Please email the characters, they would love to hear from you all ^-^)**_

 _ **(Btw, I hope I responded to all of the reviews and that I didn't miss any! Let me know if I did miss any! ^_^)**_


	102. Bree's Accident

_**~Snowcyrstal of Thunderclan~**_

 _I do update at weird times ^-^ although usually, I update during school ^-^ it's common for me to update during my school hours or late at night ^-^_

 _ **~SilverstarofOceanClan~**_

 _Q & A's are fun to do and are easy to create ^-^ I'm glad you liked it, I had fun writing it ^_^_

 _ **~Featherflight123~**_

 _Q & A's are awesome ^_^ (and I'm using the new format, it looks neater and clean :D)_

 ** _~pebby stone~_**

 _Thanks for the compliment! I enjoy writing them! :D :D_

* * *

 _ **This one's really a drabble, but it's better than nothing! XD I wanted to change how Bree had her accident so I changed it and turned it into a short memory style drabble! ^-^ I'm trying to finish the Flashes Vs The Dark Blades at the current moment, hence the gap between updates and the short drabble update of today ^-^**_

* * *

Bree's Accident

Bree, Jay- 17

Haliah- 17 ½

"This way," a boring trail guide droned and led the way up part of the mountain. "Be on the look out for panthers, there are a few that live around here."

"Did everyone bring rain jackets?" The energetic trail guide asked brightly, "we may experience a rain shower tonight!"

Jay heard Bree tighten her grip on her wheelchair's wheels and felt rather bad for not remembering earlier. Bree hated rushing water, that and panthers, along with lightning and falling trees. And all of those fears had started when a normal walk through the woods turned sideways and left her paralyzed from the waist down. After taking a moment to figure out her position, silently he put one hand down on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze, reminding her that he was there too.

Bree lent her head against his hand in response to his action, silently taking comfort from his silent comforting action. This is going to be a long day. Both of them inwardly sighed.

:O

Bree yelped at the sight of the lightning flashed through the sky and swiftly rolled backward, her amber eyes focused on where the lightning bolt had been barely a few moments ago. "L-lightning!" She squeaked, amber eyes round with horror and slightly glassy with memories of the night that she was paralyzed.

 _"Come on Jay! I promise it'll be fun!" Bree giggled and tugged Jay by the arm toward the woods._

 _Jay's blind blue eyes were reluctant but amused as he allowed his friend to pull him along. "I'm supposed to be sleeping." He grumbled, "we have school tomorrow."_

 _"I know," Bree admitted, "but this won't take to long! We're just going to walk in the rain! it's only nine!"_

 _Jay gave a_ drawn-out _sigh and continued to make_ half-hearted _complaints as they went deeper into the woods, faking his reluctance, he liked the feeling of the rain hitting his skin, and Bree knew it…_

"Bree, did you hear me?"

The sound of her name snapped Bree out of the memories and she gave a vigorous shake of the head to help her shove the memories back. "Yeah, sorry about that!" She chirped happily and continued to walk alongside her partner for this part of the field trip.

:(

 _"Isn't this fun Jay?!" Bree laughed as they walked through the rain splattering the leaves of the trees above them and soaking their clothes._

 _"No_ , _" Jay grunted, but he was fighting a tiny smile from appearing on his face._

 _"Come on!" Bree nudged him playfully, "I know you love the rain, Jay! There's no way you can avoid having fun out here!"_

 _"I can think of many ways," Jay grunted before he tackled his friend and started to tickle her, "but this is pretty fun too."_

 _Bree burst into laughter, laughing extremely hard and squirming as Jay continued to tickle her, a rather soft look on his grouchy face._

 _A low growl startled Bree and Jay from their tickle war minutes later and the pair of ten-year_ - _olds scrambled up and backed away from the pair of eyes gleaming in the dark. A panther slinked out of the dark trees, hunger gleaming in its predatory eyes. "Run!" Bree howled and seized Jay by the wrist as the Panther tried to pounce on him._

Bree jerked out of the memory, her amber eyes flashing open and she quickly sat up, her heart racing from the sound of the rain drumming against the entrance of the cave she and Haliah were inside. After about ten minutes of walking around, the rain had picked up, which had sent her and Haliah to find shelter in this cave. The fire had died out a little while ago, leaving the brunette in complete silence and darkness. The only sounds were her heavy breathing and Haliah's slow deep breaths, leaving Bree with nothing to distract herself with. Bree scooted over to the fire and sat near the still warm embers. _I need someone to distract me,_ she thought desperately, as thunder crackled and rain drummed against the ground outside. _I can't do this right now!_ She shook her head violently as more memories pressing against her mind.

 _The Panther snarled and Bree whimpered, waiting for the cat to pounce on her…_

 _No!_ Bree shoved the memories away as tears began to well in her amber eyes, _Just… think, think about happy things!_

 _The crack of lightning was followed by the crack of a tree splitting down the center. Which was followed by a scream and a loud splash…_

"Bree?"

Bree flinched and managed to lift her gaze up to look at the teen who was standing at the entrance of the cave. She gazed at her friend through tear glazed eyes, unable to get the memories to go completely away. "Jay?" she asked, her voice weak and raspy.

Bree's chest felt like it was compressing itself as the river water rushed past her face, flooding her nose and ears, then with a sharp jerk the pain in her back and legs vanished…

"Don't panic," Jay rushed over to Bree and knelt next to her before he pulled her into his lap and situated her to be leaning against him with her head tucked down toward his neck. "Just breathe," he coaxed her, his usually flat and curt voice held affection and worry as he tried to get Bree to calm down and stop blocking the memories that he knew were bothering her. He knew this was going to happen, he should've insisted for Bree to stay back and not go on the hike, he should've insisted she didn't go!

Bree crumpled against him as the barrage of memories from the night she was paralyzed rushed through her like a tidal wave.

 _Bree floundered, trying to push up with her arms to get out of the river, she couldn't breathe with the water rushing past her face at such a high speed._

 _"Hang on!" Jay's voice sounded muffled and water logged, "I'll get you out of there!"_

 _Moments later Bree felt someone grasp her shoulders and pull upward. Bree broke the surface with a gasp and spluttered, water streaming from her face and ears, the girl scrabbled to pull herself free from the tree trunk that was crushing her lower spine beneath it. Pain filled tears welled in Bree's eyes, the pain going on above the break hurt so much, she couldn't stand it. "Jay!" She spluttered, "it hurts!" she wailed, struggling to keep her head above the water._

 _"I know," Jay stammered, obviously trying to think of what to do to free his best friend. "I- I don't know what to do!"_

 _"Do something!" Bree coughed as water got into her mouth, "anything!"_

 _Jay scrambled around, starting to throw rocks into the wide river, trying to raise the water level enough that she could get free._

 _"What're you doing?!" Bree spluttered as a rock caused more water to spray her face._

 _"I'm gonna raise the water level!"_

 _Bree coughed, "okay, hurry!"_

Bree trembled in Jay's hold, her body shaking like a leaf as she clung to her friend with her eyes squeezed shut. Jay gently rocked the terrified brunette, his arms circled snugly around her body, one arm gently pressing her head against his chest, the other keeping her close to him. "Shh," he soothed, his voice missing any traces of his usually curt of grumpy tone, "it's okay Bree, nothing's going to happen this time."

Bree buried her face into his chest and started sobbing when the flash of light from a lightning bolt illuminated the small cave they were in. "not again…" Bree mumbled through her sobbing, her eyes still tightly closed.

Jay tightened his grip around Bree's body, tightening his embrace around the terrified brunette that was his best friend.

 _"Hurry Jay!" Bree spluttered as the sound of the panther reached her ears, black dots were swimming across her vision which blurred every few seconds. "It's coming back!"_

 _"I'm hurrying!" Jay responded as he continued knocking stones and rocks into the river, trying to raise the water flow enough for the tree to start floating and so Bree could get free. "I'm trying as hard as I can!"_

Bree jerked and trembled, fear running through her body and making her sob harder.

Jay held her closer, his blind eyes fixed one where she was huddled in his lap.

 _"Ah!" Jay yelped and he scrambled to dodge the Panther, his blind eyes huge with fear as he scrambled away from the large cat while he tried to throw more rocks into the river. By now Bree could barely breath, the river water had risen like Jay had wanted, but he hadn't been able to get it high enough for Bree's pinned body to be free from the trunk that had crushed her spine. The pressure wasn't hlf as bad, now her body was just pinned, she wasn't being crushed anymore._

 _Bree spluttered, making inaudible sounds as she floundered in the water. Moments later her face vanished beneath the water again and she came up coughing. "Jay!"_

 _Jay swung a rock at the Panther with all his fight, smashing it against the Panther's head with all the might of a ten-year-old-boy._

 _The panther howled and raced away as Jay threw the rock into the river before he threw a few more in._

 _With a gasp of relief Bree felt the tree above her shift and move. "Jay it's off!" She spluttered before going under the surface as she started to be pushed down the river._

 _Jay reached blindly, searching for her. Fabric brushed his fingers and he seized her by the shirt before scrambling to pull her out of the river. "Bree!"_

 _Bree used her arms to pull her body out the river and continued coughing where for a few moments she gazed at her friend with exhaustion, pain, and relief glazing over her eyes. A moment later her head hit the ground and she passed out._

Jay felt Bree still in his embrace, her sobbing stopped and her breathing evened, a signal that she was now asleep.


	103. Broken Justice

_**~FeatherFlight123~**_

 _Yeah, I'm working on figuring out how the make the memories clearer, we'll see ^-^ I'm glad you liked it ^-^ Yes! We must convert your friend to a Briarfeather shipper! Briarfeather is awesome! ^_^_

 ** _~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~_**

 _Hello! :D It is seeing Bree afraid, isn't it? I hope it was a good drabble though! :D_

 **~Donotkali~**

 _I didn't like reading fan fiction all that much before I started writing these either, I felt like there was something missing from the world of Human Warriors so I started writing these. I'm thrilled that I helped you find some interest in fanfictions -personally, I think it's one of the best 'genres'- and I'm glad you believe I've put all of your favorite stuff in warriors and and I totally agree with your Brairfeather statement, Briarfeather is amazing! Cinderblaze is better :P but Briarfeather is still amazing!_

* * *

 ** _So this chapter is a little on the short side as well, but I wanted to start a new story (that's a spin off of Flashes vs the Dark Blades) so I made this! I kept this one short because it's an introduction to the series itself so yeah ^_^_**

* * *

 _Broken Justice_

 _ **(Flashes Vs. The Dark Blades spin Off)**_

 _Cynthia, Leon, Hannah- 22_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree- 23_

 _Haliah, Paige- 23 ½_

 **Dark Blades Field Names**

 _Holly ~ Emeralla (Emma)_

 _Bree ~ Amber_

 _Haliah ~ Jade_

 _Paige ~ Hazel_

 _Cynthia ~ Sapphira (Saph)_

 _Ivory ~ Ivy_

 _Lily ~ Likura (Lika)_

 **Dark Blade Code Names**

 _Leon ~ Sunset_

 _Jay ~ Blue_

 **Dark Blade 'Strike Team Flash' Positions**

 _Holly- Leader, gives directions, can also work as a grifter._

 _Bree- hacker/grifter/assassin incredibly good at both acting and hacking (can hack into any computer system in the world)_

 _Haliah- grifter (sophisticated only)_

 _Paige- grifter (sophisticated only)_

 _Cynthia- thief/grifter/ assassin_

 _Ivory- hitter/grifter_

 _Lily- Lily is what keeps the other six from escaping the Dark Blades._

 **Flashes Hit Team Main Positions**

Leon- assassin/hitter he is a police officer who specializes in detective work and stopping assassinations.

Jay- medic/basic hacker. His cover is a doctor who specializes in fixing disabilities while in reality his main job is as Leon's partner. _**(He's not blind)**_

* * *

"Caylee Michaels, Chemical engineer."

"It's an honor to meet you, Caylee Michaels." Ashton smiled and brought her right hand up so he could kiss it.

"Flatter him, Sapphira, it'll make this whole thing go smoother." Paige's voice came over the coms hidden in the other five girls' ears.

Cynthia smiled, her bright saphire blue eyes shining with a perfect partially polite partially impressed smile as she talked to a man named Ashton Tulith. "It's all mine," she smiled, "after all, not many people get to meet the famous scientist."

"That is very true," Ashton chuckled as Cynthia slipped her hand from his grasp, "as much of a nusiance it really is. After all, I don't get to meet as many pretty women as yourself anymore." He mused before addressing the reason she was there. "What can I do for you Miss. Michaels?"

Cynthia blushed lightly, "I'm very flattered at your words but I'm actually not here for anything, my employer is however." She smiled a little sadly, the silver earings that dangled from her ears accented the trim of the royal blue short skirted dress she was currently wearing.

Ashton raised his eyebrows, "your employer?"

"Amber, are you ready?" Holly's voice came over the coms this time.

"Affirmative Emma." Bree murmured from where she was sitting close to Cynthia and Ashton in her wheelchair with her back turned toward them. She spoke under the guise of taking a sip from the glass in her left hand, her wrist was adorned with a gold bracelet that complimented the dark brunette's white colored dress that Haliah herself had designed and that went down to her shins.

"Sapphira, you are clear to continue." Holly's voice again.

"Bring him over to Amber Sapphira. Amber, Let him look you over before you speak, allow him to adjust to the sight." Paige's voice came over the coms once more.

Everyone heard Ivory's snort. "Because a pretty woman in her twenties in a wheelchair is that shocking."

"Ivy, we have gone over this before, not everyone is as unfazed about everything like you and Sapphira." Holly sighed.

"Ivy, we can argue about it later when I'm not wearing a dress that I can hardly move in." Bree hissed, temporarily grouchy.

"Right…"

"You two, stop arguing, Sapphira's on the move Amber." Holly broke up the tiny fight between the two operatives.

Bree looked up when Cynthia lightly tapped her shoulder, "Mrs. Louis," she said professionally, "this is Ashton Tulith, the man who's potentially going to buy your technology."

Bree's amber eyes lit up and she turned around before she giggled a little, putting on a facade of amusement at Ashton's widening eyes. For a few moments she allowed him to look her up and down, used to this part of the job. "So this is Mr. Tulith," she smiled warmly at the man and offered a hand to him to shake. "Brittany Louis," she introduced herself, "full time inventor, part time scientist."

Ashton shook her hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Louis, mind I ask what happened to land such a beautiful women like yourself into a wheelchair?"

Bree shrugged, "was working on a project a few years ago when some men stole the project and promptly shot me in the spine." She rolled her eyes, "like that was going to stop me."

Ashton smiled at her fiesty attitude, "well I can assure you that your beauty hasn't fallen with the disability.

Bree giggled, "aren't you just full of compliments Mr. Tulith? would you like to see the tech you could possibly buy?"

"Of course," Ashton smiled a little wider, "anything for you two lovely ladies."

Bree smiled despite her urge to gag and pulled a small breifcase from under the table.

Cynthia stood to one side, blocking it from the other party guests' view.

Bree undid the clasps on the briefcase and pushed the lid open to reveal a wicked looking silver knife with a handle that had intricut designs that spelled out a single word. 'Destroyer' "This is a knife that has the ability to change the material it's made out of, how large it is, and if it looks like a knife at all."

Ashton's eyebrows rose, "do you have more of these?"

Bree nodded, "I have a van out in the parking lot that has six other cases, each with ten of the knives."

Ashton looked thoughtful, "shall we negotiate the price elsewhere?"

"Of course," Bree smiled, her amber eyes gleaming with hidden triumph. "By your lead."

"Ivy, get ready for the extraction of Sapphira, Amber, and Ashton's holo tech."

"Understood."

"Would you mind staying here Mrs. Michaels?" Ashton asked Cynthia politely, "it's not custom for employees to follow their employers."

"Sapphira, Amber, change of plans, Amber will comense with the assassination, Sapphira, you make sure no one's suspicious."

"Of course," Cynthia smiled and took a seat next to Bree at the table, "I'll remain here till your return Mrs. Louis."

Bree gestured for Ashton to take the lead as she put the breifcase on her lap.

For a few moments, the coms were quiet besides Bree discussing the price of the technology with Ashton, then Bree struck, there was a reason she was called Spark in the assassins world. She always struck out of the blue.

"Target is down, calling card has been placed." Bree said in a flat voice over the coms before annoyance painted her voice, "auh man, I got blood on my new knife!"

"Worry about it in the van Amber," Holly spoke briskly, "Ivy, is the way prepared?"

"Yes, I have the gear in the elevators, Amber just has to stop the elevators for long enough that we can change."

"Understood, Amber, Sapphira, Extraction Plan E."

"Roger."

"On my way," Cynthia murmured as she slipped out of the party and toward the elevator, her heels making soft sounds on the tile as she undid the messy bun her midnight black hair was in at the current moment.

Cynthia stepped into the elevator as Bree rolled in from the other entrance, her brown hair now free from her extravagent hair style and tumbling free down her shoulders.

Ivory tossed both of them a bag, "each contains a completely different outfit."

"The elevators have been 'locked' down for the night due to the party so Amber, you'll be posing as an injured guest on crutches, Sapphira, Ivy, you two are her assisstant and a security guard who gave clearance for the elevator." Holly breifly explained the cover story.

"I got the assistant," Cynthia said as she unzipped her bag.

"We have thirty minutes without running before my legs give out once I'm standing Emma," Bree stated briskly as she one handedly typed a really long line of code on a holographic screen while working on pulling out the other outfit out of the duffel bag.

"Well make sure it only takes ten minutes." Holly rolled her eyes.

The elevator slowed to a stop, "we have seven minutes before it goes back on line starting… now!" Bree stated.

Seven minutes later the elevator began moving back down just as the three had finished changing into their respective outfits, Ivory was in a security style suit with the earpiece in one ear, a gun holstered at her belt; Cynthia was in a light gray cocktail style dress with silver earings and pendant; and Bree was in a forest green knee length dress with a little jewelry and a large brace that made it look like she had injured her knee.

"Here we go," Bree sighed as she took Cynthia's hands and the blue eyes girl pulled her to her feet. Bree wobbled slightly but didn't fall, the supports she had in her legs and hips allowed her to stand and walk for ten minutes at most, the draw back was that she was going to be dead tired and exhausted afterward.

Ivory gave the brunette the crutches and tossed the bags of gear up onto the top of the elevator where she would come get it later. "Emma, we are approaching the lobby floor now."

The elevator doors opened and the three stepped out, Bree limping on crutches; Cynthia walking worriedly beside her, holding a leather portfolio of pretend designs; and Ivory walking near them, making sure they got out of the building.

"Hey, what are you three doing?" The guard at the desk asked when he saw them.

"I'm escorting an injured party guest out to her car where her assisstant will be taking her home." Ivory said gruffly, "have a problem with it?"

"Are you okay Mrs. Graton?" Cynthia asked Bree worriedly, walking alongside her and looking like she was very worried about her.

"I'm fine," Bree grumbled, playing the part of a grouchy and injured designer, "just hurry up!"

"Oh," the guard said before he gestured for them to continue and looked back down at the book he had been reading.

"Out front, to the left." Holly directed.

The three followed Holly's directions and made it to the van without many issues.

"Mission accomplished," Holly smirked at the other three, proud of their new record, "and in a record time too."

Cynthia smiled wearily at her and opened her mouth to speak, but their handler interrupted.

"Get situated, we're leaving to the base." He said flatly and the four women mentally groaned.

:O :O :O

"Seriously Brad?" Leon hissed to his father under the guise of a phone call as he stepped away from the other police officers, "now is not a good time!"

"Leon," Brad -Leon's father sighed- "Another scientist that supplies our technolgy has been assasinated." That shut the golden blonde haired man up.

"What?" Leon gasped, "when did that happen?"

"We got notified that his life detector showed no signs thirty minutes ago."

"Which scientist?" Leon as he pretended to be arguing over the phone.

"Ashton Tulith, the creator-"

"Of holo technology." Leon finished for his father, "so someone really wanted that technology, bad enough to kill." He mused before going into 'tracker mode' as his brother so eloquently called it. "Do we know what the weapon is?"

"It's something we've never seen before, it looks like an every day bobby pin to go in someone's hair."

"Right, I'm on my way to the base right now, is Jay on his way too?" Leon asked as he strode toward his car and covered the mic, "sorry! I gotta go take care of some family business, my sister's having her baby!" He then ducked into the vehicle and started driving away, hooking up the phone to the car's systems. "Alright, what's the info right now?"

"He was at a V.I.P party celebrating his break in technology when someone lured him away and killed him. There's no finger prints, witnesses, or anything besides the weapon that looks like a bobby pin… Wait, Jay has something, I'm patching him through."

"Leon," Jay's voice was stunned and full of shock, "the weapon is technology I'm slightly familiar with."

"Meaning?"

Jay's next words sent ice through Leon's heart. "That's Bree's morph technology, the most advance tech I've ever seen."

"So they have Bree," Leon breathed, his mind now distracted.

"Yeah, and I haven't seen that stuff since she was taken back when we were fifteen."

"That's seven years ago," Leon pointed out with dread in his tone.

"We have a women who cracked the pentagon at age seven trying to kill our scientists." Jay stated grimly, "I haven't seen her technology in seven years and with my knowledge on Bree, her tech is just getting more and more advanced, especially if she's with the Dark Blades."

Leon's blood froze, "if she's with the Dark Blades then she had unlimited resources, time-"

"And money to make her technology beyond anything we've ever seen." Jay finished. "If we don't find her soon we're going to have a massive problem on our hands, especially if the others are alive as well."

Leon's heart jumped to his throat and his voice grew hoarse, "you think they're alive?"

"They have to be, there's no way Bree would've made a weapon if they weren't and if they weren't being forced somehow."

"Our… our sister could be alive Jay," Leon spoke in a hushed voice.

"Yes, but we need to focus on finding Bree, she's a major threat if she's involved with the scientists assassinations."

:O :O

Bree's amber eyes lit up brightly as she closed the last electrical panel on the silver sports car sitting in front of her, it's cold metal shining brightly in the dim light of her work shop. "Let's hope you turn on," she murmured softly and stood up before she opened up a setting menu on a holographic screen connected to a watch around her wrist. "After moving your AI into this body I'm not sure if you'll turn on Lion, this was some pretty complicated stuff, after all I've reverse engineered twenty different pieces of technology to make you work with a body that's practically invincable." She waited for a moment for the AI to reply before she remembered that she hadn't booted him up yet. "Oops, should probably do that. Here goes nothing," she took a deep breath and pushed the start up button on her holographic screen.

Imeadiantly the car started up, it's engine turning on without so much as a sound heavier than a soft rumble that faded to silence. The low level head lights switched on along with a light blue scanner on the front that began ocilating from side to side, a sign that the AI was now on.

Bree crouched in front of the car, her amber eyes gleaming nervously as she placed one hand just above the scanner, to her delight the metal was starting to warm to a comfortable temperature. "Lion? Can you hear me?"

Hardly seconds later the AI responded, his lightly southern accented voice slightly confused and rather shocked. "Bree? What… What happened?" He asked in confusion, "how come I can access so many new things… wait, I can move?"

Bree smiled gently, her amber eyes soft and gentle, "Lion, this is your new body, a silver sports car that can change and morph into whatever thing that isn't living that you want to be, you can turn yourself into a hologram, and do many more things…"


	104. Flashes Vs Dark Blades Sequel 2

**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**

 _The girls are in the Dark Blades in that one, while the boys are in the Flashes group! ^_^ I'm working on the next part of that story! :D_

 **~Silver-Rose-Writes~**

 _Chapters! XD Did you like the last one?_

 **~Featherflight123~**

 _So the girls are in the Dark Blades, and the boys aren't ^-^ in this version the Dark Blades has mostly girl agents since people underestimate them. I have been inspired to write an Ivory focused chapter! :D It's pretty cool so far ^_^_

* * *

Finally! Good heavens! XD This part took almost as long as boring office work! But it's finally out and it's a really good ending to this crazy story! :D I hope you all enjoy this one, I'm extremely proud of this one and I hope you all enjoy reading it! Let me know how you feel about how this story ended and if you want one of them finishing their work against the Dark Blades! ^_^

* * *

"They're still arguing?" Holly asked with a sigh as she made her way into Bree and Jay's room, a thermos of coffee in one hand along with a small plate of what was left of breakfast that morning.

"Mmhm," Bree responded drowsily, the brunette was curled up under a fluffy blanket on the small two-seater that was positioned near L.I.O.N, snuggled into Jay's side. Her amber eyes were currently closed and she looked very comfortable snuggled into her husband's side while curled under a blanket.

"They've been arguing all morning." Jay groaned grumpily, he was sitting next Bree, his left arm resting casually around her back, blind blue eyes focused blankly on the organizer system that had Bree's computer and hacking equipment set up in.

"I doubt it's going to end anytime soon," Cynthia commented from where she was comfortably sitting in Bree's swivel chair her feet propped upon the desk, a book in her lap.

Holly sighed, "we really need to take down the Dark Blades and get Hannah home, she's driving all of us crazy."

"Agreed." Cynthia said flatly, "and I want my room back."

"Technically you haven't had your room at all," Jay droned monotonously.

Cynthia groaned and leaned her head back against the backing of the chair, "ugh… don't remind me!"

Bree giggled, "you'll have it back soon Cindy, don't worry!"

Cynthia groaned again, "it's taking forever! And I really don't want to clean up Hannah's mess, it may cause me to blow up at her."

Holly cracked a smile, "then I'll take care of it, Cindy, just kick back and relax while we work on a plan."

"Fine…" Cynthia mumbled and buried her face back into her book.

:) :) :)

 _Holly will be easy, she and Jay will be asleep by the time I want to get this over with, so they shouldn't be a problem._ Leon mused as he watched his older sister type away on her laptop. She was probably monitoring things with Bree's fancy technology, something she always did over her morning coffee and breakfast -which was usually cereal unless Jay cooked something besides oatmeal. Leon then turned his attention toward Bree and Jay, _it's going to have to be around midnight, then it's just Bree awake while Cynthia's sleeping for an hour and a half._

"You need to eat something," Jay told Bree curtly and pushed the bowl back to her, "so eat it."

Bree made a face and pushed the bowl of oatmeal back to Jay who had an empty one beside him, "I'm not eating that!"

"Why not?" Jay asked with a frown and pushed it back to her.

"Because it smells funny!" Bree replied and wrinkled her nose after pushing it back.

"Just eat it already," Jay groaned and put it firmly down in front of her, "you were supposed to be working on decrypting plans two hours ago."

"You're the one making me eat," Bree pointed out and pushed the bowl toward him.

"Because you aren't eating enough to keep yourself healthy."

"I'm eating as much as I need to!" Bree insisted indignantly

Jay mumbled something under his breath that Cynthia and Bree couldn't hear, "remind me to make sure this never happens again." he then raised his voice to normal. "Bree, I'll tell Lion not to allow you to work on him." He then warned, his blind gaze serious.

Bree frowned, pulled the bowl back to her and glared at him. "I hate you," she sulked and grumpily took a bite of the oatmeal that she usually didn't really mind.

Leon's eyes flickered with confusion, why in the world was Bree acting likes that? He quickly shook it off and looked over at Cynthia, watching the assassin who was peacefully munching on a bowl of cereal while perched casually on the kitchen counter, reading a book called 'Brisinger' _I don't want to fight Cynthia, she's really well trained and could kick my butt faster than I could say 'I'm sorry' so I'll have to drug her, if I don't she'd wake up at Bree's door opening_.

:O :O :O

"How much longer till you bring us the genius?" Trakton growled as he looked at the blonde sitting opposite of his desk.

"Tomorrow morning," Leon said swiftly, "I'll be here with her early morning, probably around one in the morning."

Surprise flashed through Trakton's brown eyes before he spoke, "acceptable, what's your plan?"

"At midnight I'll sneak into the living room and give the female assassin on their team a sedative, eliminating her as a threat. Then I'll sneak into the genius' room and use chloroform to knock her out without much of a struggle. In case of a struggle I have a specially designed taser that will aid me if the chloroform is hard."

"What about her AI?"

"If I use my taser to briefly short-circuit her watch, the AI will be out of commission for those few moments as well."

"That plan is accepted, proceed and deliver the target by two tomorrow morning."

:( :( :(

"Leon?" Cynthia mumbled drowsily and turned her head toward him as she faintly heard his bedroom door opening. "What're you doing?"

Leon didn't falter in his steps as he walked toward the kitchen before making a detour toward her. "I was just going to get a drink." He responded softly and bent over the recliner that Cynthia was previously asleep in before he kissed her forehead, transferring the sedative that would knock her out for a while. Because Cynthia was here at the house and because she had fallen asleep reading a book, the kiss to her forehead wouldn't be remembered due to her drowsiness. While it would've worked better if he had actually kissed her -she was too paranoid for the needle version- it would work long enough for him to leave with Bree in tow.

Cynthia's eyes flashed open and she opened her mouth to say something, probably along the lines of that he drugged her, but only a gurgle came out. Her sapphire blue eyes then rolled back and closed, and her head lolled to the right, out cold for at least an hour.

"It's my turn to be important," Leon said quietly and softly brushed her bangs from her face before he continued toward his objective, Bree. He carefully crept into Bree and Jay's room where he could hear Bree softly talking to L.I.O.N, probably telling the curious AI a story of some sorts. Then he froze at Jay's grumpy voice telling Bree to turn off the light and go to sleep already. _Whatever, only Cynthia could beat me and she's out cold for a while._ Taking the sealed plastic bag from his pocket he took out the chloroform covered cloth and stuffed it in one sleeve before carefully sneaking into the room as it fell silent and the light turned off. _It's my turn to be important to someone that isn't lying to me._ He then snuck into the room and snuck up behind Bree who was tinkering with something at her desk, amber eyes bright and lively. L.I.O.N was parked at the back, his scanner slowly oscillating from side to side. Then Leon's plan was ruined.

"Bree! Behind you!" L.I.O.N broadcasted through the pretty brunette's watch and Bree spun around.

Leon quickly shoved the cloth over her face while Bree fought against him, her amber eyes narrowed as she struggled not to breathe in the chemical.

Leon ignored his brother's attempts to get up and pushed the cloth harder against Bree's mouth and nose.

"Bree don't breathe that in!" L.I.O.N spoke and Leon was nearly blinded by the car flashing its headlights, blinding all three of the humans.

Leon dropped the cloth, quickly took a taser from his pocket and jammed it onto Bree's watch, getting highly annoyed by the flashing lights from the AI.

Bree howled and struggled against him, struggling to get him to release her and her wrist as the taser melted part of the wristband to the inventor's tannish skin and short-circuited L.I.O.N and the watch itself.

L.I.O.N's lights dimmed to nothing and steam emerged from the car's hood, the supercar had short-circuited from the taser's massive jolt and Bree's howling turned into whimpers of pain as Leon removed the taser from her watch.

"Bree!" Jay finally managed to get to his feet and find his visor. He gaped at his brother, "Leon?! What are you doing?!"

Leon whirled around and brought the taser up to Bree's cheek, his amber eyes hard and angry. "Don't move Jay."

"What are you doing?" Jay shot back at his brother as he took a step forward, his blue eyes were wide behind the visor and focused on Bree who's amber eyes held pained tears.

"I said don't!" Leon brought the taser closer to Bree who shied away from the electricity sparking next to her face, "Move any closer and I will zap her Jay," he snarled, "and this won't knock her out from the jolt."

Jay didn't move, his expression scared, "why are you doing this?" He asked, scared for Bree.

Leon jammed the taser against Bree's cheek and she shrieked, her body stiffening like a board. "Stop asking questions!" Leon snarled as he removed the taser from the brunette's cheek, keeping it close enough that sparks could hit her cheek.

Jay didn't say a word nor did he move as Bree groaned after the shock and looked like she was going to pass out.

Leon thought for a moment, how was he going to get her out of here with Jay awake and aware? Then he looked at his brother, "shock yourself." He said, shutting off the taser and throwing it to his brother.

"Jay don't!-" Bree said before Leon slapped his hand over her mouth and stopped her from speaking any more.

Jay looked at the device and grimaced, he then turned on the taser, screwed up his face, and shocked himself. A moment later a thump was heard as he crashed to the floor, unconscious from the jolt.

Bree stared at Jay's unconscious form before Leon sharply hit her in the temple and knocked her out.

Leon felt some triumph, _Finally, I'm better than them and I didn't lie._

:( :( :(

"Answer the question."

Bree's head snapped to the left from the painful punch she had received to the face, the hit successfully gave the genius whiplash and caused blood to trickle from her nose. After getting punched at least fifteen times, she figured it was now a schedule, hit her in the face every few minutes and slowly make her concussion worsen.

"What is your AI's weakness?" The interrogator drawled and adjusted the brass knuckles on his left hand.

Bree spat out blood and twisted her head slightly, easing the pain from the whiplash. Her amber eyes were cold and unresponsive and her expression was set in stone. "You really think I'd leave a weakness for you to exploit?" She shook her head lightly, "how stupid do you think I am?" Her arms were lashed against the rough sandpaper-like covering of the metal chair's armrests with sturdy rope, her legs were tied at the ankle as well, even though she couldn't use them for anything, and her torso was tied to the back of the chair, keeping her from moving. Her amber eyes flashed determinedly, "do your worst, I'm not telling you anything."

The interrogator smirked, "good," he leaned forward toward the paralyzed genius, "I like the feisty ones." With those words he smashed the heel of his palm against her wrist, causing a sharp snap to fill the air.

Bree hissed and jerked, but she didn't give them the satisfaction of crying out and instead smirked, "that's as good as you got? Wow, I'm insulted." She rolled her eyes, "I mean, I'm just a paralyzed inventor who created the most annoying weapon you guys have ever faced."

The interrogator growled through gritted teeth and swiftly punched her in the gut.

The color drained from Bree's face and she coughed. She then felt bile slide up where she didn't want it. "Okay, that's more like it," she groaned while she tried not to puke on the interrogator- not that he noticed.

"Now will you answer my questions?"

Blood gleamed on Bree's face and neck from her bleeding nose and multiple hits to the face and her skin was pale from the hit to the gut, but her amber eyes gleamed with a defiance that they would have a hard time beating out of her. "Do. Your. Worst."

:( :( :(

 _I'm back here again when I was just here yesterday!_ Leon groaned in complaint as he crept into the Flashes base, really not in the mood to deal with his messed up family. _This is going to be painful._ He groaned, glad that Trakton couldn't read his thoughts, or he'd be in big trouble. _I hate being here._ He mumbled, a dark storm cloud suffocating his decent mood from earlier as he carefully crept along the dark driveway to the garage where L.I.O.N hopefully resided. After all he needed to present his family of liars with a message. Not a threat or anything -he couldn't bring himself to do that to them- just something to remind them that he was dangerous too, Cynthia wasn't the only one who was able to fight. He silently entered the new keypad code-Bree had let it slip to him on accident- and the garage door began to slide upward.

Leon watched as the moonlight spilled into Bree's gray splattered white-walled bedroom which encased an entire room and the garage. The light reflected off of L.I.O.N's sleek sports car body and made the inactive scanner glow a gentle blue color. _So this is Bree's 'baby'._ Leon commented inwardly as he walked over to the shutdown AI after shutting the garage door. _I have to admit, she did a really good job on him._ He brushed his fingers over the cool metal of L.I.O.N's hood, _he's just like a normal car. A car that's worth over a hundred million dollars and has the ability to change and get rid of all of its flaws._ He tapped the windshield, _plus he's practically everything proof. I almost feel bad for doing this._ He took out the multitool that he had found in Bree's pocket when he had brought her to his group, this was one of the only tools that could actually harm the AI, it was one of Bree's special tools. Flipping open the tiny blowtorch, he began to etch the words his family deserved to hear. The garage was lit with sporadic light from the sparks that flew due to Leon's current activity, and soon words began to appear in the now ruined front part of L.I.O.N's hood.

:'(

Leon froze as he heard the sound of a window latch clicking open, which could only mean one thing. Cynthia had returned. Indeed the agile assassin/thief slipped into the house through the window. Her black hair and clothing blended in well against the current state of the shadow darkened cream-colored walls and her blue eyes seemed to glow in the low light levels of the home. The first thing Leon noticed about the assassin that had returned to the base just now, was that she looked incredibly tired and worn out. Which wasn't something he often saw on her.

 _What's wearing her down?_ He wondered briefly, a spark of curiosity and concern lighting in his mind before he shoved away that part and anger filled it's place. Cynthia had torn his heart open with her reveal from Caylee, and he was finally letting himself feel that pain and immense hurt that came from it. Slowly taking a pistol from the back of his jeans, Leon slowly leveled it at the assassin's knee. "Hello Cynthia," he said coldly and pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, she moved and the bullet only pierced her right thigh instead of her knee.

Moment's later Cynthia gave a pained gasp and howl, "what the heck are you doing here?!" she gasped between words, leaning her weight on her left leg. "And what was that for you bastard?!"

"It's your fault, that's what." Leon growled and stepped closer to her, "it's your fault all of this happened!"

Cynthia narrowed her eyes and with a few swift movements, Leon's gun was sliding on the floor and Leon's back hit a thin table."Me?! It's my fault?!" Cynthia seized him by the collar, bringing him closer so she could speak softer -so not to wake the others up- and so she had better control of the situation with her latest injury.

Their faces were now inches from each other. If it was under different circumstances and if the chemistry between them wasn't as complicated, Leon would've grinned and kissed her. But there were too many issues between them for that to happen anymore.

"You have no idea what you did to me, Leon!" Cynthia hissed dangerously and broke Leon from his straying thoughts. "You kidnapped Bree from right under my nose! You drugged me, had Jay taser himself, and Jay blames me for the entire thing!" She trembled with anger, her blue eyes gleaming with the dark emotion. "You betrayed your family!"

Leon's amber eyes flashed with anger and his fingers brushed against the vase behind him. "You are not part of my family Cynthia!" He discreetly pulled the flowers from the vase, trying to do as much damage with the vase as possible. "My family lied to me!" he snarled and shoved her back a little. "Families don't lie to each other Cynthia!" Leon then brought the ceramic vase down hard on Cynthia's head which caused it to shatter into small shards of white and blue glass and a rush of water.

Cynthia's blue eyes rolled back, her grip on the collar of Leon's shirt slackened and she fell backward. Lying sprawled on the floor with a thump and a small crunch due to the shards of glass now on the ground.

"My family betrayed me," he said quietly to her unconscious form and picked up a shard of the vase, "and so did you." He then crouched down and dragged the sharp ceramic against the soft skin of her cheek, cutting open half of her nose and dragging it down to her ear. He then rolled her onto her stomach and he heard the creaking and crunching of the glass under her body shift as he moved her.

Only once Leon had left did he realize that the faint aching in his chest was guilt for what he had just done to her.

:( :( :(

Jay wandered out into the living room, blind eyes rather dull. Ever since Bree was kidnapped by Leon two days ago, he had become more of a zombie than a human being. He was jolted from his dreary thoughts by the toes of one foot hitting something fabric and human-like. _What the?_ Jay narrowed his eyes and pulled his glasses like visor from his pocket. The thing his toes had hit groaned in pain and he hastened to put the visor on, had Bree managed to escape? To his slight disappointment, the thing's voice wasn't the higher pitched and bubbly voice that he knew so well.

"Ow…" Cynthia's voice filtered into Jay's ears and the man stiffened, what happened to the thief now?

"Holly!" He yelled once his visor had focused properly on the thief who was lying face down with ceramic shards surrounding her and blood staining the carpet.

:O

Holly gasped, her eyes widening with shock as she stared at the burn marks and the words etched into L.I.O.N's hood. "Oh, my StarClan."

Jay switched his blind gaze from the ground to his sister, "what now."

"There's writing on L.I.O.N's hood," Holly said, her voice a little breathy, "and it's from Leon."

Jay tensed up, "what does it say?"

"It says,'I hate liars, and now my family is full of them. Don't underestimate me.' Leon has to have been the one to attack Cindy as well." Holly pointed out as her green gaze flickered over to the unconscious thief lying on the two-seater near Lion, the sapphire-eyed woman's face was covered with the layers of fresh and dried blood thanks to the vase shards.

Jay didn't say anything at first and instead pressed a button to boot up L.I.O.N he had turned the AI off once he had recovered from the taser shock to conserve his power. Then he spoke, addressing L.I.O.N's current issue. "Lion's energy levels are linked to the watch Bree wears," Jay stated flatly obviously the words on L.I.O.N's hood didn't faze him. That or the black haired male was so emotionally dead that he just didn't care. "The watch senses Bree's pulse and active life signs, when the watch or Bree dies, Lion's energy levels are cut off, meaning he's unable to charge anymore. A back door is opened and his energy begins to deplete, keeping him from getting into the wrong hands."

Holly looked pained, "Cynthia needs this healed, we have no idea when Leon broke in last night so she could've been bleeding for hours."

"I can try…" L.I.O. up, his voice glitched due to his slowly depleting energy and some fried circuits from Leon's attack. "but… I need to conserve… energy."

"Thank you, Lion!" Holly breathed a sigh of relief and placed the unconscious thief into the AI's cabin. "I owe you!" She then closed the door and rushed over to where Jay was sitting at his desk. Clearly, Cynthia's condition and the words on L.I.O.N's hood had reminded the blind man about Bree's capture. "Jay? You okay?" She asked her brother softly.

"No." Jay grunted, "Leon took Bree, he's ruined Lion, and now he's injured, Cynthia."

"I'm sorry Jay," Holly said quietly, "I never would've imagined that Leon would do this."

"Bree knew she was going to be captured," Jay stated numbly, "she knew she would be eventually." He stood and slammed his fists down on the wood in a sudden act of anger. "She knew someone would! She knew someone would take her from me!" his blue eyes flashed with fury and his black bangs fell part way in front of his eyes, "but I never thought it would be my own brother!" he snarled, his short fingernails were digging into his palms, "my own brother took my family from me!" He trembled slightly in fury, "Leon took her from me!" he pushed everything off his desk and to the floor. Jay leaned on his arms, his shoulders were hunched, and he was trembling in his anger.

Holly was surprised at her brother's fit of anger and rage, but she guessed it would've come out eventually. She cautiously walked over to him as something struck her, Jay had said family, not Bree, family. "Jay," she asked gently, "what do you mean by family?"

Jay looked up at his sister and Holly's breath caught, tears were glistening in her grumpy brother's blind eyes. "Bree's pregnant Holly," he murmured numbly, "Leon took her and my unborn child."

Holly's green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

:( :( :(

"Interesting," Zagor hummed as he studied the tests he had done on Bree before they started torturing her a week ago, "I seemed to have missed something in my previous skim over the results."

"What did you miss?" Trakton growled at the scientist, the head of the Dark Blades looked furious at the concept that the scientist missed something.

Zagor pointed to a small section of the physical they had done on Bree, "well it seems she's pregnant," he nodded slightly to himself, "six months if I say so myself."

Leon felt sick, _Bree's pregnant and I brought her here where she's being tortured._ He drew in a slightly shaky breath and spoke, "try to preserve the baby, I'll raise it in the ways of the Dark Blades." He felt sick saying that and suddenly he wished Cynthia had had her weapons on her and prevented him from taking Bree from them. _I'm so sorry Jay,_ he thought, feeling sorry that he had captured his sister-in-law and his niece or nephew baby probably wouldn't be with its parents. Then a flash of hatred flashed through Leon's blood at the brief memory that reminded him of their lies. _But I'd rather that I raise your son or daughter than you or Bree, you two are liars._

:( :( :(

Leon unlocked Bree's cell door and looked over at Bree. She looked horrible and his throat closed up, he had brought her to the dark blades, he had mutilated her lifelong project, and he just stood by, doing nothing while she was beaten into giving answers that she would have never disclosed.

Bree amber eyes were tired, scared, miserable, and overall betrayed. She looked at him, her right eye was swelled shut from a hard punch to the cheek she had received, her lower lip was split in the center, and dried blood covered her right temple and chin. She was sitting on the floor of the cell with her knees up to her chest while she cradled her left wrist to her body, that wrist was either sprained or broken, Leon couldn't tell because of her position. "What Leon." She spoke quietly, her voice broken and raspy, probably from the screaming she had been doing throughout the torture. "Are you here to torture me too?"

Leon shook his head, "no, I just came to see if you're alright."

Bree looked away from him and at a wall, "alright?" she chuckled dryly, "yeah, I'm alright if you mean I'm not dead yet."

Leon's throat constricted more, "seriously Bree, are you okay?"

Bree rolled her eyes and settled her chin on her knees, "don't bother asking Leon, you don't really care. We hurt you because you ruined one of us and you betray us all." She murmured, closing her eyes.

"Did they hurt you too much?" Leon asked, trying to ignore her words, each one was like she was stabbing him in the heart.

"I'm not dead yet if that's what you're asking." Bree replied with a very flat tone, "I have a broken wrist, a major concussion, my face is so swollen that I can't see through my right eye, a few of my ribs are broken, and they want to break my spine higher so I can't move at all. So yeah, I'm not dead yet."

Leon took a deep breath to steady himself before he asked her another question, "how's the baby?"

Bree gave a snort without laughter, "I don't know." She responded, anger in her tone, "and it's none of your business."

"Your baby is my kin," Leon responded with a small flinch, "I'd like to make sure they're okay."

Bree lifted her head and narrowed her eyes at him, "You are not getting my child Leon," she growled, protective over her unborn child, "You'll just do the same thing you did to us."

"You guys lied to me your entire lives!" Leon shot back, anger starting to become apparent in his movements. "What child deserves to live in a family that's full of lies?!"

Bree's amber eyes were like a gemstone, bright, but hard and cold as she next spoke, "You never asked us what we did for a living, you never wanted to come see any of us, it's not our fault that you were left in the dark for so long." She brushed some of her dirty dark brown hair from her face, "and I would rather live in a family that lies than have a sibling who betrayed his family."

Leon glowered at the tech genius, "cut it out, Breanna."

Bree matched his glare, her fury bubbling up into the glare as she pushed her useless legs into a side saddle position. "I don't have to listen to you, Leonardo. You're even more of a jerk than Cindy said you are."

"Cynthia's a lying and manipulating woman, she's more of a jerk than I am," Leon replied stiffly.

"Cynthia never sold us out, she never betrayed us, she never forced me to give out where my tools are located, and she always cared about our well-being, all of us!" Bree shot back, highly annoyed at the blonde. "And Cynthia never would have put an innocent child at risk to prove to the enemy that she's important!"

Leon snarled at Bree, his vision going slightly red as he strode over to the paralyzed woman and hit her in the gut.

Bree coughed a groan when he did that, pain flaring in her gut to match her ribs.

Leon stared at Bree and his hands, the blood gleaming on her lips from her cough was enough proof that Leon himself had hit her. He felt sick, he hit his sister in law, he actually raised a hand against her. "I…"

Bree coughed again, more blood shining on the tech genius' lips, her amber eyes gleamed with fear as she stared at Leon, as if trying to believe that he had actually punched her. "D-Don't come closer," she snarled at him, clenching her hands into fists and glowering at him. "Go away!"

Leon didn't move, he just stared at Bree's slightly hunched over position, "Bree, I… I didn't mean to do that!"

Bree growled and wrapped her arms around her abdomen, amber eyes glowing with fear, betrayal, and fury, "Go away!" She snarled and broke off coughing, her body trembling with the force of the cough.

Leon stumbled backward out of cell and shut the door feeling numb. _I just hit Bree… I actually hit her!_ He stumbled over to his room and sank into a chair with his head in his hands, feeling like he was going to vomit. _I hit my sister!_ Then another though sank in and he sprinted to the bathroom to vomit as it hit him. _I hit her in the stomach…_ He sank to the floor after he was finished throwing up everything he had eaten and stared blankly at the wall, _I might've harmed her baby…_ Oh _, StarClan! He buried his head in his hands, what have I done?!_

:( :( :( :(

"You asked for me, sir?" Leon asked Trakton stiffly as he took a seat in the chair opposite of the oak wood desk, his posture stiff and tense.

"Yes," Trakton growled, "after your success with delivering us the genius I have another task for you."

"I understand," Leon said curtly, "what's the task?"

"We have a traitor in our midst." Trakton spoke coolly, "and I'm tasking you with finding and disposing of the traitor."

Leon nodded, "I understand."

"Good, you are dismissed." Trakton looked back down at the paperwork on his desk, which included a massive battle plan against the Flashes.

Leon got to his feet and left the office, but someone crashed into him, nearly knocking them both to the floor.

"Sorry!" The person exclaimed as she regained her balance, "I didn't see you come out of there…" she trailed off, a look of shock fading into a brief spark of hurt and a look of irritation and annoyance. "Of course, out of every person in the base, I have to crash into you."

Leon narrowed his eyes and spoke in a low tone, "Cynthia."

:(

"What are you doing here?!" Leon hissed as he closed the door to his assigned room behind them, "this is my turf, Cynthia!"

"I'm getting Bree back you idiot!" Cynthia exclaimed with fury coloring her tone, and she yanked her arm from his grip. "I'm trying to reunite a family! Unlike you who is tearing it apart!"

"You're the one who started this whole mess, Cynthia! If I hadn't met you none of this would have happened!"

Cynthia looked like he had slapped her and didn't say anything, refusing to respond with his unkind words that stabbed even more at her broken heart.

"I'm sorry," Leon sighed and ran one hand through his hair, "I didn't mean that."

Cynthia didn't respond, instead, she gazed blankly over one of Leon's shoulders, her attention fixated on nothing in an attempt to block him out.

Leon looked at her for a few moments, feeling sorry for his actions. As if he was being pulled toward her by a rope, Leon unconsciously leaned forward and kissed her. The action startled both of them, Leon hadn't meant to do that at all. For a few moments, it was like it was when Cynthia had posed as a law intern, back when they hadn't screwed up and back before Leon had shattered Cynthia's heart. The kiss itself was soft and gentle as if they were still back a year ago when they each thought that they were innocently in love with the other. Leon drew back, his amber eyes fixed on the blue-eyed thief in front of him. For a few moments the anger, hurt, and confusion he felt had dimmed to an unnoticeable level, leaving him with an odd amount of contentedness.

Cynthia seemed to be having the same issue, the haunted look in her eyes that had appeared once Leon had shown her the cold pain of heartbreak, had vanished to be temporarily replaced with a light-hearted twinkle. Which made the blue-eyed woman seem much younger and more like a woman her age should be instead of the mentally older and scarred thief that she was on a daily basis.

"I love you," Cynthia breathed without thinking, the words hardly audible.

Leon's eyes widened and he flinched visibly. "W-what?" he could hardly believe his ears, after everything he had put her through the thief was still in love with him?

Cynthia snapped out of the moment and narrowed her eyes, the twinkle in her eyes vanished to be replaced with the haunted and heartbroken look that occupied her blue eyes. Her body language stiffened with anger and hurt made her hands shake slightly as she quickly took a step back from him. "Stop doing that to me!" She snarled angrily at him and Leon almost felt guilty when he noticed the tears pooling in her eyes. "You're heartless Leon! I get that you want to make me suffer but stop making me try and pick up the pieces only for you to stomp on my heart again!"

Pain stung painfully through Leon's right cheek as she slapped him and all at once his earlier emotions snapped back into place. "I am not heartless! You're the one who lied to me!"

"I lied to you because I had to! I'm not a lier" Cynthia snarled before she shoved him backward and vanished from the room.

Leon's blood boiled, how dare she! How dare Cynthia come in here -in his turf- and accuse him of being both heartless and responsible for everything that has happened that led them to this out of control situation. It was Cynthia's fault too! _She needs to get out of here._ He seethed mentally _, and I don't care how._ A thought sparked in his mind, the traitor! He could easily say she was the traitor and that she needed to be "disposed" of. Smoothing over his expression, Leon exited his assigned room and followed after Cynthia, gesturing for an assassin and two brute killers to follow him, which they did immediately. He could see Cynthia's swinging black ponytail about ten feet ahead of him and his vision seemed to tint red, she manipulated him, she ruined his life and now she was going to finally pay. "See that black haired woman?" He asked the assassin.

The assassin nodded, "do you want me to bring her to you?"

Leon nodded, his amber eyes cold, "she's the traitor."

The assassin's icy blue eyes darkened with rage and he gave a sharp nod before he disappeared into the crowd. Moments later he returned with Cynthia, her arms pinned behind her back, blue eyes highly confused.

"What's going on?" Cynthia asked, her expression showing fear and confusion.

Leon slowly walked over to her so he was standing a foot away from her, "it's called you're a traitor Selena."

Cynthia's eyes widened in confusion, "what? I don't have any ties to the Flashes group."

"Nice try," Leon sneered before he turned and walked about four feet away from her and nodded at the other three Dark Blades members, "Kill the traitor."

The three men looked at Leon for confirmation on the plan of action and Leon nodded, a fierce expression on his face, fury, and anger gleaming in his amber eyes, Cynthia deserved it, all of it. "Kill her." He said coldly and he saw Cynthia's blue eyes widen before betrayal flashed through her entrapping gaze as one of the brute killers left her wheezing with a sucker punch to the ribs.

:(

The bat crashed into Cynthia's temple with extreme force, and Cynthia's head crashed back into a wall as her body slumped. The thief was barely conscious and her body and clothing were covered in sticky crimson blood, but that didn't matter to Leon.

Cynthia couldn't believe he had done this, she had been doing flawlessly, blending in perfectly and doing a spectacular job in pretending she was just another soldier for the Dark Blades. Then, he had to ruin it by pinning her as the traitor, which she wasn't. Cynthia watched him and the other man who was probably going to kill her, she wouldn't and couldn't fight back, if she did then the other group would truly believe she was the traitor, and she didn't want that. She glanced at Leon, a silent message being conveyed between them. I will never trust you again. Then a cry of excruciating pain escaped Cynthia's lips as she was stabbed in the left side between two of her ribs.

Leon felt his heart squeeze at her abrupt cry of pain and he suddenly broke through the red fog of anger clouding his vision, in time to see her start coughing violently into the floor, flecks of crimson staining the wooden floor. "Wait!" he yelled, making the assassin and brute killers pause and look back at him in confusion and suspicion. Leon licked his lips a little nervously and continued, "let her bleed to death, she won't survive these wounds," he forced a wicked smirk to cross his features while horror was flooding his senses, "I'll drop her off at one of her group's bases when she's less than an inch from dying, the Flashes will hate seeing their comrade die in their arms."

The killers all looked at Cynthia who was getting weaker and weaker by the second, her body starting to shut down.

"It'll send more of a message than killing her here," Leon growled, keeping his tone bloodthirsty and full of revenge like it had been when he had given the order to kill Cynthia.

Cynthia involuntarily helped Leon's case as she vomited a large amount of blood leaving blood staining her face, chin, hands, and knees. Cynthia shook as she struggled not to collapse.

"Fine," one of the killers grunted and led the others away from Leon and Cynthia.

Leon swiftly crouched next to Cynthia and moved to wipe the blood from her face, but Cynthia looked up at him and he froze.

Shining clearly in Cynthia's blue eyes was hatred, an emotion that darkened Cynthia's eyes and made her seem even more deadly despite her current status. "You… aren't a human," she rasped and started coughing again. Once she finished she kept speaking, "you're… a monster." Her eyes then rolled back and she slumped forward face-down into the puddle of her own blood, her black hair fanning out and sinking into the thin blood puddle as well.

Leon looked at Cynthia for a moment before he crouched down and pulled one of her arms over his shoulders. _That what I've become isn't it? I've become a monster._

:( :( :(

Leon was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands when he heard it, a loud cough from Cynthia, which reminded him of the situation he had gotten her in an hour previous, a fight that just about killed her that was under his direction. _Why did I say she was the traitor when she was blending in with everyone perfectly?_ He wondered as he looked behind him where the unconscious thief was lying in the recovery position on the floor on top of a multitude of blankets. He had done his best to tend to her injuries, but some things he was too afraid to touch, like the stab wound to her left side and the punctured lung. How did he know that she had punctured one of her lungs? Well, that side of her chest wasn't rising and falling, not to mention she kept scaring him by choking on her own blood, which he couldn't do anything about. Since he had literally dragged her to his assigned room, Cynthia hadn't woken up, she was breathing, and her pulse fluctuated, but she hadn't regained consciousness. There were a few times where he thought she would, but each time she didn't fully wake up.

 _Leon was carefully rolling her over into the recovery position when she cried out, a sharp, pain-filled sound that turned into a groan as she fought against him, clearly thinking he was a threat. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay Cynthia!" He rambled as she started choking again, but this time she wasn't just limp, she was fighting him, and that wasn't helping. "It's alright! I'm not going to hurt you!" He quickly maneuvered so he was facing her directly and was startled to find her blue eyes were open, and while they gave the appearance of her being a hair away from death, they glistened with faint drowsy confusion, clearly, that bat to her temple had done some damage. "You need to calm down, I'm not going to hurt you here, I swear!"_

 _Cynthia lurched slightly and she gave a violent hacking cough, blood splattering the blanket next to her as Leon used it to cover her mouth slightly. She continued coughing for another five minutes, her body shaking like a leaf as she kept coughing._

 _Leon quickly lifted her head and pushed a metal container next to her face as she abruptly vomited up even more blood than before. Once she had finished he put the container down and carefully put her head back down. Cynthia's blue eyes were vaguely focused on him and barely any life remained in her eyes. Leon's eyes softened and he brushed two fingers over her cheek when she had finally finished coughing, the choking had stopped, and she was done puking. "I'll keep you safe," he murmured softly as her eyes slid shut, "I'll protect you." Her body then stilled back to the unconscious state she had been in previously as her blue eyes drooped shut at his touch._

Then a noise startled him after the cough came a groan, and Cynthia shifted her position on her own, then she actually spoke, "that's a lot of pain…" she groaned, her body was on fire and she could hardly breathe, "I'm never trusting you again." She rasped spitefully to him as she gazed at him through focused and pain filled blue eyes.

"I know," Leon sighed and cradled his head in his hands, "I know and I'm sorry, I'm really sorry Cynthia."

Cynthia didn't reply and instead struggled to get her fingers to work so she could activate her com watch, which she managed to get functioning within a few seconds. "Holly?" She rasped, her voice full of pain and shaking slightly. "Holly come in, do you read me?" She rasped.

"Cindy?! Oh my StarClan! We thought you were dead!"

"I'm pretty darn close," Cynthia groaned, "I need an extraction as soon as possible."

"Right, we'll work on it right away, what's your injuries?"

"Punctured lung, broken ribs, sprained wrist, left broken knee, had a bat to the head, I've been stabbed on my left side, and I can hardly think." Cynthia rasped, "nor move really."

"You really are nearly on the other side right?" Holly tried to put humor into the conversation.

"Yeah…" Cynthia was interrupted as she was overcome with a coughing fit as she coughed up more and more blood. "Plus I'm coughing up a heck of a lot of blood." She rasped once the coughing stopped and struggled to clean the blood from the watch.

"I'll try to get Lion to cooperate, can you make your way to the back entrance?"

"Holly," Cynthia groaned, "I can hardly move my own fingers, sneaking around isn't an option."

"I'll take you," Leon finally spoke up, his voice quiet and regretful.

"Is that Leon?!" Holly gasped.

"I don't trust you, Leon," Cynthia coughed, blood trickling from her mouth and down her chin, "you are the one who got me into this state in the first place."

"I know, but I want to help you," Leon responded, "please, just this one chance? Without me, you'll never make it out of here alive Cynthia."

"I hate agreeing with Leon right now," Holly spoke, "but by the sound of your coughing and the raspiness of your voice, we need to get you back to Lion so he can heal you before you bleed to death."

"Holly, Leon is the one to give the order to kill me, I don't trust him at all, not an ounce."

"Leon gave the order to kill you?" Holly repeated, her voice stunned and at a lower volume.

"Yes," Cynthia coughed again, "and I don't need someone's help who wants me killed."

"That's not true," Leon interrupted, "I don't want you dead Cynthia."

"Whatever Leon." Cynthia said flatly, "you're not bringing me to the back entrance, you'd have to knock me out to do it."

"Then I'll knock you out." Leon retorted and hit her in the temple, knocking her out once more.

Cynthia slumped to the blanket she was laying on, head tilted back awkwardly, mouth slightly open, blue eyes rolled back.

"Holly, what time do you want her at the back door?" Leon crouched down and lifted Cynthia's arm to communicate with his sister.

"What did you do to Cindy?!"

"I just knocked her out, she'll be fine-"

"You could've put her in a coma, Leon!" Holly spat, "use your head! She already has a major concussion!"

"Holly!" Leon snapped, getting fed up with his sibling, "when do you want Cynthia?!"

Holly didn't speak for a few moments, and when she did her voice was small, scared, and fearful. "As soon as possible, I'm picking her up. Try anything and I'll have L.I.O.N shoot you."

"Understood," Leon grunted curtly before his tone softened dramatically. "I'm sorry for snapping Holly, Cynthia will be where you requested."

:( :( :(

"Cynthia," Leon's voice was low and quiet as he gently prodded the sleeping thief's shoulder, after a handful of hours after Leon had knocked her out, the thief's restless doze had deepened into a more peaceful sleep. However, it was nightfall now and he needed to get her to Holly before she bled out. Despite how hurt and upset he was at Cynthia, he couldn't kill her or let her die. "Come on," he urged the thief and attempted to wake her up.  
Cynthia groaned at his movements and didn't respond otherwise, she probably felt like a hundred pound weight at this point with the amount of blood she had lost.

"Come on," Leon urged, "Holly's outside and we need to get out there before she's spotted!"

Cynthia didn't respond, her blue eyes remained shut and her body remained still.

Leon debated about moving her on his own and for a few moments, he warily watched the thief unsure if she would kill him for carrying her to Holly's position. Although, as he watched her he wasn't sure if she had the energy to do that anyway. So after a few moments of sucking up his courage, he pulled her arms to be around his neck and slid one arm beneath her knees and the other beneath her back so he could carry her. "Please don't kill me," he muttered to the half-conscious thief in his arms.

"Oh I so am." Cynthia muttered, the words barely understandable from how slurred she made the words due to the blood loss. "I will kill you when this is over."

Leon sighed and cautiously exited his assigned room, "I deserve it."

:(

By the time Leon had exited the base, Cynthia had mostly returned to an unconscious state, and Leon thought she had stopped breathing multiple times, which had nearly given him a heart attack at least a hundred times. He glanced around outside, looking for L.I.O.N's sleek silver car body. Instead, all he saw was a black van parked part way around the corner. Cautiously Leon went around the corner and toward the black van, staying close to the wall in case he was in danger of being shot by the driver of the black vehicle. "Holly?" He asked cautiously. If it wasn't her he did not want to know who was driving the black suspicious looking car.

The driver's side window rolled down to reveal Holly, her emerald green eyes nearly glowing in the darkness of the alley and her black hair blended in well with the vehicle itself. "Leon." She spoke cooly. "Ivory, open the back door for Leon."

Leon hid his fear as the blonde emerged from the passenger side door. Ivory was here? Oh dear, he really was on Holly's bad side.

Ivory was geared up in a black hoodie embroidered with the Flashes group symbol, black bulletproof vest, black t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and black combat boots with two gun holsters strapped to her thighs and two knife holsters strapped to her upper arms. Indeed she was the calvary. Ivory's leaf green eyes gleamed with an emotionless yet dangerous glint as she moved around Leon and pulled open the doors to reveal a nearly empty area where a padded stretcher-like thing rested. "Put her in the van," Ivory said, her voice devoid of emotions. Which was probably from her involvement in the Dark Blades, Ivory had been raised in the Dark Blades till she was sixteen when suddenly she vanished from the group for a few years. Leon had heard that a sapphire-blue-eyed assassin had convinced her to join the Flashes group with the promise that they would help Braxton.

Leon still felt bad about him. Back when he was first forced into the Dark Blades at age seventeen, he had been tasked with taking down Braxton -who was another operative- and rendering him harmless without killing him. So Leon had broken six of his ribs and shot him in the spine. The last time Leon had seen Braxton, Braxton was lying on the ground gurgling with a struggle to breathe with Ivory snarling like a wild animal and breaking through a glass door.

 _Leon stared in horror at the blood staining his hands and swallowed thickly as he watched Braxton gurgle, cough and splutter, his amber eyes rather glassy. He was startled from his horror by someone shaking the door handle viciously and he came nearly face to face with the most deadly member of the Dark Blades, Ivory_ Fernandise _. Right before his eyes, Ivory charged the glass door, throwing her weight into it along with jabbing a sharp looking switchblade into it. Hardly a second later the door shattered and Ivory landed gracefully on her feet. "What did you do to him!" She snarled, leaf green eyes flashing with a deadened anger and fury._

Leon shook himself free of the memory before he nodded thickly and gently climbed into the back of the van with Cynthia so he could set her down on the comfortable style stretcher thing. He hesitated for a moment, looking at Cynthia's unconscious face with guilt weighing down his stomach. _I'm sorry Cynthia,_ he apologized silently, _I never meant it to go this far._

"Cynthia didn't deserve this." Ivory spoke flatly as she climbed into the back. "She didn't try to deceive you, she couldn't say anything or she'd been in trouble with Firen."

"I know," Leon murmured and he cautiously leaned down and kissed Cynthia's forehead before he got up and left the van.

"Catch." Ivory said and Leon turned around to get nailed in the nose with a digital communications watch. "Use it well." She said with a slight gleam in her green eyes. She then shut the van doors and Holly started up the van before she drove off.

:( :( :(

"Look! She's waking up!" Hannah's voice was not a pleasant sound to Cynthia who was slowly coming back to the world of consciousness.

"Cynthia, can you hear me?" Jay's flat tone wasn't as bad as Hannah's, but it still hurt her ears… or her head really. Hannah's hurt her ears, Jay's hurt her head.

"Jay, is it possible that she's not able to wake up?" Holly's voice stung a little more than Jay's, but Cynthia was now focused on the pain tingling through her fingers and toes

"I highly doubt it, she's been showing signs of being awake all afternoon."

 _Afternoon?_ Cynthia thought dazedly as the numbness filling her body faded and left her more awake than before. _I've been out for that long?_

"Cynthia, open your eyes please, I need to see if your concussion is still there."

 _Fine…_ Cynthia forced her eyes open and shut them right after. The light in the room was blinding to her eyes.

"Hannah, get the lights," Holly instructed, "turn them down to the lowest level possible.

Cynthia heard shuffling around and the light pressing against her eyes faded till she couldn't notice it anymore, then Jay spoke again.

"Try again Cynthia."

Cynthia tentatively did as he asked, she slowly opened her eyes to look at her group of friends. "Ugh, remind me to never go near Leon again," she groaned, feeling particularly like she had had a truck had run her over a few times. Even Lion couldn't make all effects of an injury go away. Cynthia still felt weak from the blood loss, her body felt really heavy and like lead, and overall she felt like crap.

"At least he didn't really kill you," Hannah pointed out, "he saved you didn't he?"

"I don't want to talk about what happened," Cynthia grunted as Jay helped her up into a sitting position which caused her head to slightly spin with dizziness.

"I don't want to agree with her," Jay grunted, "but maybe Leon's turning over a new leaf." He grunted with an odd metaphor for him.

"Despite what I thought Leon was going to do when he brought you to me," Holly added from where she was sitting on a stool near the door. "He was actually very careful and Ivory told me he seemed really guilty."

"I don't want to talk about it!" Cynthia growled before she coughed from the stress and the odd feeling that her ribs weren't broken but felt like her lungs were being stabbed.  
"Calm down," Jay grunted, "we now know she's not in a coma, so let's leave her alone. Cynthia go easy on yourself for at least today before you start working yourself again."

Cynthia groaned, she hated this part of healing.

:) :) :)

"Cynthia?" Leon hissed into the watch, his amber eyes hopeful as he tried to get Cynthia to answer. He hoped she would, he wanted to apologize and tell her the plan he had been working on since he had called off Cynthia's unfair fight.

The watch screen lit up to reveal a rather sweaty looking Cynthia. "Hello?" She asked, earbuds were in her ears, and she seemed to be in her bedroom using a treadmill. And by the way the camera seemed to bounce, she was still running even as she answered the video call. Her black hair was pulled up in a ponytail that swung from side to side as she moved, and from what Leon could see she was dressed in a light blue tank-top and probably running shorts.

It took a few moments, but Leon managed to speak properly. "Cynthia?" He asked nervously, nervous at what the thief was going to do to him.

Cynthia's blue eyes widened before she narrowed them after a moment. She slowed her running to a stop and looked at the screen, an unreadable look on her face. "You better have some apology planned and a plan or I'm going to make your death long and painful the next time I see you for contacting me, Leon."

Leon nodded, is amber eyes tired and weary, "I have a plan to save Bree, I just need you to trust me just one last time."  
Cynthia narrowed her eyes, "why should I Leon? The last time I was around you, you nearly got me killed."

Leon looked at her, sincerity in his amber eyes. "I finally understand why I did all of this, and I intend to make right." He briefly closed his eyes, "I know you're beyond furious with me, but please know this." He opened his eyes and looked her right in the eye, "I will everything in my power to make this right, even if I lose my life in the process."

Cynthia's breath visibly hitched and for a few moments, she watched him, unable to speak. Then in a slightly shaky breath, she spoke, "I'll be there in ten minutes."  
Leon looked at her, "thank you, Cynthia."

Cynthia nodded before she ended the call, leaving Leon to sit in his assigned room in the dark all by himself.

:(

"... So yeah," Leon finished quietly, "that's my plan." He was sitting on his bed leaning his elbows forward on his arms with his head hovering over his hands.

Cynthia was silent for a few moments, she was perched on the windowsill, dressed in all black clothes, a black turtle-necked long sleeve, black denim jeans, and black tennis shoes with her hair pulled up in a ponytail. "So where does the possibility of you dying come in?" She asked, her voice oddly quiet and rather impassive.

"When I set off the explosion in the armory there's a possibility that I'll get caught in the explosion," Leon responded wearily.

A second later he quickly grabbed ahold of her wrists when she almost nailed him in the nose. "What?" He asked, a little frustration in his tone.

"Leon!" Cynthia snapped at him, breathing hard from her anger and the problem she was having communicating what she was thinking. "I…" she paused and started again. "I may have wanted to strangle you lately, but there is no way in the world that I want you dead!" She struggled weakly against him, her frustration giving her issues with communicating properly.

"I know," Leon said quietly, "but I'm the only one able to set that off and I want to make what I did right Cynthia."  
Cynthia pushed against him with enough force he nearly stumbled, "that doesn't help Leon!"

After another few moments, Leon finally pinned her arms against his chest, keeping her from moving or pushing him. "Just listen to me for a moment okay?" He asked her softly, their faces a few inches apart, "just listen."

Cynthia opened her mouth to retort but she closed it without saying anything and nodded, her sapphire blue eyes conflicted.

"I want you to be happy," Leon murmured to her, "and I'm truly sorry," he then gently pressed an apologetic and soothing kiss to her forehead. His amber eyes remained soft even as he drew back slightly and loosened his grip on her arms. "I promise," he said quietly, "I swear I'll never do anything like this again."

Cynthia's sapphire blue eyes locked on his amber ones and the two of them gazed at each other for a few moments before Cynthia spoke, "I trust you," she said softly before she slipped from his grip and disappeared from the room.

Leon gazed at the window that she had left through for a few moments, I'm sorry Cynthia, I really am. He then exited his assigned room and entered the hallway.

He didn't notice Ashton looking at him with a confused and suspicious expression on his face.

:) :( :) :( :) :(

"I don't blame you for Bree's capture you know," Jay's voice startled Cynthia and she dropped the phone she was used for a cover into her lap.

"If you're trying to be a ninja it worked," Cynthia huffed and picked the phone back up before setting it on the coffee table in front of her face down.

"I'm serious." Jay insisted from where he was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen. "I don't blame you."

Cynthia shrugged, "you may not but I do." She turned her gaze toward the window, the new scar gleaming on her face. "If I hadn't let Leon drug me I could've saved her."

Jay straightened up before he walked toward her. "Everyone needs sleep Cynthia, you rarely sleep more than sixty-minutes a day besides on Sunday where you fall asleep reading a book, Leon knew your routine and he abused it, simple." He picked up the phone and gazed at it through his visor covered eyes, "besides, it's not your fault. Love makes us see the best in people, that's why they say love is blind." He gazed at the picture displayed on the screen, it was of Leon and Cynthia when Cynthia was pretending to be Caylee, Cynthia was asleep wrapped in a blue blanket with her head on Leon's lap while the blonde seemed to be watching a movie while he had one arm softly going up and down her back.

"Well I should've seen this coming," Cynthia sighed, "it's my job."

Jay shook his head, "no, this was something none of us thought he would do, we didn't think he would go this far." He briefly closed his eyes, "but we have to think about how he feels, he's probably very upset, he feels betrayed by Holly and I, and he thinks he's ruined every chance he has with you." He tossed her the phone, "I don't blame him for feeling this way. The only thing I blame him for is kidnapping my wife and child." He then snorted, "Leon is in some big trouble when he gets back."

Cynthia cracked a small smile, "save some of the berating for me, I have to get him back for that kill order."

Jay cracked a smirk, "sure, I'll let you have half."

Then something startled their banter to a halt, Holly exclaiming the name of the man they were just talking about and promptly falling out of her chair in her bedroom. "Leon?!"

Jay's eyes flashed and he rushed over to the computer so fast that it was like he was on fire. Once he reached the computer he thrust his hands down on the table and glowered at his brother through furious blind eyes, "Leon, if I don't get Bree back StarClan have mercy on you cause I will kill you with my bare hands!"

"I will make you go on mission after mission if she doesn't come back to us Leon," Holly added cooly.

Leon's amber eyes widened slightly at his siblings' threats before they hardened with a weary look, "I missed you too guys," He said, his voice exhausted. "Good news though, I have a plan to save Bree."

"I'm listening," Holly responded after she got back into her chair.

"This better work," Jay growled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"It will," Leon promised, locking eyes with Cynthia who looked rather uncomfortable and dismayed.

:) :) :)

Blending in with the crowd of Dark Blades personnel wasn't too hard. Cynthia Holly and Jay all melted into the crowd while they all worked not making their way to Bree's cell. Black clothing made them nearly invisible against the other black clothed personnel.

Jay choked up when they saw Bree curled in a ball in one corner of the room looking beat up and bruised and he looked ready to kill, his protective instincts flaring dramatically at seeing the pitiful form of his partner in life. "I'm going to kill them!" Jay hissed threateningly, his blue eyes smoldering angrily.

Holly discreetly put one hand on his shoulder, "we'll take all of them down Jay," she murmured, "let's worry about getting her out of here okay?"

Jay grumbled under his breath but didn't get time to reply as an explosion rocked the building. Alarms started going off, people scattered and ran, clearly everyone had thought that they had gotten rid of the mole and now they were all confused and shocked.

Holly quickly slipped a 'credit card' into the slot on Bree's cell door and moments later smoke arose from the now fried lock.

Bree lifted her head at the sound, amber eyes tired and rather broken. Then she recognized who it was and she gasped before scrambling into a sitting position. "Jay!" she gasped, her voice raspy and hardly audible.

Jay threw open the cell door and ran over to Bree before enveloping her in his arms. "Oh my StarClan," he breathed and tightened his grip around her, "are you okay? I swear I will tear this place apart for what they did to you!" He insisted vehemently, Bree's head tucked into the crook of his neck, the fingers of one hand gently running through her dirt dark brown hair.

Bree wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him, not making a sound besides her rather heavy breathing, too relieved to speak.

Jay seemed to understand and he went silent, holding her closer and shutting his eyes, allowing the relief he was feeling to flood his emotions, relieved to have Bree back in his arms.

"I have to go find Leon," Cynthia briskly told Holly before she ran off, a limp in her stride.

"What?" Holly asked in confusion before she sighed, "oh brother." She then turned to Jay and Bree, "let's get Bree into Lion before we go find Cynthia and call the police and the rest of the group."

"Okay," Jay responded and he gently slid one arm beneath Bree's knees before he lifted her into a bridal style carry and left the cell with Holly in the lead.

Bree finally spoke something besides Jay's name. "I missed you." She murmured softly in Jay's ear, her amber eyes fixated on his visor covered blind blue eyes.

Jay looked down at her and briefly stopped walking to kiss her forehead, his tone soft and gentle. "I missed you too Firefly," he murmured and cracked a small smile while he leaned down and brushed his nose against hers before he kissed her forehead again. "Rest," he spoke softly, "I've got you, I promise."

Bree snuggled closer to him and did as he suggested, her amber eyes drooping closed.

:0 :0 :0

Leon's ears were ringing as he stumbled away from the explosion he had set off, his head was spinning and one of his ankles were probably broken from when a large chunk of the wall had landed on it. _I hope Cynthia's happy, even if I don't make it._ He thought through the fog clouding his mind, _I hope she knows I'm sorry._ The click of a gun then made Leon freeze in his tracks and snapped him from his thoughts.

Ashton stood farther down the hallway, covered in dust with a split lower lip and a gun raised to Leon's head. "Look who the cat dragged in," he curled his lip into a scowl, "the traitor."

Leon looked dazedly at him, "what?" He asked dimly, the concussion he had wasn't helping his comprehension skills.

"You were the traitor all along, weren't you?!" Ashton snarled, "all these years!" The older man clicked off the safety, "and I thought you were trustworthy!"

"Hey!" Another voice caught Ashton's attention and he tensed up. Leon's amber eyes widened with shock at seeing Cynthia standing there with her gun raised. Hardly a second after Ashton turned to face Cynthia, Cynthia's gun fired, which caused the older man to drop to the ground, dead. "If anyone's going to kill you Leonardo," she spoke firmly as she tucked the gun back into it's holster, "it's going to be me."

Leon's amber eyes softened with affection and he cracked a weak smile, "I missed you too Cynthia."

For a few moments, the pair looked at each other, silently communicating their apologies to each other and understanding what had happened. Then their eyes rolled back and the two passed out.

:D :D :D

 _(Almost two years later)_

"Jay, are you in position yet?" Holly asked with a huff.

"I'm working on it!" Jay huffed and attempted to pull his eighteen-month-old daughter's small fingers from his hair, wincing as she tightened her grip and giggled.

Bree laughed, her amber eyes gleaming with amusement as she watched the scene while typing long lines of code with the other hand. "She just loves you, Jay!"

At her mother's voice, Catie started giggling, pulling happily at her father's hair, icy blue eyes round and innocently looking at her father. "Daddy!"

"Yes, well I need to get out there with Stick!" Jay groaned as he tugged on his daughter's fingers while Stick was jumping around at his feet. At the sound of his name the dog barked and starting jumping around, wagging his tail hard enough that it knocked over some of Bree's equipment.

"Stick!" The couple's shout was loud enough that Cynthia, Holly, and Leon all flinched at the volume of the sound.

"Sorry," Bree quickly apologized and she moved to bend over and fix the equipment but Jay stopped her.

"Bree," he warned her, blue eyes stubborn as he abandoned his attempts to get Catie to let go of his hair to upright Bree's equipment.

Bree groaned and huffed, putting her chin into her palm and watching her husband fix her equipment. "This is boring!" She complained with a whine.

"Well the less you move around like that the faster you'll heal!" Jay shot back as he finished plugging a few things in. When Bree had been kidnapped, she had been shot in the spine as a torture, which had made her paralysis worse. Because of that, she had to figure out something to fix her now shattered vertebrae before Catie was born otherwise it would've made the break in her spine worse. Bree had created metal vertebrae to replace the two broken ones she had and right now she was finishing up healing from the entire thing.

Bree huffed and reached for Catie, "come here Catie," she cooed before giving Jay a flat look that contained traces of amusement, "daddy's being a bad boy."

Leon nearly choked on his soda and Cynthia snorted into her lemonade.

Catie let go of her father's hair and reached for Bree, giggling happily at her mother. "Okay!"

Cynthia and Leon locked eyes over their table, the two were pretending to be a couple casually out at a small restaurant in a park where there was a meeting of Dark Blades members that had scattered after the main base in town had been destroyed by the Flashes themselves. Cynthia brushed her black bangs from her face, the silver ring on her right hand glittered softly in the moonlight. Leon proposing in the middle of a mission was unexpected, but when he proposed in the middle of a mission while the pair was running through Moonshine Park like when he had first met the real Cynthia… Cynthia had almost knocked him to the ground when she tripped over him in surprise.

Jay rolled his eyes and handed Bree the giggling infant before he stooped down and scooped up Stick's leash, "don't get into trouble," he grunted as he put one hand on L.I.O.N's handle (who was currently a van holding all of Bree's equipment with five seats in front.

"I won't," Bree told him with a smile while she put Catie on her lap, their daughter watching Jay with a giggling smile.

"Bye bye!" Catie giggled happily.

"Alright guys," Holly spoke up once more, she was perched in a tree a little ways away from the meeting itself. "Plan goes into action in three… two… one. Now!"

 ** _Sometimes we make mistakes, and those mistakes can devastate relationships. But if we learn to understand what everyone's going through, we can correct those mistakes and repair those relationships. After all, you may end up meeting someone you cannot live without once you've met them._ ~Cynthia Lawson and Leon Bramble, loyal agents of the Flashes group.**


	105. Savages And A Human Bio-Weapon

_**~Silver-Rose Writes~**_

 _I'm glad you liked it! :D I have a ton of fun writing that one and personally I think it's a good ending for the story ^_^ killing Leon isn't encouraged, but pranking him is! :D_

 ** _~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~_**

 _Like I told Silver, killing Leon isn't encouraged ^_^ anyway, did you like it?_

 ** _~Donotkali~_**

 _Yeah, this one is the last part of that series ^_^ I'm glad you loved reading it, cause I had a ton of fun writing it ^_^ Although I can write the series from Ivory's view and her past in this series if you'd like ^_^_

 ** _~iDragonSpyro~_**

 _I wholeheartedly agree with you, Leon really doesn't deserve the forgiveness Cynthia gave him in this one ^_^ I have the possibility of writing the series from Ivory's view and including what she goes through and has gone through thanks to the Dark Blades if you'd like ^_^_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _For what chapter? Broken Justice? Cause I have a short you can look at if you'd like ^_^ Bree is armed with taser gloves! Mwahaha! :D :D :D_

 _Leon is an idiot, and he's very Leon-ish ^_^ maybe every time one of my friends act stupid I'll say they're pulling a Leon ^_^_

* * *

 _ **Hey guys, so this story does contain OCs of mine that is not at all related to any story on the planet besides my own, The Savage Gen Virus. So the OCs are mine! :D Anyway, meet Akili and her group of friends! :D (I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I apologize for the lengthy amount of time between updates.)**_

* * *

 _Savages and A Human Bio-Weapon?_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 18_

 _Bree, Jay, Holly- 18_

 _Akili, Lloyd (OCs)- 19_

 _Trystan, Arzic (OCs)- 17_

 _Arkshi (OC)- 3_

 **Terms you need to know**

 _ **The Savage Gen-Virus-** It is a Bio-genetic-weapon in the form of a deadly virus. The virus is not airborne, it is transferred by blood interaction, as in a scratch, a bite, or spit. This gen virus is dangerous and within a few minutes to 16 hours the infected will turn into a Savage._

 _ **Savages-** They are humans turned into psychotic "creatures" by the Gen-virus essentially a Savage is a pale-skinned orange/red-eyed human with blood almost constantly trickling from either their noses or the corner of their mouths. Savages are like a Lion Pack, they are smart predators but not smart in human tactics. In fact, the blood trickling from their faces are actually the Gen-virus destroying their human brains and recreating them to be a savage predator. I know gross right? Savages are easy to identify if you are aware of them. Savages are pale skin, nearly white enough to be a ghost(it's a result of blood loss and the virus) with either fiery orange, ruby red, or sun yellow eyes, that when stalking(or like hiding and blending in) can shift to baby blue. A few defining features of savages are their longer pauses between words, deadly sharp canines, and roughly pointed fingernails. Savages wear ripped clothing, a result of the scuffle before the transformation, and their hair is thicker, and stand on point most of the time. Savages are not mindless zombies let me repeat that; Savages are not mindless zombies, for Savages have plans, a drive, and individual thoughts. Now sometimes they can act like mindless zombies when on a hunger craze, but most of the time they are intelligent. Oh, a fun fact is Savage's bodies aren't as strong as a normal human so they are easier to kill._

* * *

"Jay move!" Holly yelled as she rushed over to her brother who was fighting against a Savage who's fiery eyes gleamed with a hunger that creeped out the half-blind teenager.  
"I would if I could!" Jay snapped back and struggled to keep it from tearing his clothing and biting him, "I'm trying to not be bitten or scratched!"

A caterwaul of a battle cry announced Leon's arrival as he and Cynthia finally burst through the door that the Savages had blocked with boards and furniture as an attempt to get an easy kill on Jay, Holly, and the comatose Bree. "here comes the cavalry!" Leon shouted after his war cry as he smashed his fists through a Savage's skull and knocked a few more down with it.

"Duck!" Cynthia announced her arrival with the bang of two pistols going off. "We need to get out of here!"

Jay spotted a Savage running over to Bree and yelled in fury, he kicked the Savage above him hard enough to break its leg before scooping up a discarded knife and charging after the Savage about to hurt his friend, "don't you dare!" the half-blind black haired teen snarled and threw the knife so it sank into the Savage's back, leaving the Savage shrieking in pain as he scooped up Bree and ran after his siblings and Cynthia.

:) :) :)

"How's Bree doing?" Leon asked after they managed to find a Savage free place for the night and were all gathered around a small solar powered heater that managed to keep them all warm. Well, relatively warm anyway. He cleaned the blood from his wrapped knuckles, his golden blonde hair looking a little shaggy and splattered with crimson from his earlier fight.

"No change for the better," Jay sighed and rubbed his eyes in desperation, "her nose is starting to bleed every few hours and it's starting to worry me, I can't slow down the infection anymore without killing her." he sighed and looked back at his best friend through despairing blue eyes. Last week Bree had been helping Jay fight off a patrol of Savage's and she had been attacked by one of them that had been stalking her, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The Savage tackled her to the ground from behind and had sunken it's bloody teeth into the back of her neck, infecting their bubbly friend with the virus and sealing her fate. But Jay had suggested to put her in a medical coma to slow down the virus and Bree agreed right away, willing to do everything to prevent her from turning and having Jay witness it. It was hard, Leon had to carry Bree piggyback style where ever they went in the search for the cure, Jay monitored and force-fed her whatever he could at night when they were safe away from the savages, and they couldn't risk pulling her out of the coma until they had the cure, which was nearly impossible it seemed.

Six years of the Reign Of The Savages as they called it, and they were still alive and healthy, besides Bree's condition. It was surprising that they had lasted this long, after all, the Savages were from a science lab that had a security breach that accidentally released the Savages into an area protected by a clear shimmering dome that had emerged when the Savages were first released. If only they could find a cure and escape the dome, it would be the best day of their lives. Jay silently ran his fingers through Bree's dirty dark brown hair, his blue eyes full of despair and sadness as he did something he used to do as joke to play around with how she didn't like junk in her hair simply because it made it harder to tie back so she could aim her knives properly.

Cynthia gave a heavy sigh and leaned forward on her blood-streaked bare arms, she was an unusual case, she could only be bitten by the Savage to be turned, scratches didn't do anything when normally a human would turn because of that too. "I'm sorry," she sighed and rubbed her temples, "I want her healthy too Jay."

Holly was silent as she scanned the area for heat signatures with her tiny smartphone, lucky for the humans, the phone lines, heat sensors, and basic internet still worked, meaning they could keep guard a whole lot easier. _Six years, why can't this just end? And why are we so unlucky that we haven't found the cousin Bree told us about?_ Bree had told them about a cousin she had that was raised in a lab and supposedly had super speed and was unkillable by the Savages.

If only she knew how close they were to actually finding her, a test tube baby created specifically to oppose the Savages.

:) :) :)

"Do you think Trystan and Arzic are enjoying the quiet base?" A rough voice asked with curiosity as he turned his green eyes on the dirty blonde next to him who looked very comfortable lying on her side next to him in the grass wearing skinny jeans and her tank-top. She had her denim half sleeve jacket and t-shirt bunched together under her head as a pillow.

"Probably," she replied, her tone was rather cool and held a naturally icy and sarcastic flare. "It's probably dead silent so Arzic's probably cleaning, Trystan's probably working on his technology or sleeping, and hopefully they haven't woken up Arkshi." Her icy blue eyes were almost glowing a little eerily in the moonlight, a result from her childhood in a lab and their experiments on her.

The guy gave an agreeing noise, he was lying on his back and now turned his attention back to the stars the speckled the dark night sky in beautiful patterns. "I won't be surprised if they're doing what you said they could be doing."

The girl shifted a little closer to him, moving closer to fight off the slightly chilly air and because she wanted to. "Either way, we didn't come out here to talk about the others."

The guy laughed softly, "very true. Very well then my icy companion," he said smiling at her, "what does the queen of Anti Savages want to do?"

The girl flashed a slight smirk and she moved to be hovering over him, her blonde hair tickling his face, "no idea."

The boy moved to speak but he abruptly clamped his hands over his face and sneezed.

The girl laughed as he removed his hands from his face, and her blue eyes danced with amusement, "I forgot out ticklish you are." Then a mischevious look chased away the amusement in her eyes and she shifted her weight so that she could wiggled her fingers at him threateningly.

"No, oh no," the guy blanched and grasped her wrists, "sorry Kiwi, tickling isn't on the agenda."

The girl rolled her eyes and used her knees to knee him in the side, "jerk."

"Kiwi." the guy responded as the girl keeled over to be lying on her side again.

"Idiot."

"Ice queen."

"Lazy."

"Sleeptalker."

"Snow face."

"Sneaky ninja -wait what?" The guy squawked indignantly, "what does snow face have to do with anything?"

The girl shrugged, playing with the hem of his green t-shirt in a subconscious manner. "You have platinum blonde hair that's almost white, so you are now dubbed Snow Face."

The guy groaned, "great." Then he grasped her wrists and rolled over so now he was above her. He smirked, "are we done with the name calling now?"

The girl rolled her eyes and didn't struggle in his grip, "whatever you say Snowface."

"Kiwi, stop talking." the guy said in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Make me," the girl smirked and so he did.

:) :) :) :)

The sound of leather boots against tile alerted a light brown haired teenager of his leader's presence and he looked up from his three monitors and at the pretty, icy blue-eyed, dirty blonde haired nineteen-year-old as she entered the room in the middle of shrugging a light colored denim half sleeve jacket on over her t-shirt and tank-top. "Hey Akili," the light brown haired teen greeted warmly, his hazel eyes intelligent and curious. "Sleep okay?"

The nineteen-year-old named Akili shrugged and adjusted her jacket slightly. "Meh," she shrugged, "Arkshi startled Lloyd so bad that he smacked me in the face in the middle of the night, but besides that, it was okay." Akili briefly caught sight of her reflection in a mirror and gave a snort, "you know what Trystan? Having curly hair sucks." She commented with amusement at how her ponytail just wasn't working, everything else was golden, but her ponytail? Not so much. Akili was clothed in dark skinny jeans, knee-high black leather boots with no heel, a light gray tank-top tucked into the jeans for when she went upside down, an ocean blue t-shirt, the denim jacket from earlier, and a black belt with a walkie-talkie and two knives were sheathed to her right thigh, the last resort for her anyway. Everything she was wearing was clean, something that wasn't seen anywhere but their base. With Trystan and Arzic's skill in engineering, the place had been kept in tip-top shape and had running water and chemical solutions that cleaned clothing better than soap and the stuff in washing machines.

Trystan flashed a grin at Akili's usual sarcasm and sense of humor, "I'm sure it's as annoying as you say it is," the tech expert and medical person of the team mused before he smirked slightly as Lloyd emerged, the blonde's messy platinum blond hair was sticking up everywhere and in every direction, his green eyes were drowsy and his clothing was ruffled.

Lloyd was wearing his usual black cargo jeans and black socks, but he was missing his shirt, hoodie, shoes, and belt that held his brass knuckles and walkie-talkie. The tired blonde mumbled something under his breath and trudged off to another part of their secure 'base,' which wasn't really a base, it was just a house they found that was rather unscathed that they had turned into a base.

Akili leaned her elbows on Trystan's 'reception desk' as he insisted on calling it and watched Lloyd leave, watching with no trace of bashfulness or embarrassment. But that was Akili's style. If she did something she did it for a reason, so there wasn't any reason to be embarrassed, plus it wasn't like it was unusual to anyone there, even Arkshi had gotten used to it rather quickly, and he was three years old.

Tyrstan chuckled and typed a few things on his keyboard, "having fun?" he asked just for the fun of it.

"Mmhm," Akili replied without much effort and continued watching Lloyd disappear around a corner, her blue eyes fixed on his retreating back.

"Hey, guys!" Arzic chirped as he tromped loudly down the stairs and jumped up onto Trystan's desk to sit on top of it. "how's it going?" Arzic's black hair and pale green eyes were a weird combination, especially when you saw his eyes change colors, then it was even weirder.

"Well Akili's watching Lloyd who looks half dead with exhaustion from whatever he was doing last night, I've been doing some scans and haven't seen any trace of even a nosebleed, and hopefully Arkshi is sleeping still," Trystan replied smoothly and kept typing away at a fast pace, his hazel eyes directed at Akili and Arzic.

"Lloyd was with me," Akili responded as she turned her head the opposite direction to face the two teenagers who were younger than her and stretched her arms slightly, which made her middle back pop at the same time.

Arzic winced slightly at the sound but affectionately rolled his eyes at their leader who was practically their older sister.

Trystan almost expected Akili to give a small explanation and actually waited for a few moments before he snorted, "personal or scouting?"

"Both," Akili shrugged, and rolled her eyes at their surprised looks, "you two are the most annoying people in the world when you're accidentally woken up by anything and I wanted to climb a tree; have a problem with it?"

Trystan laughed and shook his head, "no, not at all Akili, really I should be thanking you since I had a very nice sleep."

Arzic nodded in agreement, "yeah, maybe we should lock you two out?"

Akili narrowed her eyes slightly in warning, "how about no. I'm stiff now so that probably won't happen again. Enjoy it while it lasted boys."

Arzic pouted, "oh man!"

Trystan just rolled his eyes and kept doing routine scans.

"Hey Kiwi _ **(Get it? Aki**_ _ **l**_ _ **i, A Ki**_ _ **w**_ _ **i?)**_ ," Lloyd's voice was rough from how tired he was, and Trystan stifled a laugh when he noticed how Akili controlled her expression and stifled a weird shiver.

"Lloyd, you sound like a dying cat, get a drink will you?" Akili said sarcastically, smoothly hiding her reaction. "But hello yourself handsome."

Lloyd swiped the water bottle that hung from Akili's belt and did as she asked before he put the water bottle back and spoke again, his southern style accent a lot clearer now. "That better?" he rolled his eyes as Akili and leaned against the desk, the blonde was having fun with their leader, distracting her for the fun of it, and only he could get away with it. While they were all like a family, only Lloyd could push Akili's buttons like this without getting either the cold shoulder, a scolding, or being locked out.

"Decently," Akili replied with a casual shrug and kept her blue eyes fixed on the back of Trystan's screen.

Lloyd would've teased her more, but Arkshi burst out of Akili's room and latched onto her leg. "Hi, mama!"

Akili straightened up and looked down at the little boy who had attached himself to her leg. "How're you doing Arkshi?" She asked her 'son' and leaned down before she ruffled his light ginger hair. Arkshi, was another experiment in the science lab where Akili grew up in, he was a test to see if Akili wasn't able to pass on her immunity genes or not, so they pulled DNA from her and Lloyd -who happened to live there as a very young transfer scientist with his father- and the scientists created another test tube baby that took three years to create successfully.

"I'm hungry!" Arkshi giggled, burying his face in his in her leather boots.

"Well let's go get something to eat bud," Lloyd grinned and scooped up the three-year-old, tickling his stomach a little.

Arkshi giggled and grabbed Lloyd's hands, his chocolate brown eyes bright and lively.

Akili leaned against the desk once again, her blue eyes trained on the blonde and light ginger pair.

Trystan smiled slightly at her expression, Akili had that longing expression on her face again, an expression that told everyone that Akili wanted a normal life with Lloyd and possibly Arkshi more than anything. Then something flashed on his screen, startling everyone. Trystan's hazel eyes widened at the Savages movement that was on his screen. "The Savages are hunting something," he looked up at Akili, "or someone."

Akili's icy blue eyes darkened and the lights flickered slightly, a side effect to Akili's electrical conduction and wielding ability. "Trystan, get the earbuds, Arzic, keep Arkshi safe and find him something to eat. Lloyd and I will find out what exactly the savages are hunting."

"Be careful," Trystan warned her, "this is the first traces of other humans that I've seen in at least a week, the savages are likely starving at this point."

Akili nodded, "Lloyd, exercise caution while we're out there, while you have some of the immunity I have it won't save you if you're killed by them."

Lloyd nodded and handed Arkshi to Arzic before cracked his knuckles, his green eyes focused and grim, "here we come Savages, we aren't letting any more humans be harmed by you."

:) :) :)

"Leon is there anything over there to use as a barrier?!" Holly asked in a panicked tone, she was bracing her back against the door where savages were working together to break through.

Leon was keeping another door closed, his heels digging deep into the soft earth. "These guys are getting smarter!"

Jay was crouched down next to Bree, his blue eyes focused on his friend. Earlier the girl had had a seizure of some sorts and Jay was nervous that the virus was getting strong enough that it was overpowering the medical coma she was in.

Cynthia was crouched on a balcony shooting down as many Savages as she could, the continuous bang of her pistols helped cover the loud screeching and chattering of the savages communicating with each other.

"I don't think so!" Leon responded to his sister's question, "We need to get out of here or we're dead meat!"

"We can't move Bree if she's waking up!" Jay shot back, "we don't know if she's normal," his voice wavered, "or if she'll attack us."

"Do we have any more of the stuff that puts her back into the medical coma?" Leon asked his brother as he struggled to keep the door shut.

Jay shook his head, "No! We don't!"

"So potentially we have a savage in here with us?!" Holly yelped.

Jay snarled, "don't call Bree a Savage!" He snarled at his sister, "she isn't a Savage! She hasn't changed physically except for her paleness and her weight so she isn't a Savage!"

Holly floundered, she hadn't meant to make her brother upset, she was just nervous and worried about the Savages getting in or Bree attacking them. Then her phone abruptly buzzed. "Uh, Hello?" she asked after taking it from her pocket and holding it to her ear. It had been years since someone had last called her, so who was calling her now?

"Hello there non-Savage human," a boy's voice came cheerfully through the device, "my name's Trystan and I wanted to let you know that help is on the way-"

"Trystan, your tone is beyond creepy, so shut up." A cool female voice interrupted before she addressed Holly, "survivor what's your name and how many of you are there?"

"Uh, My name's Holly and I'm with my two brothers, comatose friend, and best friend," Holly replied in a slightly mystified tone.

"Well Holly, my name's Akili and we're going to get you guys out of there safely okay?"

Holly nodded a little dumbly, "okay?"

"Akili, we're nearing the structure, Holly, tell your sniper not to shoot us." A southern accented male voice added.

"Holly, your sniper should see a platinum blonde boy and dirty blonde girl running toward your position, that's Lloyd and me," Akili told Holly, "we'd appreciate if you don't shoot either of us."

Holly looked up at Cynthia, "Cynthia! Don't shoot the two blondes coming toward us! They contacted us with the intent to help!" Then she yelped, "Jay!

Jay suddenly swiped the phone, "do you have a cure?" he pressed insistently, "Do you have a cure for the infection?!"

"Yes," Akili's words made Jay nearly cry. "I have a cure for the Savage Virus, but right now it only works on people who aren't full savages."

"Do you have a dose on you?" Jay asked in a shuddery breath before he pleaded with her, "my friend Bree was attacked a week ago and we've put her in a medical coma but the virus is overtaking her and causing her to wake up from the coma, so please help me!"

"Yes I have a dose of the cure on me," Akili's voice was a little gentle now, "don't worry Jay, your friend will be perfectly fine, just make sure you guys don't get overrun by the time we get there."

A small smile spread across Jay's face, the first smile in a full week that anyone had seen on his face. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. We'll talk to you guys in person once we get there." Akili said before the connection was ceased.

Then Cynthia gawked, "What in the world?!"

"What?" Holly asked, "what's going on?!" The pushing on the door was becoming less and less powerful.

"The girl has super speed!" Cynthia replied, "she's almost literally mowing through the Savages!"

Holly's green eyes widened, "No way! It can't be!"

But moments later a polite knock on the door signaled the destruction of the Savages horde. Holly cautiously moved away from the door while she also unsheathed a knife and held it dangerously in front of her. With the tip of the knife, Holly allowed the door to open, wary of a Savage pretending to be a human.

Sure enough, a Savage was standing there in a predatory stance. But before the Savage could lunge, a dirty blonde sprinted at a normal speed around the corner and slashed a knife through the Savage's neck, killing it instantly. The dirty blonde pushed her bloodied bangs from her face to reveal piercing icy blue eyes as the Savage fell at her feet. "Lloyd," she spoke swiftly, "other side clear?"

"Yeah Akili this side is secure," a different blonde was standing in the doorway Leon had been guarding. "Trystan, scan for Savages' reinforcements, continuously scan until we get these guys back to the base."

The dirty blonde apparently named Akili nodded before she wiped the blood from her right hand and offered Holly a handshake, "my name's Akili, Akili Grayas."

Holly, Leon, Jay, and Cynthia's eyes all widened in shock at the last name before they all looked at the comatose brunette lying on her side on a blanket in the middle of the ruined structure.

:) :) :) :)

 _ **So yeah, this is Akili ^-^ she's quite the interesting character :D**_


	106. Cleo Sings (Singing numb 14)

_**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _I am? I'm a favorite! YAYAYAY! :D :D_

 _That chapter really does get your mind going, doesn't it? And yes, very protective Jay ^_^ just wait and see what he does when Bree actually wakes up ^_^_

 _ **~Featherflight123~**_

 _I like my OCs too, they're pretty cool ^_^_  
 _Here's the preview: Jay nodded and leaned back in his chair, his attention straying to the bubbly sounding brunette standing at the counter. She was a dark haired brunette in a loose white hoodie and grey denim shorts, an odd fashion choice, but Jay couldn't say that he didn't find it a little cute. Clearly, she was in a relaxed mood despite it being six in the morning._

 _..._

 _after about ten minutes of lounging around with her laptop and what seemed to be cocoa -by the tiny amount of whipped cream smudged on her face above her upper lip, which she licked off- she tucked the computer away and got up to leave with the extra drinks in one hand. Not before dropping a few bills into the tips container and flashing the workers a bright perfect white teeth smile though. Through a window, Jay watched as the mysterious brunette melted into the thick crowds of people walking along the streets and the cars slowing crawling by due to traffic. She seemed familiar… But how?_

 _:D ^_^_

* * *

 _ **Sorry guys, this is a little short, but I hope you all enjoy it ^_^ and yes, I am working on a chapter for Warriors High, please stop bugging me about it. It is harder for me to input Ocs and develop plots lines while I'm in the last week of my term in school ^_^**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story, have a good week and potentially Halloween! (which I'm working on a chapter for ^_^)**_

* * *

 _Cleo Sings "Kissin You" by Miranda Cosgrove_

 _ **Sorry guys, I have to change how I do song fics since apparently they aren't allowed on the site -_- so here's a new layout that I hope works. Because the character is singing, the lyrics are in paragraph/normal writing format, but they are italicized and I've done my best to keep the rhythm of the lyrics in the setup. Anyway, this is Kissin' You by Miranda Cosgrove sang by Cleo**_

 _ **I do not own the lyrics, seriously, I don't**_

 _Cleo Sings "Kissin You" by Miranda Cosgrove_

 _Key_

 _"italics"-Lyrics_

 _Italics and underlined- Thoughts_

Leroy groaned and rubbed his eyes, oh how much he hated how much homework his teachers consistently dumped on him. Something out his window surprised him and he blinked as he caught sight of Cleo silently walking down the street in her customary skinny jeans, light blue tank-top, and half sleeve denim jacket. He scrambled to his feet, swiped his shoes from the floor, and shrugged on his jacket as he ran down the stairs, wondering where Cleo was going and what she was doing out so late.

Cleo slowly walked along the shore as she started singing, her tennis shoes, with her socks stuffed inside, held in one hand while earbuds were playing the instrumental she had created.. _"Sparks fly, it's like electricity! I might die when I forget how to breathe...You get closer and there's nowhere in this world I'd rather be."_ For the past three weeks, Cleo had had lyrics to a potential song bouncing around her head, but this was the first time she had sung it out loud to the beat she had created that was currently playing in her ears. _"Time stops like everything around me is frozen, and nothing matters but these, few moments when you opened my mind to things I've never seen!"_ Cleo's toes sunk slightly in the wet sand as she walked, and the wind teased her long auburn hair, caused it to flutter slightly in its ponytail. Her voice grew a little louder at the chorus, _"Cause when I'm_ kissin _you my senses come alive!"_

A little ways behind her, Leroy jogged through the sand in his sneakers, his shoes sinking more than her feet were. His blonde hair had turned to gold in the evening's setting sun, which cast his shadow like an uneven demon, the sand causing the shadow to have a ripple effect on the edges of his darker shadow.

 _"Almost like the puzzle piece I've been trying to find, falls right into place you're all that it takes, my doubts fade away when I'm_ kissin _you…"_ Cleo trailed off, as she pulled out the ponytail her hair was in, letting it tumble down to her shoulders and get caught in the wind. Which caused the ginger in her auburn hair to turn to fire, making her hair copper like and shining metallic in the red, orange, yellow, and pink hues of the sun's light. _"When I'm_ kissin _you it all starts making sense and all the questions I've been asking in my head like, "Are you the one? Should I really trust?" Crystal clear it becomes when I'm_ kissin _you…"_

Leroy followed behind her. His sunset eyes, which matched the sky's sunset, were directed toward the beautiful girl in front of him. _She's beautiful,_ He murmured inwardly, _breathtaking._ He could faintly hear the words Cleo was singing, and not for the first time, Leroy felt amazed and happy to hear her perfect pitched voice, a trait she got from her mother.

 _"Past loves they never got very far,"_ Cleo continued, still unaware of Leroy's presence as he got closer to her. Her emerald green eyes were now closed as she sang, _"walls up. Made sure I guarded my heart and I promised I wouldn't do this 'til I knew it was right for me."_ She sang, her voice rising and lowering in pitch with each note. _"But no one no guy that I've met before can make me feel so right and secure, and have you noticed I lose my focus and the world around me disappears! Cause when I'm_ kissin _you my senses come alive!"_

Leroy moved a little faster, intending to catch up with her.

 _"Almost like the puzzle piece I've been trying to find, falls right into place you're all that it takes, my doubts fade away when I'm_ kissin _you… When I'm_ kissin _you it all starts making sense and all the questions I've been asking in my head like, "Are you the one? Should I really trust?" Crystal clear it becomes when I'm kissing you…"_ Cleo sang the chorus once more.

Leroy's sneakered stunk a little too far into the sand and he lurched forward with a grunt into the sand which caused sand to spiral into the air due to the wind's current.

Cleo spun around and opened her eyes. When she saw who it was she rolled her eyes, dropped her shoes, and leaned down to offer him a hand with her white teeth poking out between her slightly open lips in the form of an affectionate smile. She didn't pause her singing even as she pulled him to his feet, _"I've felt nothing like this, you're making me open up!"_ She grasped both of his hands and pulled him as she lightly pranced in the sand, the sea's spray gently brushing against their skin.

Leroy looked confused as she did so but went with it, allowing her to pull him around in the sand and the surf.

 _"No point even trying to fight this, it kinda feels like it's love!"_ Cleo sang with enthusiasm, pulling Leroy closer to the surf, close enough to the point where the grains of sand dotting her tanned feet was swallowed up by the surf's gentle caress and the tide left small water droplets adorning the skin of her feet and ankles. _"Cause when I'm_ kissin _you my senses come alive!"_ She sang smiling at Leroy as she dropped his hands and spun around in the ankle deep water.

Leroy's sunset eyes softened and he smiled, watching his beautiful girl dance around in the tide. The sunset aided her beauty, casting a gentle golden hue that made her green eyes sparkle just a little more and her auburn hair look just a little more like gold.

 _"Almost like the puzzle piece I've been trying to find, falls right into place you're all that it takes, my doubts fade away when I'm_ kissin _you…"_ Cleo sang as she threw her arms around Leroy's neck, pulling him down her level in the process. Her voice softened and her volume lessened to be closer to a whisper than her normal singing.

 _"When I'm kissing you it all starts making sense and all the questions I've been asking in my head like, "Are you the one? Should I really trust?" Crystal clear it becomes when I'm kissing you…"_ Cleo's voice faded at the end of the song and she smiled, leaning up on her toes in the ankle high water to kiss him.


	107. Random Shorts That My Brain Dreams Up

_**~Silver-Rose-Writes~**_

 _Hello Again! :D I agree, the Bree and Jay singing ones are awesome^_^ but I have to say that Cinderblaze is on par with Briarfeather! I love them both soo much! :D Ooh! I almost forgot! I have a chapter I'm working on for Briarfeather and Cinderblaze Silver, it's called Getting Over the Past and Fixing Trust. It's a story that has Bree's personality is super different and subdued due to something that happened in her past that Jay was involved in ^_^ I am going to be uploading a different chapter that's a collection of the ones I'm working on for Briarfeather And Cinderblaze ^_^_

 ** _~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~_**

 _Adorablenesss! :D  
I know you read a lot of stories, and I feel very accomplished! :D_

 _ **~Featherflight123~**_

 _fluffiness galore! :D  
The previews are for an upcoming part of the Broken Justice Series, it's actually the first time Jay's seen Bree in seven years ^_^ it's an interesting chapter ^_^_

 **Random Shorts That My Brain Comes Up With**

* * *

 _Finally! After Six Years He Finally said I'm not Normal!_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 13_

 _Jay, Holly, Bree- 14_

 _Haliah, Paige, Brendon- 15_

Jay slammed his lunch container down hard on the lunch table, which caused some the soup inside to slop out and onto his blond brother's lap. Apparently, he was in a foul mood about something or other.

"Ow!" Leon yelped and started to hop around the table, "Mother of freaking Pearls that's hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!" He exclaimed while running around the lunchroom as if it was going to help him against his brother's microwaved soup.

Haliah and Paige burst into giggles at Leon's attitude while their younger sister shot to her feet grabbed her water bottle and chased after Leon, "Leon stand still!" Brendon roared with laughter

Holly watched her younger brother, "Leon if you stay still Cindy can help you!" She yelled at him.

Bree, on the other hand, looked up from the slice of pizza she was eating and over at Jay while Brendon fell out of his chair. "Tyler finally call you not normal?" She asked casually after glancing at his face.

Jay nodded and dipped his spoon into his soup, "after six years," he grunted. "How long does it take for someone to be called not normal by the guy who bullies them?"

Bree shrugged and flashed him a bright smile, "Well he's right," she nudged him happily and gestured around the table, "none of us are normal, we're all unique and special!"

Jay nodded in agreement and softly blew on his spoonful of tomato soup.

Leon, on the other hand, was still wailing about how hot the soup was and how Jay had officially destroyed any chance he had of having kids. Cynthia's face was now flaming from Leon's comment and it darkened when she tackled him to the floor and dumped her water bottle on his stomach and pants.

Leon relaxed as the burning sensation finally went away although he whimpered as if he was still in pain.

Hollyface palmed, her brothers really are the most immature and strange people she had ever had the fortune to get to know and or live with.

* * *

 _What If I Told you There Were 30 Hours In A Day_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 17_

 _Holly, Jay, Bree- 18_

" _ **What if I told you that there are thirty hours in a day?"**_

" _ **I'd believe you in less than a heartbeat."**_

 _Leon's amber eyes widened and the four-year-old staggered backward, waving his arms like a windmill as the strange translucent creature lunged at him, it's translucent saliva dripping from its half clear fangs._

" _No!" He heard another child shout and a moment later the strange creature made a gurgling noise before it turned into "white paint" and exploded in a flash of light like broken glass. A girl his age was standing behind where the creature had been, her blue eyes were wide with shock and surprise, and her fingertips were glowing a faint blue like light was enveloping her fingertips into a weapon that could destroy the strange creatures. She had black hair in a braid with sapphire blue eyes, overalls with a stuffed dog sticking out of the chest pocket, and a light blue t-shirt with no shoes._

" _Wow…" Leon breathed, the small boy stunned at what the girl could do. "You're amazing!"_

 _The girl blushed and shuffled her feet, hiding her hands in her overalls pockets and avoiding his eyes._

 _Leon pushed himself to his feet and held out his hand like his father had shown him to, "I'm Leon! what's your name?"_

 _The girl shook his hand, the light blue light around her fingertips had vanished, "I'm Casi," She chirped a little shyly._

* * *

Cynthia looked up at the sky, her blue eyes apprehensive as she gazed at the faint half-moon gleaning in the daylight. _Time stops and everything changes, right about… now._ She thought as her watch struck eleven and everything froze. People vanished, leaving her alone and silently wandering the streets of the new town she was in. After months of pleading with her mother to stop being stubborn and to forgive her father, Cynthia's mother had forgiven him and the couple that never divorced despite how much it sounds like they did- had finally moved to be with the rest of her family, her father, and sisters, two older and one younger. But this, where time would seemingly freeze for three hours a day was a regular occurrence for her. The only thing she encountered during this kind of time was strange half visible animals that steered clear from her and the sight of the thin silver charm bracelet around her wrist, something she had received as a parting gift back when she was six years old from a blonde haired boy whose name she didn't remember.

Cynthia's blue eyes wandered around the changed town, the buildings were now made of stone or wood, they were more roughened up with moss and ivy growing along the sides and edges, the trees were much taller than usual, and the asphalt streets were changed to gravel pathways -with grass poking up in random areas- that were just as wide. Cars vanished completely and so did most of the electricity, not to mention any kind of liquid besides fruit juice, turned to a water with a pure swirling steam like fog rising up from it. Water that literally didn't have a taste -besides a very faint taste of pina colada which sometimes made her wish she hadn't drunk it- although it did give you a slight case of the shivers after drinking it. Overall, it looked like a city of worn down buildings and half ruins, but Cynthia personally enjoyed it. Her siblings weren't there to bother her, people weren't bumping into her, nobody was teasing her to being on the martial arts club and utterly annihilating her opponents, the air that a million times fresher, and it was peaceful with translucent birds chirping cheerfully in the trees. This was what she called the Untamed, in honor of the forest like situation when compared to the city.

As her eyes caught on the sight of a snoring man on the now cracked and mossy sidewalk, she rolled her eyes and gave a snort, that that was an example of a Snorer. A rare occurrence of someone remaining in the Untamed who literally just snored no matter what you did. Once she tried shutting one up by covering their mouth and nose, but the sound ended up making its appearance through his ears, something that probably gave the poor guy a headache when he woke up once it ended for the day, or at least the daytime version. The Untamed happened at eleven in the morning and at eleven at night, each one lasted three hours and it was easily the most interesting and most boring times of her life.

:)

Leon was startled to see another person out and bout besides Bree or his siblings during the Wild Freeze, normal people just temporarily vanished as time ceased to exist for six hours a day -unless they happened to end up being one of the Awakened of the day or a Drowzy- those who didn't were called Wild Wielders, or at least they had the potential to be one if they didn't want to be sliced to shreds by the Shattered Creatures. The Shattered Creatures, or Shatters-were silhouettes, or translucent forms of animals that varied on both the time of day and amount of distress humanity was feeling just before time stopped, some days were worse than others though, that was for sure. As he silently followed the strange girl, he watched with amazement as a Shatter prowled near her and the girl barely gave it a second glance as she kept strolling casually down the street, no doubt she wasn't new to this, and it gave Leon a little hope.

Ever since he was four, he had been experiencing the Wild Freeze, and for a few years he had had a companion named Casi, or at least that's what she called herself, she used to say it wasn't her real name and that her real name was too hard to say so she called herself Casi. And she was the only exception to the Wild Wielders or being sliced to ribbons rule, she didn't have an active wild, yet she could inflict insane amounts of damage on the Shattered Creatures and kill them with instinctive ease. Although he also knew that it was exhausting and could leave her passed out for a few real hours.

But after he turned six, his father moved them here and away from his only companion while his family thought he was crazy. Until his brother and sister Jay and Holly experienced it and Jay was rendered blind because of one of them. Then they believed him, although his mother already knew about it, despite not experiencing it herself. Then they met Bree, a hyperactive eight-year-old who was so excitable it seemed like nothing was wrong with her. But there was, Bree couldn't stand, she was born unable to hold her weight at all, no matter what. She could wriggle her toes, kick people, play footies if she wanted to, bend her knees, giggle, laugh, play, chatter for hours, move her legs in general, and make Leon's pain in the butt if a brother laugh, but she couldn't hold her own weight, and nobody knew why. But it didn't matter, she was as happy as any walking person could be and turned out to be one of the best archers Leon had ever seen. With hawk-like peripheral vision -that some of them joked around that she could even see behind her head, she hit bullseyes like it was as easy as scratching her nose, which was extremely helpful during the Wild Freeze when the Shattered are trying to feed on the Wild Wielders, the Drowzies, and the energy from the Dark Jungle.

Oh, did he mention that the city hall was the Dark Jungle? During the six hours of Wild Freeze a day, the city hall dured into a nightmare of a place. Between the building, courtyards, and backyard gardens, it was the most annoying breeding ground for Shatters that sometimes Leon wished he was as blind at his brother. Diverting his attention from the strange girl, Leon started to make his way back toward the Wilds' Safe House where his siblings and Bree would be waiting for him, a small flicker of hope growing in his chest. _Casi, I will find you again._ He played with a small leather bracelet he had around one wrist. _I promise._

What Leon didn't see, was the strange girl's fingertips glowing with a light blue light before slicing cleanly through a lunging Shattered with a lethal flash of light barely a second after he turned around.

:) :) :) :)

"Hi!" Bree chirped happily to Leon, her amber eyes bright with happiness and excitement as she casually cleaned the fingerprints from her special bow that only appeared during the Wild Freeze. "What're you doing?"

"I found another Wild," Leon replied briskly as he plopped down on the wooden table that he and Jay had built with help from Leaf, Holly's wild who had created the parts from a dying tree.

Holly looked up at him from her position in one of the vine woven hammocks Jay had made years ago reading a book, "Are you sure?"

"Another Wild?" Jay mused from his position sitting with Bree on one of the lower hammocks, the paralyzed girl sitting in his lap while he leaned back against the backrest of the hammock/couch. "Are you sure it wasn't an Awakened?" He asked, regaining his grumpy tone and removing his arms from around Bree's waist, his blind eyes focused on his brother. "Five wilds in one town is remarkably rare."

"I'm dead sure she' a Wild. She seemed completely unfazed by the Shatters and they even stayed away from her." Leon told his brother swiftly as he took off his tan colored leather high tops and shook them upside down to get rid of the gravel that was inside them from walking around the ruined streets and the broken buildings.

 _ **(This One isn't finished, but I have a different story that takes place in the same world but in the future so I may not finish this one)**_

* * *

 _NOO! Diego They Were Soo Close!_

 _(Forest Incident Snippet)_

 **Author and Her Friends World**

 _Caylee- Just turned 16_

 _Diego, Charity- 16 ½_

 _Brody- 17_

Suddenly Brody gave a yell of surprise as Diego barrelled into him and knocked them both into the river with a loud splash.

Caylee stumbled backward slightly, recovering her bearings as she flinched due to the water that lightly sprayed her.

Charity popped up from where she had been hiding in some bushes. Her clothing and, oddly enough, face paint were both green themed. "Come on Diego! They were so close!" She scowled at him and held her forefinger and thumb a millimeter apart. "This close!"

Diego rolled his eyes from where he and Brody were sitting in the calm river, "nobody's kissing Caylee on my watch," he replied hotly, "nobody's kissin' my little sis!"

Caylee's expression turned from slightly dazed and somewhat shocked to highly indignant, "excuse me? Are you suddenly my father?" She snapped, with her hands on her hips. Diego opened his mouth to respond but Caylee didn't let him say a word, "new flash Diego, if I want to kiss someone I very well can without your permission!" She snapped in a moody huff.

Charity completely ignored Caylee and Diego's little spat and continued ranting, fueled by Diego's interruption at ruining her favorite shipping ever. "I was so close to seeing my ship finally sail!" She bemoaned the loss of a moment between Caylee and Brody. "Caydy was soo close to happening!" Charity's posture drooped as she hunched her shoulders miserably, her blue eyes sad and disappointed. "I've been waiting all summer for a kiss between Caydy! My OTP is ruined!" She wailed rather dramatically.

Caylee and Brody blushed in sync, but the blush was more apparent on the paler skinned Brody than the tan skinned Caylee.

Caylee clenched her jaw, "Charity we are people!" She hissed, "I am a living breathing person you daft idiot!" She then promptly picked up her full bucket of water and splashed Charity with it, thereby soaking the blonde to the bone.

"Ah! C-cold!" Charity squealed and hid behind a tree, shivering from the coldness of the water with her blue eyes round from shock.

Caylee then trudged into the river, smacked Diego upside the head, and offered Brody a hand. "Come on Brody, let's bring the water back to Kielo, he's probably freaking out and thinking that we were attacked by a bear or something."  
Brody accepted her hand and he cracked a smile as she pulled him to his feet, "I wouldn't doubt it."

Caylee grinned and ruffled her wet crush's light brown hair, "we'll leave the immature idiots here, they can get the water instead."

Brody smiled, "good plan."

* * *

 _ **Cynthia-**_ _Has super speed -hindered by her restraint bracelets- and selective senses that allow her the ability to essentially teleport between areas she can hear, see, smell, or touch; she also has the ability to influence emotions, thoughts, and abilities of mutants only -hindered by restraint bracelets. (So if a mutant has Heath Manipulation Ability, then she can heighten or lower the power behind it, making it stronger or weaker.)_ _(Teleportation and Heightened Abilities)_ _She can shift into a Maltese cheetah, naturally has black feline ears, and has unusual jumping range and stride._

 _ **Leon-**_ _Has super strength -hindered by restraint bracelets- and the ability to get anyone -nonfemale mutants or humans guarded by amulets- to both do what he wants, and put him in charge and the ability to manipulate heat_ _(Alpha Male and Heat Manipulation Abilities)_ _He can shift into a proud lion, naturally has tan feline ears, and unusual physical abilities._

 _ **Holly-**_ _Has an ability to see patterns and essentially predict the future along with being able to get plants to bend to her will._ _(Future Sight and Nature Bending Abilities)_ _She can shift into a black jaguar, naturally has black jaguar ears and unusual intelligence and the ability to throw her voice._

 _ **Jay-**_ _Can see via heat signatures, and ultraviolet. Has the ability to store anything in pocket dimensions and dimension hop -dimension hopping is only possible without his restraint bracelets._ _(Infinite Storage and Dimension Bending Abilities)_ _Can shift into a gray-furred wolf, and naturally has gray canine ears and unusual strength_

 _ **Diana-**_ _can ask anyone -humans not guarded by amulets- something and they'll do it._ _(Persuasion Ability)_ _Enhanced senses, can turn into a pure white dove, and has naturally immense strength in her arms (wings)_

 _ **Ivory-**_ _Has an ability of being a spy (she can turn invisible, lie flawlessly every time to normal humans -not guarded by amulets- and handle any weapon) and the ability to literally turn anything into a weapon._ _(Weapons Creation and Spy Abilities)_ _can shift into a small sneaky gray and white tabby cat, naturally makes no sound and naturally has white and gray feline ears._

 _ **Bree-**_ _Ability to create anything out of nothing. (can create and destroy matter)_ _(Defies Physics Ability)_ _She can shift into a small light brown furred husky, and naturally has dark brown canine ears and unusual flexibility._

* * *

Mutations And Their Draw Backs

The panting of dogs was still in Cynthia's ears, and it terrified her. She could hear the slobbering and sniffing of the bloodhounds as they led their handlers through the dark woods towards her, the rustling of each leaf in the trees, the many creatures scampering around in the undergrowth, and the humans yelling at each other.

"Find her!"

"She cannot get away!"

"If she gets away it'll mean the rest of them will believe they can escape as well!"

Oh how she hated the normal human species, they were all violence this and violence that. Which is what made her run faster, her body pushing itself to its limits as her adrenaline spiked at every dog's bark. _I have to get out of here!_ She thought with fear lacing her mental tone, _I don't want to be brought back there!_ Her black feline ears swiveled as she instinctively trained her senses on the dogs and humans. _If I do I'm never going to get out of there ever again!_ Her thoughts were halted as she heard the howl of wolves and her blood froze. _No…_ She looked up and saw a pack of wolves at the top of the ridge, their eyes staring hungrily at the human with mutated genetics.

Cynthia quickly turned and ran a different direction, leaving the path and crashing loudly through the undergrowth in her haste to escape the humans and the wolves. She couldn't decide if death by the wolves, or being taken by the humans was better. Either way, she didn't want to find out. _Faster!_ She told herself, running faster and taking no notice of the scratches and cuts she was steadily sustaining. _I can't go back to the Aslume,_ She thought with panic, _I can't! Starclan, if I go back they're going to keep me there for the rest of my life!_ Cynthia's panic was heightening, making her more desperate to escape the Aslume. Or "Mutants Destruction" as it was called by humans.

The particular one Cynthia was trying to escape from was a small one in Vyliea, where she had been taken at ten-years-old and forced to be locked in a room with only one object. A book that she had now read at least a million times over the eight years she had been trying to escape. She didn't want to be at this Aslume anymore, she wanted to get free of it and live freely, even moving to a different Aslume would be better than the one she was at right now. But if she had to choose an Aslume to go to she would choose the Aslume in Vandala, her hometown. The Aslume there was much nicer, practically a neighborhood of connected buildings with nature greenhouses and so many other amazing things. Although the best thing was that Mutants there actually got money to buy things from the small shops inside the Aslume. But that was impossible. She would have to make it to Vandala on foot all the while running from the people trying to keep her at the one she was at right now.

Then Cynthia felt a seizing pain in her back and she collapsed to the ground, blood trickling from her nose from the shock from the stun gun's literally electric bullet.

:( :( :( :(

Leon sighed and ran one hand through his blonde hair and waved off the male mutants surrounding him like he was their king or something. Usually, the blonde didn't mind it, it was pretty cool being able to be the alpha male, but not today. Today Leon was feeling incredibly bored, today was "cleaning day" so he and the others had been kicked out of their rooms as the guards with amulets cleared everything from the mutants' rooms. That remained anyway, most of the people in Leon's close group of friends had put everything into Jay's pocket dimension, although Bree just melted her stuff and turned it all into a deck of cards that they were all playing with. Well, Leon wasn't, the others were. Today was also the day that they met the new mutant that was going to join their block of the Aslume, the room had remained empty for the past year and a half -basically since Leon had beaten the guy up for hitting on his sister and refusing to leave her alone- although Leon personally hoped that it was a girl. Which was an odd want, but he didn't want any more boys in the block -they annoyed him sometimes- and his sister needed a friend besides Bree that wasn't related to her.

Leon gave a snort, and people said the mutations were genetic. All three of his siblings and two of his cousins all were Mutants. Take that skeptics!

"Leon, are you playing or not?" Holly's voice snapped him from his musings, "you're staring off into space over there."

"We need you to play so we have an even number," Jay grunted from where he was sitting on a different couch with Bree next to him, the fidgety mutant seemed to be spacing out as well, her amber eyes wandering over to the door that was the entrance to their block.

"Fine," Leon groaned and got up before he plopped down next to Holly and took his cards. As he examined his deck of UNO cards, he casually asked a question. "Anyone know when the transfer is coming?"

"Not really," Ivory shrugged and tossed a card into the air and amusedly watched it spin around as it made it's way to the pile and landed neatly on top of the red one that was the top card. "I have no idea when she's gonna be here."

Leon's interest perked, "she?" he asked as Bree went next.

"She," Ivory confirmed and shuffled her deck from hand to hand, clearly she was pretty bored too.

"How do you know?" Leon asked curiously.

"Because Holly overheard the guards talking about her," Jay grunted as he put down his card.

"She's nearly escaped her Aslume twelve times!" Diana chattered excitedly as she put down a green eight. "Isn't that cool?"

Ivory smirked, "hey, I escaped Reija's Aslume and made it here before I was caught again."

Holly rolled her eyes as she put her card down in a strategic matter, "that's because you are Ivory the spy, remember?"

Leon glanced at the pile and tossed his card onto it, too focused on the conversation at hand, "Holly, do you know when she's going to be here then?"

Holly shrugged, her green eyes fixed on Ivory's card as it landed neatly on the pile, "roughly yeah. She's arriving at the Aslume at two thirty which is in twenty minutes so in ten minutes she'll come up here and I think you're going to stare at her."

"Why would I stare at her?" Leon asked with a huff.

The other five looked at him with a half-blank stare and Leon furrowed his eyebrows, "seriously, why?"

Bree giggled and didn't reply as she placed her card down.

"Denser than a brick wall," Jay grunted and placed his selected card down.

"Poor Leon!" Diana giggled and placed her card.

Holly rolled her eyes, "Leon," she tsked as she put down her card, "the transfer's a girl, someone none of us have seen, clearly she's spunky like Hannah, and by the way, she escaped, like Hannah she can manipulate emotions, abilities, and thoughts."

Leon stared at her and Holly plucked a card from his deck and put it on the pile. The new girl sounded similar to the light brown haired Mutant Leon had known back three years ago who he had dated for a year before she had been taken to a different Aslume in Ruxburg.

"UNO!" Bree shouted at the same time Holly said it.

Leon jerked from his thoughts to see the amber-eyed brunette sticking her tongue out at Holly and wiggling like she was doing a happy dance while still sitting on the couch.

A smirk then flashed across Jay's face as he tossed his card down and leaned back on the couch. His card was a reverse, giving Bree a second turn.

Bree slammed her card down and whooped before she jumped to her feet and bounced around in the form of a happy dance, her amber eyes twinkling with amusement.

Holly playfully rolled her eyes, clearly, she had known the entire time that the game was going to end like that.

Then the door opened and everyone froze.

Bree quickly sat back down on the couch and the cards melted into a bright orange liquid before it vaporized.

Leon turned to look behind him at the guards who were walking in, and his amber eyes widened slightly.

The transfer had her wrists and ankles chained together like most transfers did; she had a band that went around her mouth to the back of her head that Leon knew was a bite guard, it prevented the transfer from biting the guards; she was dressed in a light gray tank top and sweatpants like most of the other girls wore but hers was decently torn up and streaked with dirt from her latest escape attempt. She had midnight black hair that was currently pretty messy and had some leaves and small twigs inside, tanned skin that had scars that hinted of having been beaten by guards before and streaked with dirt and sand, and she had almond-shaped very bright blue eyes that held a hatred to the guards so strong Leon almost recoiled. She jerked out of the two guards' grip with a slight hiss and she walked in front of them instead, her blue eyes flashing violently.

 _ **(Clearly not finished, potential late Halloween Special)**_


	108. Cynthia x Holly (Request)

**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**

 _Reading stories is a good way to pass time ^_^ and they're all super interesting I bet ^_^ babysitting is fun ^_^ and lunch is yummy! the last one? That's the mutant one right? ^_^_

 ** _~iDragonSpyro~_** _The Wilds thing and the mutant one? the last one seems to be a popular one :P_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _The different backstories? Sure! That sounds like it's gonna be fun to write ^_^ it may take a while, but it would be fun ^_^ I'm glad you liked that one too! :D_

 ** _~AmberDawn~_** _I PMed you with my reply ^_^_

 ** _~Blue Tulips 1995~_**

 _Thank you! :D_

* * *

 **So because this is a humans one-shot and I used their names, I'm including this chapter on here (plus I was requested from a reader of this story that PMed me) if you don't like the idea, go ahead and skip to the next chapter that should be up right after this one. However, I think this plotline is pretty cool ^_^ and it's cute even though the pairing is a little strange.**

* * *

 _Cynthia x Holly_

 _(Cinderleaf) Request_

Cynthia inwardly groaned, why did she have to kiss Leon? Oh yeah, because Isa wanted proof that she was 'normal'.

Leon gave her a sympathetic look, tugged her to him by the waist, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Cynthia gave him a flat look, as if she was getting annoyed at him for stalling the inevitable.

"Well, kiss him then," Isa said, a smirk on her face, "otherwise…"

"Isa, what girl wants to be forced into a kiss?" Cynthia retorted and pushed Leon away from her, annoyance flashing in her blue eyes.

Isa rolled her eyes, "Cynthia, most of the girls in our sector of the school would do almost anything to be in your position."

Cynthia blanched, "what to kiss him?" She jerked a thumb toward Leon, "I practically live with him Isa! So excuse me for not wanting to kiss a guy who's practically my brother!"

Isa narrowed her eyes, "Cynthia, everyone knows Leon had a crush on you a few years ago and you were dating for six months, you two aren't like siblings."

Cynthia made a frustrated noise, she didn't want to kiss Leon! Sure, she had kissed him before and even dated him for six months, back when she had started to develop a crush on Holly and had been trying to hide it from even herself, but she knew he still had feelings for her and she didn't like doing this to him.. Her gaze strayed briefly to where Holly as standing, haven frozen when she enter that section of the hall. The issue was that Holly was practically in a relationship to the rules, so Cynthia was often left frustrated and hurt. Which had been part of the reason that she had dated Leon.

Leon noticed the anger flashing in her blue eyes and he stood next to her, waiting for her to 'snap' and comply to Isa's request.

Cynthia felt tears sting the corners of her eyes as she noticed Holly out of the corner of her eye, so she had to be normal, otherwise she wouldn't have a chance with even just remaining close friends with Holly. "Fine," she said to Isa, her tone carefully controlled, "I'll kiss him."

Cynthia pulled Leon down to her height by the shirt and roughly kissed him, too angry and annoyed to be gentle.

Leon's embrace was loving and gentle as he slightly flinched from the rough kiss before he gently looped his arms around her waist, trying his best to be gentle and to make her comfortable when she didn't want to be kissing any guy, even him.

Cynthia forced herself to relax, making it look like she was melting into the kiss as she forced her muscles to relax and loosen up. She could feel tears pressing against her closed eyelids as she waited for it to be considered long enough to be authentic. She would never get to kiss Holly like this, probably ever. Sometimes she got to kiss Holly's forehead when she was crying or before she turned off the lights in their dorm room, or at their shared room at Holly's house, but Holly would never let her actually kiss her. She almost did last year, but that was an accident and hardly more than a touch than a kiss. Cynthia pulled back, unable to keep up the charade and continue to kiss Leon any longer, she could feel the tears beginning to slip through her eyelashes as well. "There," she said, her voice shaking slightly, "I kissed him, happy now?"

Isa nodded, apparently pleased with Cynthia's charade.

Cynthia refused to face them as she carefully started to walk away, keeping her pace controlled and normal as she continued to walk down the hall toward her and Holly's dorm room, blinking away the tears and avoiding anyone's gaze. _I'm tired of Isa and stupid social rules,_ she thought as she slid the keycard through her dorm's front door. _Sometimes I wonder would've happened if I had fallen for Leon first…_

:( :( :(

"You're still studying?" Holly asked as she entered the dorm room to find her friend hunched over at her desk around five with papers scattered throughout her desk. Cynthia jumped and banged her head on the lamp that she had positioned to be shining brightly on whatever she was working on.

"Ships and Starcraft!" Cynthia hastely corrected her curse and Holly smiled a little, Cynthia had a habit of swearing, but she tried her best to exchange them or other words or phrases, which she appreciated. "Yeah, I have a chem test tomorrow," she said and hastely shoved a piece of paper beneath a page of her chemistry notes.

Holly plucked the paper from her friend, "Cindy, you're supposed to be studying…" She trailed off at what the page contained. It was a holly bush, it's prickly leaves and round berries were described in detail, but it looked like the branches were flames, leaving it's leaves and berries normal. Toward the top of the bush the branches turned to glowing cinders that were gathered around the base of the bush and drifting around in the air, each tiny cinder glowing softly through pencil shading. The background seemed to be a half finished tree and small forest. Holly felt her throat clog up slightly at the drawing. "Cindy…"

Cynthia snatched the page back, crumpled it into a ball and threw it into a perfect arch so it landed perfectly into the trash can at the corner of the room. "I know," she mumbled and turned to her chemistry notes, reading the detailed notes she had take and recopied onto these sheets that didn't have msicellanious art drawn around them so that they were hard to decipher. "I took a break for an hour, sorry." She scooped up a bunch of pages and began reading through them all, her eyes flickering from left to right on the page.

Holly sighed and went over to the trash can before she silently took the crumpled drawing out of the trash can and tucked it into her pocket, she always did this, she saved her friend's doodles which turned out to be rather realistic drawings. It seemed that she had been building a little world of her own with the many drawings of what looked like a wild cat's home. Holly pulled open a drawer of her desk and took out the crumpled piece of paper and gently smoothed it out, trying to smooth out every crease and wrinkle in the art. She then tucked it into the drawer and pulled her homework from her backpack, all the while neatly organizing all of her supplies and the things she would need, one her desk. She could hear Cynthia get up and scoop up her duffle bag for basketball.

"I have to go to practice," Cynthia said as she walked over to Holly, "see you later."

Holly closed her eyes as she felt Cynthia hesitantly kiss the top of her head before she disappeared out of the dorm room. _If only…_ she thought before she abuprtly pushed the thought away and opened her eyes, _No Holly! It's against the rules, we'd be outcasts!_ She told her self frustratedly and picked up her pencil before she hesitated, wondering about how Cynthia's latest drawing fit in with the rest of the made up world she had been making. Holly scooted back a little and pulled open the drawer that contained the drawings, all laminated and preserved, that her friend had drawn of the made up world she had going on. She laid the newest drawing out onto the desk and for the first time noticed the words written along the top in Cynthia's best cursive,

'Leaves of Holly drowned in thunder and swept away by the wind will resurface through a cinders heart and live to bring peace to the united lake in a time of great darkness brought on by a forest.'

 _Huh,_ Holly mused before it clicked in her brain, _Oh, that must be talking about the two main characters, Hollyleaf and Cinderheart I think their names are? Let me check…_ She shuffled through the laminated drawings until she came across the one she wanted, a drawing of two kittens, one was blinking, the other was staring open mouthed at the world around them, the later was a gray tabby she-cat, and the former was black or very dark grey she-cat. Holly turned the page over where she could see the referances for both of the kittens. _Yeah, the tabby is Cinderheart, and the black one is Hollyleaf._ She spread the drawings out on her desk, admiring the many scenes that she had organized in chronological order from the characters as tiny mewling kittens, to the two she-cats all grown up and touching noses, the tabby having just bowled the black one onto her back. _Both are female, just like me and Cynthia._ She mused quietly, _it would be amazing if we could actually be together._ She shook off the thoughts, picked up the drawings, and tucked them back into the drawer, started to work on her homework, firmly pushing all thoughts of her friend and the girl she was in love with out of her mind.

:( :) :(

Leon nudged Cynthia and nodded toward Holly, her amber eyes encouraging. For the past few days, Cynthia had been talking to him about how she was mulling over the idea of asking Holly out to see the new Thor movie that had come out and was in theaters right now.

Cynthia bobbed her head slightly nervously and squeezed Leon's hand in a thank you before she nervously stood up and walked over to Holly where she was talking excitedly to Bree. "Hey Holly?" She asked quietly, "can I talk to you about something?"

Holly adopted a look of concern, "Is something wrong? You look a little pale."

Cynthia gave a weak smile and fiddled with her thumbs while she discretely and nervously shifted her weight from side to side. "No, I just wanted to ask you a question."

"Oh," Holly looked relieved, "then go ahead and ask me."

Cynthia glanced nervously at Bree who's amber eyes had widened and she was smiling happily at Cynthia, having figured out what's going on. Cynthia licked her lips and her gaze flickered around the dorm, nervous about everyone hearing her. "Um…" she said and nervously licked her lips again, "will you, um," she fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable with having everyone in the room while she tried to ask Holly out. "Um…"

Leon gave a small cough and and made an encouraging motion with his hands, trying to help her.

"Well, I w-wanted to ask if you'd, um…" Cynthia stammered slightly, feeling incredibly tongue tied.

"If I would what?" Holly asked patiently, smiling at her friend, clearly to everyone in the dorm she thought the stammer and nervousness was incredibly cute.

"If you'd go to s-see the Thor movie with me tomorrow?" Cynthia asked stammering only a little this time.

"Okay, who'd be be going with?" Holly smiled, her green eyes twinkling.

Cynthia looked a little startled and she scuffed the ground with the toe of her shoes, her bangs hiding her face like it used to when she was younger, "n-nobody, just us."

It was Holly's turn to look startled, "like a… date?" Holly asked softly, her green eyes were rather wide now.

Cynthia cringed and looked down at her feet, "y-yeah…"

Holly blinked and didn't say anything too shocked to respond.

Cynthia fidgeted, "Y-you don't have to," she said hastily, quickly regaining her confidence, "you don't have to go if you don't want to, Bree, Jay, and Leon are going the day after."

"I'd love to," Holly smiled brightly at Cynthia who lifted her head to look at her in surprise. "Sure Cindy," she confirmed her earlier answer, "what time?"

"Um, seven ish?" Cynthia said quickly as she calculated the math, "after my basketball practice and your math club meeting?"

Holly smiled, "sounds good to me Cindy."

Cynthia stood awkwardly in front of her for a moment, debating about kissing her on the cheek or not.

Holly looked confused, "what?"

Cynthia nervously leaned down and brushed her lips against Holly's cheek before she blushed and she hurried away from her and disappeared in her dorm room.

Leon grinned, "finally! Cindy asked you out Holly!"

Holly lifted one hand to touch her cheek, her green gaze trained on the door to her and Cynthia's dorm room, stunned by Cynthia's parting action.

"This is wonderful Holly!" Bree squealed and hugged her, "you two have to get together!"

:) :) :)

Leon grinned cheekily, "Who're you waiting for?" He asked as he plopped down onto the couch in the dorm next to Cynthia who looked like she had been sitting there for about ten minutes. "Are you waiting for my sister?" He teased the black haired girl.

"No." Cynthia grunted and ignored him, keeping her eyes closed and her hands tucked beneath her head. "I'm not waiting for Holly you toad."

Leon looked offended, "good grief, you are in a bad mood today Cindy."

Cynthia opened one sapphire blue eye and glanced at him before she closed it again, "you are making my mood worse gold brain."

Leon stuck his tongue out and crossed his arms over his chest, "I can't be the source of your moodiness, you've been sitting on this couch for twenty minutes waiting for Holly to come out so you two can go to the movie."

"And so you decide that your presence will make it better?" Cynthia rolled her eyes again and propped her feet up on the glass coffee table, "You're a real pain aren't you?"

Leon ruffled her black hair, messing up her ponytail, "so you say sis," he teased, "but you totally have a crush on Holly, Cindy."

Cynthia's cheeks dusted with pink, a natural response to Leon's words. "Shut up." She mumbled in a slightly british accent.

Leon leaned closer to her, "Cindy likes Holly," he said, drawing out the syllables in Holly's name.

Cynthia blushed harder and smacked him in the chest, "shut up! I do not!"

Leon cracked a grin at the british leaking into her accent, "yes you doo."

Cynthia took a pillow and smothered Leon with it, shoving it against his face and growling slightly, clearly annoyed at his words. "I do not have a crush!-"

"Have a crush on who?" Holly asked as she emerged from her and Cynthia's dorm room wearing white skinny jeans, an olive green short sleeve, white half sleeve jacket, and light green tennis shoes.

"Him," Cynthia snorted and rolled her eyes after briefly looking Holly over with faint delight in her blue eyes at seeing her just a little dressed up, "I think I'd die if I had a crush on Leon, I dated him for six months and that was enough for me. You look great by the way," she smiled at Holly.

Leon pouted and Holly laughed, "you're a good guy Leon," she chuckled "but you two are better off as siblings than as a couple."

Cynthia smiled brightly at Holly and at the encouraging words, "I wholeheartedly agree." She got up from the couch and walked over to her, "you ready to see Thor?"

Holly smiled, "of course, you?"

"I have to change really quick," Cynthia shrugged, "I mean not that I don't look good in my basketball jersey and shorts, but it's not really a good thing to wear for a movie." She then slipped into her and Holly's dorm room to change while Holly laughed at her comment.

Leon smiled, he may be considered a jock, but there was no way he wasn't looking forward to the movie and seeing his sister and Cynthia possibly get together. He was watching the movie at home on netflix with the special perks he had while Cynthia had invited Holly to go with her to see it in 3D.

"Remind me why your couch makes her wear shorts like that again?" Holly asked once she watched Cynthia disappear, "I mean really? Those are rather short."

Leon shrugged innocently, "I don't know, maybe because she's a beautiful girl and she's the only female player in the district and school sectors?"

"Cindy's pretty I agree, but she's essentially a distraction?" Holly asked now a little confused.

"Sorta," Leon admitted smiling at Holly's comment about Cynthia's appearance, "but she's also an amazing player, so she's both a very good distraction and is a really good player." He was hoping that Holly would get over the whole social rules thing and get together with Cynthia, after all, Cynthia had literally asked her out, so hopefully Holly would loosen up a little.

Holly nodded, "that makes sense."

"Do I even want to know?" Cynthia asked as she reemerged, now wearing a light blue tank top beneath a light grey denim jacket with black skinny jeans and grey converse.

"It's about your coach," Holly replied, she smiled at her friend before looking back at her brother.

Cynthia's expression dropped a little, and she briefly looked disappointed in Holly's lack of comment before she schooled her expression into excitement.

"Not really," Leon gave Cynthia a reassuring look before he shrugged and turned on the t.v, relaxing on the couch. "I'll see you two later, have fun at the movie."

"See you later Leon," Holly smiled at her brother and left the room.

"Have fun Leon," Cynthia said, disappointment now evident in her tone, "don't spoil it for Bree of Jay, they're going to see it tomorrow."

Leon looked at her, his amber eyes brotherly and reassuring, "you look fantastic Cynthia, Holly had to have noticed," he reassured her, "now go have fun," he smirked a little, "go get her tiger."

Cynthia flashed him a nervous smile before she left as well, leaving Leon alone in the empty dorm.

"Ah," he sighed in relaxation and slumped even more on the couch, "now this is how i like it." He pressed play on the movie and got comfortable, ready to watch the new movie.

:) :) :)

Cynthia nervously licked her lips, her blue gaze darting away from the movie to Holly, she nervously reached over, intending to try and grasp Holly's hand.

"Cynthia don't do that." Holly said quietly as Cynthia reached over to seemingly grasp her hand in a cautious and gentle grip.

Cynthia froze for half a second and she faltered slightly at the blunt rejection before she quickly recovered and she turned timid and pointed with a slightly shaking finger at Holly's left hand and the plastic in that hand. "I just want the plastic the glasses came with," she said quietly, and retracted her arm before she looked down at her lap, "I want to make something with it." She mumbled quietly.

Holly looked over at her and her heart gave a painful squeeze at the disappointed look on Cynthia's face and the rejected hurt that lay beneath it in her blue eyes. "Oh, here," she gave the plastic to Cynthia who started fidgeting with it, keeping her head bowed and refusing to make eye contact anymore. Holly focused on the movie, trying to enjoy it and not feel guilty at obviously hurting her friend and crush's feelings. She knew Cynthia liked her as well, the blue eyed girl tried so hard to both act normal and try to get Holly to be in a relationship, that it often made Holly guilty. Sometimes late at night while Holly was looking out the window of their dorm room and trying to sleep, she could hear Cynthia sniffling and muffled crying like she was trying hard to not disturb her. Holly was shaken from her thoughts by Cynthia mumbling something.

"I'm gonna walk back to the dorm." Cynthia mumbled quietly

Holly felt the smooth skin of Cynthia's left hand as she pressed her car's keys into her palm.

"Make sure you're back some time tonight." Cynthia mumbled softly and took the 3D glasses off before she carefully set them on Holly's armrest, along with the tiny cat she had made from the plastic.

Holly looked at Cynthia, she was still avoiding her gaze, her blue eyes directed at the floor. "Cindy-"

"Here," Cynthia pulled a twenty dollar bill from her pocket and pressed it into her hand with the keys, "I was going to take you to the ice cream place you like, so you're welcome to go there after the movie's over." She mumbled, barely speaking loud enough for it to be audible and understandable anymore.

"Cindy, I..." she tried to speak, to say anything that would keep her here with her, but the words died in her throat when she saw a tear drop land on Cynthia's knees. "Don't cry," she uttered softly, and moved to brush the tears from her friend's face as Cynthia tilted her face up slightly so she could somewhat see her face.

Cynthia flinched and leaned away from her, rubbing desperately at her eyes as if trying to make the tears go away. "I'm going home, bye Holly." She mumbled and moved to stand up.

Holly caught her wrist, "Cindy wait-"

Cynthia gently tugged her wrist from her grip, tears had pooled in her striking blue eyes, "Enjoy the movie," she murmured and turned to leave.

"Cynthia," Holly looked at her and grasped her wrist once again, her green eyes pleading with her to stay and not leave her, "I'm sorry, please don't leave."

"I can't stay here," Cynthia mumbled and shook her head, "I tried, but I can't do it."

Holly's mouth was dry, Cynthia was going to leave no matter what she was going to say. She watched her rub more tears from her eyes and said the only words she could think of, "I," she saw Cynthia's blue eyes sparkle faintly with hope before she finished her sentence. "I'm sorry."

Cynthia's face fell again. She shook her head, mumbled something that sounded like, "enjoy the movie Holly," stood up, and left, ducking and breaking into a run a few rows down, flying down the stairs and vanishing from Holly's sight.

 _Cindy…_ Holly thought helplessly as she watched Cynthia leave, her heart was squeezing painfully.

:( :( :(

The door opened and closed with a semi loud noise and Leon jolted awake, having fallen asleep about half way through the movie. "What's goin on?" he mumbled before sitting up completely as he noticed that it was Cynthia, and she didn't look too happy. "Cynthia what happened?" He asked, scrambling to his feet as he noticed how she was blinking semi rapidly, like she was blinking back tears. "Why're you crying?"

"Just, leave me alone Leon," Cynthia replied, her voice was thick with emotion as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.

Leon glanced at the clock, the movie wasn't over for another hour and a half, why was Cynthia back and Holly wasn't? "Not till you tell me what happened."

"Fine," Cynthia pulled out her ponytail, "I tried to grasp Holly's hand but before I could even touch her fingers she rejected me. I wanted to go home so I walked back and left Holly my car, good enough?" She asked bitterly, sniffling slightly and rubbing her eyes with her knuckles.

Leon's amber eyes softened and he pulled her into a hug, comforting her as she burst into tears and started to really cry. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, running his fingers through her messy black locks, feeling bad for how much she was hurting, "I should've gone with you."

Cynthia continued to cry and clung to him like a little sister would to their older brother, her body trembling slightly as she cried out her hurt and disappointment.

Leon held her in a brotherly embrace, feeling his heart twinge painfully at Cynthia's tears.

Ten minutes later he had her curled up on the couch hiccuping with a blanket around her while he sat next to her, one arm wrapped around her thin shoulders, the other fidgeting with the remote. He felt guilty, he should've gone with them to make sure Cynthia had had a good time and enjoyed herself, instead she had come home crying and full of hurt and disappointment. She was trying so hard but Holly was stubbornly sticking to the rules. As Leon continued to watch the movie, Cynthia began to doze off, finally falling asleep against his shoulder, her breathing rather shuddery from her crying earlier.

The credits were rolling by when the door opened again.

"Cynthia asked _you_ _out_ Holly." Leon said, knowing that it was her by the reflection off of the flat screen t.v. "You could have told her no and went with Jay, Bree, and I tomorrow instead of ruining her night and sending her hopes crashing down to the floor."

"I know," Holly said quietly, and Leon turned his head so he could see her. Holly looked tired, worn out, and a little guilty, "I should have." She held a cardboard tray that held three different kinds of ice cream, hers, Cynthia's, and Leon's favorite kinds.

"Yeah you should've," Leon snapped at her, "she came home crying, hurt, and rejected! You have no idea how excited and nervous she was for this!" He paused to gently maneuver Cynthia to be lying down on the couch as he got to his feet, "she was bouncing off the walls yesterday when you said yes and wouldn't stop talking to me about it!" His voice went slightly hoarse, "she was happy Holly, completely happy for once since she developed a crush on you."

Holly looked at him, her green eyes sad, "I know, I know she was."

"Then why did you reject her after you said you'd go with her?" Leon asked, his voice still slightly hoarse.

"Truthfully," Holly said and placed the tray on the kitchen counter, "I don't know, I don't know why I didn't let her. She looked miserable after I rejected her." Leon looked pained and Holly spoke, her voice low and surprised, "you still love her, don't you?"

Leon sighed and ran one hand through his blonde hair, "I want to see Cynthia happy Holly. But yes, I still love Cynthia, and I know how much she loves you."

Holly's breath hitched. "W-what?"

"What? You haven't noticed?" Leon groaned, "Great StarClan You are blind." He looked her in the eye, "Cynthia is in love with you Holly, she has been for almost an entire year Holly. She broke up with me a year and a half ago because she got scared when she noticed that she didn't have the fireworks kind of feeling with me and when she noticed that she had started to develop a crush on you."

"She's in love with me?" She asked timidly, feeling worse about her rejecting her.  
"Yes," Cynthia spoke quietly, her voice was defeated and tired, "I love you." She said quietly, defeated and resigned, "I get it, you don't like me beyond friendship," she said quietly, and her blue gaze looked over the ravenette, "sometimes I wonder what it would've been like if I had fallen for Leon first." she murmured before she turned away and started leaving.

"Cynthia wait!" Holly grasped Cynthia's wrist and pulled her to her. The taller girl looked at her, her blue eyes blank of emotion and honestly tired of the entire thing.

"What Holly? What do you want from me now?"

"I…" Holly hesitated, unsure if she could convince her after what had happened.

"What? You're sorry?" Cynthia muttered quietly.

"I am, but that's not what I was saying," Holly replied, "I, I…"

"Spit it out." Cynthia snapped abruptly, "I'm tired and I want to go to bed Holly-" She stopped abruptly as Holly grasped the collar of her vest and pulled a little, pulling Cynthia down an inch or two to her height where she nervously licked her lips and kissed her. The kiss was rather awkward, Holly had no experience in kissing at all, having never kissed anyone in her life, but Cynthia's skill compensated. Cynthia cautiously curled her hands around either side of Holly's face and lifted her chin a little, the touch was feather light and nervous, waiting for a rejection. But it never came. Sure, Holly pulled back a moment later, and broke the kiss, but she didn't reject Cynthia.

Cynthia's lips twitched, her blue eyes lit with a happy glitter that made her face seem to glow. She giggled a little as well, pleasantly dazed at the kiss.

"I love you too Cynthia, " Holly breathed, her green eyes fixed on Cynthia's blue ones.

Leon was cheering behind them, but neither girl paid any attention as Cynthia nervously leaned down and attempted for another kiss, which Holly happily obliged to.

 _ **I love the idea of this one (the plot), so I'll probably convert it into a Cinderblaze one :P**_


	109. Over Protective Siblings

_Over Protective Siblings, Even if Some of Them Are Younger_

 _Cynthia_

 _(Young and Famous World [Brand New] )_

 _Cynthia- 12_

 _Paige-14_

 _Haliah- 16_

"Haliah…" Haliah rolled her eyes at her younger sister following her all throughout the house as she tidied up before she went to get ready for her date with Brendon that was in two hours. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean Brendon's a world-class playboy!"

"Cynthia," Haliah sighed to the ten-year-old black haired youtuber, "Brendon is a very nice boy," she said patiently, "and I'm just going to see a movie with him, not marry him." She promptly turned around and dumped the clothes she had been picking up into her sister's arms, "and how do you know that? You don't even go to my school!"

Cynthia blinked, her black bangs getting somewhat in her striking blue eyes, "Well, Holly and Hazel are my friends and Hazel talks about her brother all the time." When Haliah rolled her eyes and started walking away from her toward the kitchen, Cynthia hurriedly deposited the stack of clothes back onto the couch and hurried after her, the shorter girl trailing after her like a puppy dog. "Brendon's not a good person! And he sure isn't good enough for you Haliah!" She explained boosting herself up onto one of the counters, "no playboy deserves one of my older sisters."

"Well Cynthia," Haliah snorted and tossed a damp towel at her younger sister's face in a half playful and half exasperated manner, "you missy is not my mother."

Cynthia cringed as the towel made a loud splat noise but she didn't pay attention as it fell into her lap as she continued to try and convince her sister to not go. "Of course I'm not mom! But I'm still trying to look out for my big sister," she pointed out, "I mean if I didn't who would? Actually, don't answer that."

Haliah rolled her eyes again and finished wiping down the counters.

"But… who else can say that their sister's an internet celebrity?" Cynthia asked her sister as she swung her legs over the edge of the counter, her fingers dancing along the edge in some sort of musical rhythm, "and who can say that they have a protective younger sibling who's also a singer?"

"I still don't understand how you are a well-known singer at ten," Haliah sighed as she briefly scrubbed down the kitchen stove, her green eyes straying as she got briefly lost in thought.

"Um, maybe because mom's been recording me singing and making music with random items since I was four?" Cynthia responded with a hint of a smug smirk, which quickly vanished as she ducked to avoid another towel to her face. "Okay, okay! I have no idea, but that doesn't matter! You shouldn't be going on a date with that blowfish!"

Haliah spluttered indignantly at the nickname that her sister had just used for her crush. "Blowfish?!"

Cynthia looked guilty and slapped both hands over her mouth, "oops," she said in a muffled voice, "that was not supposed to come out."

"Great!" Haliah dropped her cloth and threw her hands into the air, "my ten-year-old sister calls my potential boyfriend a blowfish!"

"Who calls who a blowfish?" Paige asked as she poked her head around the corner, her hazel eyes curious. "And what does that mean anyway?"

"Cynthia calls Brendon a blowfish." Haliah deadpanned, "and it means his ego is-"

"So large that he's going to keel over from it!" Cynthia interrupted before she cringed at Haliah's blank stare. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to call him a blowfish outloud!"

"Sure…" Haliah rolled her eyes and abandoned her attempt at tidying up and began to instead start up the stairs.

"Haliah wait!" Cynthia jumped off the table, stumbled into the fridge, and ran after her sister, "sorry Paige," she apologized before she started running up the stairs. "Haliah wait! I didn't mean that he's a bad person! I just don't think he's a good boy for you!"

Haliah whirled around, her green eyes slightly misty and now angry, "I wasn't asking you for your opinion!"

Cynthia took a few steps back, her blue eyes widening in surprise and shock at her sister's harsh words.

"Stay out of it Cynthia!" Haliah snapped, "I don't need your opinion on Brendon!" Half a moment later she turned guilty for snapping at her younger sister, "Cindy-"

"Fine," Cynthia mumbled and turned around to go back downstairs, "have fun, whatever, all that junk."

"Cynthia wait," Haliah caught her younger sister's wrist, "you know I didn't mean that," she said, her tone now gentle like it normally was, "I do value your opinion-"

"Yeah, with a grain of salt." Cynthia snapped back, faced her, and wrenched her wrist from her grip, her blue eyes angry and hurt, "Do what you want, I don't care anymore."

Haliah rested her hand on her shoulder, her green eyes now rather distraught, "Cynthia, I value your opinion alot-"

"Haliah," Cynthia cut her off sharply, her tone gaining an authorative touch to it, something she had developed after working with their parents and other people in a recording studio for six years, "I pushed off my recording to talk to you and be here till you left. If your done then I'm going back downstairs and go record." She stalked off down the stairs and even shoved Paige out of the way when she did so and didn't apologize.

Haliah looked guilty, "I didn't mean to say that." She said quietly as Paige walked up the stairs to accompany her.

"I know," Paige said quietly, ever the shy one out of the three sisters, "but you did hurt her feelings. Cindy did honestly tell Lila that she wasn't going to record till you left to make sure you left happy and ready to go."

Haliah felt the guilt worsen, "I know."

"Then get ready," Paige gently pushed her toward her bedroom, "you need to get ready to go, Brendon's going to be here in an hour."

"Okay," Haliah sighed and opened her bedroom door and stepped into her room before she turned around and looked at her sister, "paige…"

"I'll talk to Cynthia," Paige smiled at her older sister, her kind hazel eyes glimmered with sincerity, "don't worry."

"Thank you," Haliah smiled weakly at her before she closed the bedroom door behind her.

:) : ) :)

"Haliah!" Sarah called up the stairs, "Brendon's here to pick you up!"

Haliah felt the nervousness in her stomach swell up again and she nervously exited her bedroom and started down the stairs, her outfit wasn't fancy, but she did like it. Her outfit consisted of a shimmering half sleeve green shirt beneath an olive green fur hooded vest paired with white sandals, and light gray denim bootcut jeans. _Here goes nothing._ She inwardly sighed and went down the stairs hoping that her little sister would be there to see her off.

As she entered the stairwell, she heard Cynthia's voice and her head leapt, the guilt having finally lifted.

"Look idiot," Cynthia said wapishly, "if you do anything my sister doesn't like, I. Will. End. You. Get it?"

"I get it little girl," Brendon rolled his eyes, he was standing next to the door with her hands in his pockets wearing a dark gray leather jacket, polo shirt, and denim jeans.

Cynthia reached up and swatted him in the chin, the highest point she could reach, "You may think it's funny blowfish, but you will become a laughing stock on the internet if you step one toe out of line."

Brendon jerked back at the swat and looked down at her, his jade green eyes surprised, although the surprise quickly turned to sincerity, "I won't do anything to your sister, I swear." His mood then turned casual, "although how would you ruin my image on the internet anyway?"

"Well Brendon," Haliah said as she emerged from the stairwell, now relaxed and guilt free, "you're talking to SapphireGleam, one of the youngest celebrity singers around." She said with a smile.

Brendon's eyes widened and he stared at Cynthia who grinned like a chesire cat.

"Blowfish, I have friends where you wouldn't dream of having," Cynthia smirked, "like a world renown tech genius, a guy who holds a world record, and a little friend of mine who's an intellectual genuis and can come up with some really nasty things if I ask her to."

Brendon blinked, and his skin seemed to have lost a shade of color. "Right, I won't do anything your sister doesn't like."

"Good," Cynthia smirked before she suddenly shot off to the kitchen counter as the phone went off, "Hello, Cynthia Lawson or Sapphire Gleam, which are you addressing?" She suddenly beamed, "oh! Hey guys! I've been waiting three hours for you four to call me!" She huffed grumpily before the smile was back, "are you guys back yet? Haliah's about to leave and I wanna have a sleep over!"

Haliah smiled gently at her little sister as the ten-year-old shot off to the couch and flopped down so her feet were in the air and her head was hanging off the couch. _That's my little sis._ She then looked at Brendon and smiled, "shall we go?"

* * *

 _Leon_

 _(Almost Never Safe, Be Careful World [Brand New] )_

 _Leon, Cynthia- 19_

 _Holly, Finli-20_

 _Jay- 20 ½_

 _Bree- 21_

"Holly, Are you seriously going on a date with Finli of all people?" Leon complained as he ran his fingers through his fiancé's black hair, it was late at night, and most of the group were curled up on their bunks that were crammed into the two rooms of the safe house. Leon was sitting on the edge of his bunk, watching his sister move around in the dim lighting with Cynthia stretched out on the bunk near him, her body cuddled the blankets as she trembled, her body's struggle to keep warm wasn't helped by Leon's lapse of body heat.

Holly was moving around the room, strapping a knife sheath to her arm and her spy glass to her glasses. "It's not really a date Leon, it's more of a night guard."

"Watching the stars," Leon pointed out quietly, "I did the same thing with Cynthia when I first started dating her."

"Leon, I'll be fine," Holly told him, her green eyes softly glowing in the dark, "my powers have steadied themselves, I don't have any side effects."

"I'm not just worried about your powers," Leon said as he got to his feet and began to follow Holly out of the room, "I'm worried about you going on a date."

"Why?" Holly rolled her eyes, "becuase I haven't been on a date since the break out?"

"No," Leon huffed, "I'm not worried about your ability to get along with him, you'll be fine, I know that."

"Then what are you worried about?" Holly asked as she strode down the stairs.

Leon glanced at the room the others were sleeping in before he jogged down to catch up with Holly and stopped her from continuing down the stairs, "I dont want you to get sick," he said quietly, "what if Finli has the sickness? He could pass it to you and we don't need another female who's unbareably weak without their soul mate."

Holly blinked at him before she spoke, her voice hushed, "you regret dating Cynthia? For heavens sake leon! You asked her to marry you you idiot!"

"I know," Leon said, he continued to glance at the top of stairs, obviously nervous about Cynthia overhearing them. "And I don't regret falling in love with Cynthia, but I do regret contracting the sickness and under it's influence attacking her and giving it to her. And by that extension sorta dating her."

Holly face palmed, "you and Cynthia have some major issues."

"Your telling me," Leon sighed and ran one hand through his hair, Holly could see the faint amber glow of a few of the veins in his neck and arms, a symptom of the sickness he carried but couldn't get rid of without Cynthia's cure, but she was delirious half the time so the cure was hard to get. His amber eyes turned gentle, "I'm worried about you getting sick Holly, Finli doesn't have to even touch you, all it takes is romantic love Holly and a brush against to contract it."

"I'll be fine Leon," Holly told her brother softly, "I promise-"

"Leon?" A small voice said from the top of the stairs, Cynthia was leaning heavily on the railing to the stairs, her blue eyes were miraculously clear at the moment, and while she seemed dead on her feet and shivering hard enough she as going to fall over, she was completely conscious for the moment. "Holly?"

The pair of siblings sharply looked up at her, surprise on their faces.

"What?" Cynthia asked, her eyes clouding with confusion, "did I d-do something?" Her teeth were chattering lightly.

Leon shook his head and smiled, jogging up the stairs to envelop her shivering and thin frame into his arms, guilt spiking in his chest at how frail and thin his fiancé seemed to be getting. "Nah, Holly's just going to meet Finli and I'm being a worry wart."

Cynthia nodded slowly, the gears in her brain working at a half sluggish pace as it dethawed somewhat. "About the sickness?" She asked as Holly came up the stairs as well, both of the siblings cherished the short moments where Cynthia wasn't wracked with chills, a high fever, and or delirium.

"Yeah," Holly said, "he's worried Finli may have it."

Cynthia fumbled in her pockets, looking for something she had in her pockets, "I have a vaccine for it. I think." She then reached over and tugged a tiny vial out of one of Leon's back pockets, having sensed he had it through the miako bond.

Leon looked startled, "and you never told us why?"

"It's the last dose," Cynthia replied, her voice slightly drowsy, a sign of the deliruim pressing firmly against her mental walls. "I was taking it but I forgot after the battle with Luca." She smiled a lopsided and sleepy sheepish smile at Leon, "that why I contracted it."

Leon's amber eyes softened even more at Cynthia's unintentionally innocent and sleepy smile. "It's okay, we'll find the location of your safe house at some point and we'll make you feel better."

Cynthia nodded, dropped the vial into Holly's hands and snuggled closer to Leon's bare chest, placing her icy fingers splayed on his chest to keep her fingers from getting frostbitten. "The dose lasts up to seventy-two hours, that's when you have to have taken the next dose otherwise it's now useless and has worn off." She murmured softly, her blue eyes were beginning to droop closed now that she wasn't freezing to death anymore.

Leon looked over at his sister and mouthed, 'her fever is spiking' he could feel the icy cold sweat on Cynthia's forehead, arms, and hands, and knew that the nineteen-year-old was going to need a bath soon in order to get the fever down and hopefully reduce her trembling. "Take the vaccine at least," he said as he placed his lower arms beneath Cynthia's waist to keep her standing upright, "for me."

Holly smiled sadly at her brother and her pretty best friend who couldn't hear a single thing she was saying anymore. "I will, thank you Leon, I love you brother."

Leon smiled, "I love you too sis, come home soon okay?" he asked as he ducked his head to breathe warm air against Cynthia's red-tipped nose, causing the color to turn pinker than frozen red.

"I will," Holly breifly hugged her brother, drank the vaccine, and ran down the stairs, smiling as she heard her brother begin to talk softly to Cynthia who responded in more images and pictures in his mind than words that she couldn't get her mouth to pronounce.


	110. Briarfeather Sings Rock Bottom v2

_**~DonoKali~**_

 _I'm so sorry! I forgot to reply to your review on the previous chapters! But I'll reply now! I am in the middle of writing a Paige and Trystan chapter, it's for a get together with the group and Paige doesn't want to go alone when everyone has already paired up and had kids (Cynthia and Leon mainly) and Cynthia meets him for the first time ^_^_

 ** _~Silver-Rose Writes~_**

 _Yep! Blowfish :P Cynthia is really cute in that one isn't she? ^_^_

 ** _~Snowcrystal of ThunderClan~_**

 _I've been doing requests since the beginning... XD If you tell me the book title of the one Violetpaw is in I may read it, but I really really don't like the new series so I probably wont... I will, however, do Hollyleaves stuff and possibly a Dawn of the Clans ^_^ if I do it'll probably be a Turtletail and Graywing romance centered chapters because I love those two in that part of the series ^_^_ _The Hollyleaves chapter will be 'snippets' of them in some of the worlds, and I'm already writing one that has a decent amount of Hollyleaves and its H_ _ollyleaf's new backstory for the main world ^_^_

 _Cynthia's amazing XD she's pretty funny in that world :P and yes, Hollyleaves ^_^_

 ** _~iDragonSpyro~_**

 _I know right?! I realized I kinda liked the couple during the movie theater scene where I was actually in tears during it! It pulled on my heartstrings sooo much! :( But I do agree, I also prefer Cinderblaze and Hollyleaves ^_^ and so does Snowcrystal of Thunderclan ^_^_

 _Yep! Cinderblaze and Hollyleaves is back in action! :D_

 ** _~Blue Tulips 1995~_**

 _thanks! :D_

 _ **~Featherflight~**_

 _Me either till someone suggested it ^_^ and thank you! I'm going to use the plot for a special Cinderblaze chapter ^_^_

 _Oh no! Why is it killing you? I'm glad you liked it! I'm planning on writing more snapshots for these worlds ^_^ (For writers block? Yeah! I PMed you involving your request for help ^_^ )_

* * *

 _ **Sorry guys, I had to remove this chapter -_- apparently Rock Bottom isn't public domain (I have no idea what that means ^-^') so I'm going to put the songfics on Wattpad instead, since they don't have these confusing rules against songfics and I don't want my story to be taken down :(**_

 _ **I'll still reply to the reviews and give an author's note along with a description of the story, but it'll be located on Wattpad under my stories (Tigercry) in a separate story that I think I'll call Songfics, Warrior Human Short Stories excerpts. The new format will look like this:**_

 **Hi guys! So this chapter is a Briarfeather songfic with the title _Well… Now everyone Thinks We Hate Each Other._ It's a story that takes place when Bree's twenty -two and Jay is twenty-one, and the song's title is Rock Bottom by Hailee Steinfield. The story starts with Jay being annoyed because he's woken up by Bree's phone going off and her stage manager calling her repeatedly. Jay eventually wakes Bree up by touching her shoulders with his freezing hands, before her manager talks to her on the phone about her latest set of lyrics titled Rock Bottom that was going to be a duet with PerfectGrumpyTone (Jay). The next scene features them actually singing the song and the pretend fight that happens right before it.**

 **Snippet from the chapter**

 _"Really Grumpy?" Bree groaned as she and Jay emerged onto the semi brightly lit stage on the day of the concert, "you are so difficult!" She snapped at him, struggling not to break character and grin, but she managed to keep a straight face._

 _"I'm the difficult one?" Jay gawked, even he was having problems keeping a straight face at this one. Whoever came up with the idea of having them fight before starting a song was insane, they could hardly keep a straight face for longer than a few moments when they were actually arguing, so how could they do it while pretending?! "You're the one who can't decide anything!"_

 _"Me?!" Bree blanched, letting her mouth fall open in surprise, "You're constantly being a grouch and complaining about everything!"_

 _"Oh yeah?! Well for a youtube name of_ CheerfulCuriousity _you complain a lot!" Jay shot back, still struggling to keep a straight face._

 _Bree took a step back and widened her eyes, trying really hard to not burst out laughing, "excuse me?!"_

 _"You heard me," Jay grunted._

 _Bree got up in his face, one of her eyebrows twitched in her fight to not laugh in the process, "then this," she gestured between them, "is over! Ugh!" She then pushed him toward backstage where he stumbled and disappeared behind the curtains with a 'crash.'_

 **Bloopers, Movie Style**

 **#1**

 _Bree Caught a Case Of_ Laughteritis

Bree got up in Jay's face, struggling to keep from laughing as she spoke, "then this," she gestured between them even as she broke character and started laughing, "is… over…" She wheezed, "I can't keep a straight face!" She gasped through her laughter and doubled over, struggling to stop laughing.

"Get a grip Bree," Jay looked at her, his expression remained blank and slightly annoyed for all of five seconds before Bree looked at him, tears of laughter in her amber eyes, and his straight expression broke into a half smirk half smile and he started chuckling.

"Can't… Breathe!" Bree gasped as she continued laughing to the point where she actually fell to her knees onto the wooden stage.

"Cut!" Caylee waved her arms irritably, "can you two keep a straight face for three minutes?! It's not the end of the world!"

Bree just continued laughing, positively rolling with laughter while her boyfriend just stood there with his hands in his pockets lightly chuckling.

Caylee put her face into her hands, "we're never going to get anywhere…"

 **#2**

 _Jay, You Didn't Tell Bree How She Was Supposed to Act, Why?_

Jay noticed that Bree was wearing a tank-top and not t-shirt, so with a small smirk, he put his naturally cold hands against the warm and bare skin of her shoulders.

"AAH!" Bree yelped and floundered semi like a fish before she grasped onto the bed's bedding as she fell and pulled the blankets off.

Jay made a windmill motion with his arms as he was knocked off his knees and fell off with her, landing with a thump on top of her.

"Cut! Reset!" Caylee exclaimed with a groan and rubbed her temples.

"Um," Bree said, Jay's face was half an inch from her own, and her cheeks developed a pink tint to them. "Why are you on top of me?"

"Because you pulled the blankets off." Jay retorted, "this is your fault."

Bree looked indignant, "you're the one who didn't tell me what I was supposed to do-"

Jay apparently decided he didn't like what she was saying and kissed her to cut off her sentence.

"I said cut!" Caylee exclaimed in an annoyed tone, "Jay! Quit kissing her and let us redo this scene already!"


	111. The Warrior Series As Humans Snippet 1

_Warriors, Actually As Humans_

 _(Tribal Adventures World [Brand New] )_

 _I'm Back… And Some Much Has Changed…_

 _(Hollyleaf's Return From the Tunnels "Forgotten Warrior")_

Holly's green gaze strayed around the camp looking for a few people, in particular, her brothers, and her best friend. She spotted Jay as he carefully led Bree out of the medicine cabin, the woven dark green curtains were pushed to the side as Leah emerged behind him, her amber eyes curious and slightly confused. Holly looked at her other brother, searching for the face of her blonde warrior of a brother.

Finally, he emerged from the thick oak log walls that barred the warriors and family cabins from sight and attackers. Leon wasn't wearing his face paint, and neither did he have his warrior dagger on him, he also wasn't wearing his warriors metal plating vest, knee and shoulder guards, and gauntlets over his custom orange tunic or his warrior's dog tags that stated his role in the community. Her brother was wearing dark blue trousers with a belt, his sandals, and a soft cotton forest green tunic Holly hadn't seen before. Leon paused and held open the sturdy door of the wall for someone who revealed herself to be Cynthia.

Holly's eyes widened. Cynthia didn't have her bow or moccasins on, neither did she have her hunter fighter armor on which consisted of metal gauntlets, a chainmail vest, shoulder and knee guards, and ankle gauntlets. Nor did she have her face paint on either, the dark blue stripes beneath her eyes and the small spots on her cheeks were nonexistent. Her friend was wearing a long sleeve dark blue cotton tunic with leather ties part way down the chest, leather bracelets around both wrists, leather sandals, and her custom light gray knee-length trousers. Cynthia mumbled something and she yawned and used her free arm to rub at her eyes in a sleepy manner.

Leon leaned over and pressed a kiss to her black hair before he looked toward the center of the clearing, his eyes widened and his jaw slackened. "Holly?" He breathed and he stared at her.

Cynthia followed his gaze and her eyes widened as well, "you're alive!"

"Holly's alive!" the news ran through the tribe like a wildfire, but all of the whisperings stopped the moment Firen stepped out of the leader's cabin high up on the outcrop that had his cabin built beneath it.

Firen's green eyes were calm as he strode over to them all, the gold tribe leader dog tag around his neck that accompanied his silver, nickel, and steel dog tags glinted brightly in the sunhigh sun. "Holly," he spoke calmly, "you survived the cave in?"

Holly nodded to her leader, "Yes, but one of my legs got caught beneath a boulder and it broke."

"Did someone help you?"

Holly nodded again, "A loner my age named Finli saved my life Firen, he was abandoned by the tribe just beyond the tribe territories around the lake and has been wandering around in the tunnels below our territories ever since, lost and completely by himself."

Firen nodded, and Holly saw her father emerge from the deputy's cabin out of the corner of her eye and silently watched as he approached Firen to stand beside him. "Brad, gather the hunters and planters," he said with a growing smile, "your daughter has come home. Let us feast on both your daughter's return and the good weather StarClan has blessed us all with this Greenleaf."

Brad smiled a tight-lipped smile, clearly restraining his joy, "Bracken, gather Dustin as your second and Lily as your runner, collect two other hunters and go out into the territory. Sarah, gather two other planters and collect fruit from the storages and the underground farms."

Bracken and Sarah nodded and they both started to collect their groups. "Bracken, make sure you have an armed warrior in your group as well."

Skylar tightly hugged her daughter, "You're alive!" She laughed weakly, hugging her daughter close.

Holly smiled and hugged her back, relaxing in her mother's hold, "I'm alive," she confirmed, "and I'm back."

Skylar pulled back, "I'm so glad," she smiled softly at her daughter, "I missed you so much."

"I did too mom," Holly smiled at her mother, "I missed you all so much."

Jay pushed through everyone next, leaving Bree sitting on the ground near the back of the crowd to catch her breath, "are you injured?" he grunted and prodded his sister in the arm.

"No," Holly replied with a smile and gave her brother a quick hug, "I'm perfectly healthy."

"Good," Jay grunted, "I don't need to be watching over my own sister."

Holly nodded and smiled, "I have to talk to you later, I mean, what happened to Bree?"

Jay shrugged, "ask me later when we aren't surrounded by people." he grunted.

Holly nodded and she was about to reply before she was pulled into a bear hug by Leon.

"I can't believe that you're alive!" Leon exclaimed before he let her go, allowing her to breathe properly, "we missed you so much!"

Cynthia came up behind him, her blue eyes twinkling happily, "your brothers were miserable."

Holly smiled at them both, "Jay may have been, but I'm sure Leon was fine."

"I missed you," Leon told Holly, his amber eyes sincere, "I really thought you died in the cave in!"

Holly shook her head, "no, I only got pinned by a boulder landing on my leg-"

"Cynthia," Paige interrupted as she came over to her sister, a baby boy around thirteen months was held in her arms, sniffling and looking like he had been crying.

Cynthia's sapphire blue eyes turned to concern as she took the boy from Paige who immediately cuddled against her chest, snuggling up to her and gripping loose handfuls of Cynthia's shirt. Cynthia snuggled the boy, cuddling him closer to her and pressing a motherly kiss to his small forehead. "Are you okay?" She asked the boy softly, resting her head on top of his.

The baby hiccuped and yawned, his multi-colored eyes drooping closed.

Holly blinked, "who's that?"  
Leon and Cynthia glanced at each other before Leon pulled Cynthia to him by the waist and Cynthia pulled her warriors necklace from beneath her tunic to reveal the three sapphires encased in clear amber -one for passing her apprentice's assessment, one for proving herself in a battle, and one for gaining her role which was hunter-fighter- and a new gem encased in amber that Holly hadn't seen on the necklace, a light pink diamond. The symbol of motherhood in the tribe.

Holly's jaw slackened, the baby was her brother's? "You two are mates?" She asked, rather surprised.

Leon nodded before Bracken called his name. "Coming!" He yelled before he looked back at his sister, "I have to go, but Cyndy will tell you what happened," he then pressed his lips to the corner of Cynthia's mouth before he jogged off to gather his gear.

:) :) :)

"I didn't think you wanted to be a mother," Holly said as she watched Cynthia push some hand-carved blocks in front of the baby before she got up and went into the 'kitchen' where she had some kind of dough on one of the wooden tables that edged the area of the cabin where the cooking fireplace was.

"I've always wanted kids," Cynthia shrugged as she covered her hands with flour and started kneading the dough, her black hair tucked up in a braided bun with an ivy vine headband. "I wanted a family since I can remember."

"I know, but you always told me you wouldn't because then you'd have to give up your hunter/fighter duties," Holly replied from where she was sitting on the smooth wooden floor near the baby. The floor had obviously been sanded for a very long time to get it to be smooth enough for no splinters to get in any child's feet.

"I know," Cynthia replied, "but I wanted to start a family before I couldn't have one, and I'm only off of my duties until Flynx learns to walk completely and speak the essential words." She paused and added a tiny bowl of berries into the dough before she continued, apparently not minding the flour on her tunic and arms. "He's already walking and he can say a few words." Pride was hinted in her tone there.

Holly looked at the baby that was watching his mother with one of the blocks in his mouth, his round multi-colored eyes fixed on his mother and her current task. "I forgot that your bloodline's cursed," she admitted, "I totally forgot that you can't have a first born after twenty-five." A long time ago Cynthia's bloodline was cursed because of something one of her ancestors did, so all of the females in the later generations couldn't have their first born after about twenty-five or they risked deadly consequences, which was how she lost her sister Haliah, three years ago.

Cynthia shrugged, "I'm twenty-five now, so I couldn't waste any more time to have my first born if I wanted a family. I had to _have_ the baby before I turned twenty-five, so I did." She finished as she shaped the dough on a metal sheet and tucked the sheet in the fireplace high up so the flames wouldn't burn it.

"So how did you and Leon become mates then?" Holly asked curiously.

Cynthia was silent for a few moments as she rinsed the flour from her arms in a small basin. Eventually, as she was using a cotton cloth to dry her arms she spoke. "We were mates for a few months before the cave in," she admitted, "we just kept it quiet and to ourselves. It was new and we wanted to enjoy it as much as possible before we got overwhelmed with my parents and family pushing me into starting a family." She shrugged, "it wasn't an example that everyone should follow, but it made sure that it would work out in the long run. Then the cave in happened and it nearly killed Leon. Not literally," she added as she sat down behind her baby boy, "but he was miserable, depressed even. When the cave in happened I was with Leah in the medicine cabin, asking her a few questions, but I felt a wave of grief from Leon so bad that I stumbled and threw up before I passed out." Flynx made a giggling noise and offered his mother a block which she took and smiled at him, "thank you Flynx." she then continued the story. "I came to around when Leon came back to tell everyone what happened and that you had died in the cave in." Cynthia shook his head, "He was broken, losing a sibling hurts, it really does. So I comforted him and didn't tell him anything about what Leah had told me in the medicine cabin."

"Which was?"

Cynthia smiled dryly, "that I was pregnant with our first child. But I didn't tell him for a while, understanding he needed time to grieve over his loss of his sister and not worry about me or the baby."

Holly nodded slowly, "that makes sense."

"So anyway, I took over for Leon's warrior role while doing my hunter-fighter role and fought for him in a decent amount of battles against Rushing Breeze for about a month till I got shaken up and couldn't fight anymore."

"What happened?" Holly asked with round eyes.

"My armor caught and deflected a stab at my stomach," Cynthia responded and placed the block on the floor in front of Flynx. "If I hadn't been wearing the chain mail fighter vest beneath the ridged warriors vest I wouldn't have survived with the baby. The blade used against me cut through Leon's armor but got stuck in mine."

Holly stared at her, "no wonder you stopped fighting."

Cynthia nodded, "and I was close to hitting three months so it got uncomfortable wearing the armor. So I explained to Firen that I couldn't take over for Leon anymore and the reason why, and he simply smiled and said that he knew and that I should get some rest. So I did, I returned to the warrior's cabin with the intent to sleep for a while, but I found Leon in my bunk room, sitting on the bed with an incredulous look on his face. He asked me if I missed you because I didn't really show it very much, being so busy with the two roles I was being. I told him that I did, I missed you lot, it's just that I was busy with all of my responsibilities and I had to make sure that he was okay as well. He told me he was worried about me, and how I seemed to be more tired despite that I ate twice as much as I usually did, and he delicately told me he noticed I was gaining weight."

Holly snorted, "oops."

Cynthia laughed, "nah, I was tired that I thought his worrying was cute and simply told him to ask me once I had gotten some sleep and I promptly passed out on my bed, armor, face paint, and all. I woke up a few hours later to Leon using a wet cloth to rub the face paint from my face and I didn't have my armor and sandals on."

"He took it all off for you?" Holly asked curiously and Cynthia nodded, "I have to admit, that's pretty nice."

Cynthia nodded, "he had taken off my armor, and sandals, and was trying to take off my face paint without waking me up. Anyway, so he accidentally woke me up and apologized before repeating his earlier words. I told him that I was pregnant which it why I was gaining weight and seeming so tired and he stared at me for a few minutes, making me nervous and frightened, but he shook it off and hugged me hard enough that we both heard my back pop."

Holly snorted, "wow, that's an interesting story."

Cynthia nodded and got up to take the now bakes item she had been working on earlier, "that's what happened while you were gone besides the building of this cabin done by Brad, Leon, Jay, Bree, and I." She took the now steaming baked thing from the metal sheet and quickly set it on a table to cool while she tucked the metal sheet up much higher so that it would cool down enough for her to use it later.

Abruptly a small voice spoke, surprising Holly. "Mama!" Flynx was wobbly walking toward them, reaching up like he wanted to be held.

Cynthia's blue eyes glowed with excitement, "come here Flynx!" She said with excitement in her voice as she crouched down and reached out for her son, mentally counting his steps, "you can do it!"

Flynx wobbled a little and almost fell, but he caught himself and continued to make his way over to his mother, smiling at her, "mama!" He giggled

Holly watched with bated breath, her green eyes sparkling as she watched the mother and son.

Flynx finally made it to Cynthia and flopped over in her lap, giggling happily, "mama!"

Cynthia scooped him up and blew a raspberry against his cheek, "that was amazing Flynx!"

"What's amazing?" Leon asked as he walked in with a fish and a rabbit which he deposited on one of the tables.

Cynthia grinned at him, "Flynx was walking!"

Leon's eyes lit up and he jogged over, the clinking of metal could be heard from his armor, but he didn't mind as he pulled the metal off, dropped it, and took his son from Cynthia, "were you walking bud?" he excitedly asked his son who giggled and grasped his father's face.

"Daddy!"

"How many?" Leon asked, looking at Cynthia with gleaming amber eyes.

"A lot," Cynthia responded with a smile, "he was walking from the blocks you made to where I was near the fireplace."

"Now that's my boy!" Leon smiled and ruffled his baby son's hair, "you're walking now!"

"Happy!" Flynx giggled, holding onto his father's clean-shaven face, "daddy happy!"

Cynthia smiled as did Leon who gave Flynx back to Cynthia.

Cynthia looked at Leon, "are you staying in camp now or going out again?"

Leon smiled and tugged her to him by the waist and nuzzled her nose with his, "I'm not going anywhere. I did my part for the feast so I'm not going anywhere."

Cynthia smiled and kissed him, which Flynx giggled at before she jogged up the stairs to the loft that was the two bedrooms, hers and Leon's, and Flynx's. "I'll be right back!"

Leon smiled fondly at Cynthia as she disappeared up the stairs before he looked at his sister and smiled, "you're back."

Holly smiled, "I'm back."

:) :) :) :)

"So what happened to Bree?" Holly asked Jay as she sat down on the medicine cabin floor where her brother was mixing together medicines for later use at a wooden table near a corner that was full of shelves that had medicines that were already made.

"Leah isn't sure," Jay shrugged gruffly, "remember when we were younger and she got stabbed in the spine in a battle?"

Holly nodded and hastily spoke so as not to offend her half-blind brother, "yeah, I remember."

"I think that her spine was damaged just enough to make it hard to feel her legs, balance, and move properly." Jay grunted, "so I've been keeping her here so I can give her something to ease the pain she's in and do exercises to make sure she doesn't have any muscle weakness."

Holly looked around puzzled, where did the brunette stay?

As if reading her mind, Jay spoke gruffly, "she stays with me and Leah upstairs in the loft." He grunted, "so that we don't waste any space down here."

"And Jay likes having her up there," Leah added as she entered the cabin with a basket full of herbs and medicinal plants. "She likes to organize everything when she's here and not in the armory."

Jay huffed, "I don't like her up there because she organizes stuff." He grunted irritably.

"Right, sorry," Leah's amber eyes turned mischevious, "he likes to have a snuggle buddy."

Holly snorted and coughed to cover her laughter.

"You two are terrible." Jay grunted, "I like having her up there because if she starts coughing then I don't have to fight with the stairs to keep her from choking or passing out."

Leah laughed, "I believe you," she hummed before she disappeared down into the basement where the ground was always cold enough from the mount water that pooled down there that it kept the fresh herbs preserved until they needed to use it during Leafbare.

Jay rolled his eyes, "I can't believe that she was my mentor." He grunted. "These days she's too happy."

Holly laughed, "it's a good thing, Leah deserves happiness Jay, I mean wasn't she taken out of medicine when the whole thing was revealed?"

Jay nodded, "until Firen and I reinstated her because she belongs here with medicine, not blood and fighting. I'm the battle medic, not her." He grunted.

"I'm one too," Bree said as she limped down the stairs, leaning on the handrail for stability, "although not so much anymore," she sighed as she made her way over to them before she brightened, "hello Holly! I heard you were back!" She promptly hugged the other girl tightly, happy to see her again.

Holly smiled and hugged her back, she remembered their apprentice years, the three of them along with Leon and Cynthia had been inseparable, all of them had been trained so differently for their different roles, but the five of them had always been incredibly close. "Yeah, I'm back Bree, how's it going?"

Bree let her go and leaned against the table Jay was using, "well I'm having some really bad balance issues, but I'm good! And I'm even happier than you're back!" she hugged Holly again.

"I'm glad to be back too," Holly said and returned her hug, "I'm really glad that I'm back."


	112. Author And Her Friends:Memories, Dance

_Memories During a Dance, And Sleepover ish_

 _A little_ _ **Caydy**_ _(Caylee x Brody)_

 _Some what_ _ **Brea**_ _(Brody x Thea)_

 _Sibling_ _ **Ciego**_ _(Caylee and Diego)_

 _Faint_ _ **Diety**_ _(Diego x Charity)_

Caylee's brown gaze followed Brody and the ginger he was talking to. Her expression showed nothing of her current mood as she waited semi patiently for her friend to actually pay attention to the fact that she was still waiting for him. _Come on Brody,_ she inwardly groaned, _get moving already. I'm not interested in hearing you plan your date with Thea._ Sometimes she wondered how his brain worked, but often enough she just got frustrated with him. Not that he could tell. Caylee pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced at the screen, wondering what Charity and Diego were doing, Charity was supposed to be getting the telescope she wanted to add onto their robot for robotics, and Diego was supposed to be meeting Caylee and Brody in the robotics room. But it didn't look like they were going to head over there at any point in time. Caylee slid down to be sitting on the floor leaning against the wall, idly taking apart her phone case and exchanging pieces for different ones that she had in her pockets, spacing out. _What do I have to do to get Brody to notice that I wanted to go with him?_

Then a voice broke her from her thoughts. "Caylee! Brody! Gets your butts over here!" Diego had gone looking for the pair of them.

Diego slowed to a stop before he reached Brody, noticing how Caylee was sitting boredly on the floor with a slightly annoyed expression and how Brody had been talking to Thea. "Oh." His hazel eyes narrowed slightly at Brody and he turned his attention toward Caylee. "Come on," he offered his hand, "we have a robot to build. Brody can join us when he's finished."

Caylee couldn't remember a time where she had been more glad to see her friend of a brother figure. "Right, I've got to program that new holographic technology." Diego pulled her to her feet and she glanced over at Brody, "we'll meet you in the robotics room Brody." She said as she let go of Diego's hand and started walking at her own pace.

"Okay," Brody responded, a slightly confused look in his blue eyes. "I'll see you guys there."

After Caylee and Diego had walked out of Brody's earshot, Diego spoke. "Brody still taking Thea to the dance?"

Caylee nodded, "yeah." She said nothing else, not in the mood to disclose her current feelings about anything.

Diego seemed to sense that she wasn't going to talk about it and offered his help. "I'll go with you if you'd like," he offered, "I know you're in charge of music and the holotech competition, but I'll go with you to the dance."

Caylee shook her head, "Take Charity, keep her from sulking about Bradley. It's bad enough that I have to go in the first place."

Diego's expression grew a little melancholy, "I know." The dance was on the day that Caylee and Diego dreaded every year. April 26th, the day that many years ago -back when they were ten years old- the two had gone through a terrible experience that had led to the first funeral they had ever gone to. "I'll take Charity," he agreed after a few moments of stone silence, "and I'll find Kasi, she can keep an eye on you for me."

"I don't need anyone to keep an eye on me."

"I don't want anything to happen to you," Diego told her quietly, "last year you were so out of it that Cyler barely managed to keep you from falling into my pool."

Caylee flinched violently at the reminder. "I'll be fine." She grumbled and walked a little faster than Diego. "And I'm not letting some idiot take my title with the Holotechnics cause I'm not at the dance." The holotechnics were the school district wide competition involving small bionic like robots created by students that have semi holographic weapons, add ons, and even armor, that gave the robots their own unique skill set and abilities.

Diego sighed, "then be careful."

For a few moments it was quiet as they stepped outside to go toward their destination, a different one of the school buildings.

Then Diego broke it, speaking up about something that was bothering him. "I wish Brody had asked you," he said with a slight annoyed groan, "then you wouldn't have to watch him take Thea."

Caylee casually shrugged, "eh, I don't really care all that much."

"So you say," Diego countered, "but I know that's just tough talk."

Caylee shrugged again, "if he takes Thea that's his choice."

"If he had asked you to the dance what would you have said?" Diego asked her as they neared the classroom that hosted the robotics club and holotechnics workshop.

"I would've said yes." Caylee responded before she slipped into the classroom. "Go ask Charity, we can go play laser tag or something before if she doesn't want to go on a normal day date."

Diego nodded and jogged over to Charity where the blue eyed girl was chattering enthusiastically to Kasi about the robot she, Diego, Caylee, and Brody were building.

Caylee instead wandered over to the holotechnic lockers where the robots were locked away from both prying eyes and mischievous opponents looking to do harm to the robots.

"Hey Charity," Diego said to the blonde as he jumped onto the table she was sitting at and sat there on the table. "Wanna come to the dance with me?" He asked smoothly, apparently not at all nervous about asking her.

Charity gave a weird expression, her nose wrinkled, her eyebrows furrowed together, and her lips thinned. "Diego, no offense to you, but I'm not going with anyone to the dance."

Diego nearly slipped on his spot on the table, Charity always accepted an offer to go to the dance if she hadn't asked anyone first. Luckily he caught himself and kept up a nonchalant expression. "Odd, but your choice," he replied with a casual shrug, "but atleast come with Caylee and I as a random group of friends," he turned hazel puppy eyes on her, "pease? I don't want to be seen as a couple with my little sister."

"No." Charity held her odd expression for a moment before it melted into a bright smile at Diego's fallen expression. "Just kidding," she smiled, "of course I'll go with you to the dance Diego! Just no-"

"No couple things," Diego interrupted, "yeah, I understand. Bradley was a jerk."

Charity shrugged, "meh, he wasn't that bad."

Diego cracked a smirk, "want me to beat him up for you?" He asked and semi playfully punched his palm.

Charity laughed and shook her head, "nah, Curtis already has him on thin ice, the guy is paranoid now!"

"Paranoia is good," Caylee inputted as she wandered over to the table with a bunch of holotechnics technology, parts, and a laptop in her arms and inside large organizers. "Especially if he's paranoid about an older brother and a pair of pranksters getting back at him at any moment."

Charity smiled brightly at her friend, "just don't get him too hard, I don't mind the break up all that much."

"You are a bouncy ball," Caylee said flatly as she neatly organized the organizers on a nearby table and set up her robot for wireless programming.

Diego slid off the table and laughed before he pushed the table he had been on flush against the edge of the one Caylee was working on. "Definitely a true statement, she bounces back from things like a bouncy ball."

Charity smiled innocently, "bouncy balls are the best things ever!" Her eyebrows then pinched together before her expression smoothened, "except for fidget spinners, those are cooler."

"Mine's the best." Caylee said with faint traces of a smirk on her face. Caylee's fidget spinner was a mix of the fidget spinner and a fidget cube, so hers was much more entertaining and usefully than the normal fidget spinner. That and it generated electricity sent wirelessly to a power pack in her backpack when she used it, so she could also charge her phone and tecniwatch with it.

Charity nodded, "totally!"

:) :) :) :)

Caylee sighed through the ponytail holder in her teeth as she finished the ponytail with a few curls framing her face. She really didn't want to go to the dance, she really really didn't. _Six years,_ she mused quietly to herself as she took the ponytail from her teeth and finished the ponytail, _six years since Amber and Sean died._ Her amber gaze strayed to her messy desk where a framed picture stood, containing a group of four kids, Amber, Sean, Diego, and Caylee back when they were much younger, about nine years old. Caylee looked happy in the picture, her amber eyes bright and excited, a vast difference from the now usual reserved and withdrawn look that her eyes contained after that event six years ago. The door opening withdrew Caylee from her reminiscing.

Charity was standing in the doorway, her aquamarine blue eyes slightly concerned for her friend. "You ready?" She asked curiously, her tone rather quiet and gentle.

Caylee nodded, "yeah, just let me grab my backpack." She strode over to her bed and gently put her Holotechnic into the backpack before she swung it onto her shoulder, grabbed her phone, and half sleeve partially see through white hoodie and followed Charity from the room. Her navy blue dress swished around her ankles and brushed against the tops of her black flats as she moved.

Diego was waiting patiently for both of them downstairs, the wrestler was dressed in a white short sleeve button down, neat black denim pants with a black belt, shoes, and a red neck tie tied neatly around his neck. He looked a little melancholy as well, but he bravely put on a smile and smiled at his pair of friends. "You two are as beautiful as the stars," he smiled, using Charity's favorite topic, space.

Charity smiled, "thanks! You don't look too bad yourself," she said cheekily and laughed when he just rolled his eyes and let it roll off his back like water does for a duck.

Caylee said nothing and instead slipped on the hoodie and tucked her phone into a pocket, her techiwatch glimmered brightly in the light as it blinked, signaling that her Holotechnic's programming had finished debugging.

"Shall we go?" Diego offered before he cracked a smirk and swung the keys to the car he had brought. "I brought David's convertible again."

Caylee's lips quirked into the ghost of a smile as she gestured to him to take the lead.

"Is Brody here yet?" Charity asked Diego, curiosity lacing her tone as she followed Diego outside and the pair waited for Caylee to lock the door. "Didn't he say he was going to meet us here?"

"Yeah but I'm not sure he'll come," Diego admitted with a sigh and ran one hand briefly through his brown hair, making it stick up in odd angles. "He's taking Thea so he may drive her there instead."

"Oh yeah," Charity's mood seemed to briefly fall, "I forgot."

Diego sighed, the days of the four of them going together as a group seemed to be over now. "Oh well, let's go, Caylee needs to be there to take over the music."  
Charity nodded, "right." She glanced back the brunette who was testing the lock to make sure it was locked. "It's strange that Brody isn't taking her, I mean she practically told him she wanted to go with him." Her tone lacked the usual sunshine and excitement that her voice held, which was very odd for the happy blonde.

Diego nodded, "Yeah, I know, Caylee did her best to ask him. While she didn't bluntly tell him she wanted to go with him she said a million different hints about going with him."

"Who said a million different hints to go with who?" Caylee asked as she walked over to them.

"You and Brody," Charity replied before she smiled, "Let's go to the dance!"

"Diego! Charity! Caylee, wait!" Brody's voice made Caylee's shoulders visibly tense up before she smoothed out her facial expression and body language. Brody was walking along the sidewalk toward them, dressed in a white button down, black slacks, and a light blue tie. "Do you mind if we pick up Thea?" He asked as he reached them.

Diego and Charity exchanged short glances before they both shrugged, "sure I guess."

"I'll just take my car," Caylee said, speaking up for the first time since they had stepped outside.

"Your car isn't finished though," Diego reminded her, "the cabin modifying isn't finished and the headlights aren't programmed to turn on automatically yet."

"Never mind," Brody spoke quickly, "I'll just go grab my car-"

"We'll take you." Diego told him, "there's enough space for everyone including Thea."

Caylee's eyes briefly flashed with irritation before she shrugged, "fine."

Diego gave a slightly forced smile, "let's all get going then, right?"

So the four of them got into the convertible and drove toward Thea's house.

After they had picked Thea up and were on their way to the school, Charity looked at the side mirror where she could see Caylee leaning against the car door while Brody and Thea were talking about a video game called Destiny. "This is going to be an interesting night." She spoke quietly to Diego, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, and not in the good way." He agreed quietly before speaking at a normal tone, "you're going to at least dance with me at least once tonight, right?"

Charity laughed, Diego's attempt to make her laugh had succeeded. "Maybe, maybe not Mr."

"Auh man!" Diego complained, "I ask you to the dance and here I get to follow you around like a lost dog!" He looked breifly through the rear view mirror to see if it had made Caylee laugh as well when the others laughed or giggled, but his heart sank slightly when he saw that she hadn't even responded to his words. She was staring distantly out of the window, her brown eyes spaced out and focused on the past.

:( :) :( :) :(

Diego ran one hand through his neat light brown hair, his light brown eyes were semi concerned as his gaze wandered around, looking for Caylee. She had left the djing to their programming teacher, and he was hoping she was near the holotechnics that were being set up for the single competitions that went on before the group ones which he, Charity, Brody, and Caylee, were a team in. Caylee was the champion for their school, with a firm hold on the top single competitor in both the school and the district, and she was also on top inside the teams as well. Diego understood how hard it was to be here tonight, it was hard for both of them, but he didn't end up with a mental condition because of it, Caylee did.

Diego had escaped developing PTSD, but Caylee hadn't, and it had only gotten worse over the years with the other things that she had suffered through back in Colorado where they had been before they each moved here. Caylee was the definition of invincible but broken at the same time, she appeared to be invincible and able to do anything in the world, but there was those days where she was vulnerable and let their close knit group of friends see how tired and some of how broken she really was. _Where are you?_ He wondered, still looking for her and having no luck, _it's never good being alone on this particular day for either of us._

Charity got his attention by touching his shoulder from behind, she had been talking to a cluster of her friends, which were mainly girls since the guys were with their dates, but stopped when Diego had started turning around, looking for Caylee.

"Hey, are you okay?" Charity asked him, her blonde eyebrows pinching together with faint worry.

Diego turned around and looked at her, his brown eyes held traces of his earlier thoughts and his worry for Caylee. "Yeah," he smiled at her, "just wondering where Caylee is, she's not helping set up the Holotechnics."

Concern flickered over Charity blue eyes, "then let's find her, she's having a _terrible_ day."

Diego nodded, "I'll go search for her, enjoy talking for your friends, milady," he smirked at the end and disappeared into the crowd, Charity's blue eyes following him till he was out of sight.

:( :(

Caylee's ponytail was falling out slightly as she dug her fingers into the cool metal of her Holotechnic as she tried to focus enough to finish putting the last pieces together and put back on it's ninja gear that enabled stealth and heightened speed and defense for the robot. Her memories were plaguing her now, and despite how now she was trying to focus on now and not what happened, it just kept breaking through her barriers over and over again...

" _What do you mean?" Caylee asked Kyle in confusion, "what do you mean Amber's talking crazy?"_

" _She's talking about her parents and how she wants to escape her dad Caylee! She's going to jump into the runoff canal!"_

Caylee jolted, hearing her small wrench slip from her slack fingers and making contact with the floor. She shook her head, trying to clear it as she knelt down and scooped up the tool with a shaky hand, she was starting to tremble slightly, fighting hard against the flash back that was beginning to press against her barriers again.

" _What?!" Caylee broke into a sprint, throwing her backpack onto the ground and running as fast as her asthma would allow. "Amber!"_

Smack!

Caylee jolted back to the present by her nose stinging particularly badly and she stumbled back from the wall that she had somehow ran into. _Why! Stupid brain!_ She shook her head again, as if shaking it hard enough could knock back the flashbacks deep into her psyche. _Stop doing this to me!_ She snarled, actually making the animal like sound aloud. _Leave me alone!_

 _The runoff canal behind the school was so far away from the front, and Caylee's lungs were starting to burn as she struggled to keep running-_

 _Enough!_ Caylee hit the wall again and this time yelped, her brown eyes watering with sever amounts of pain. She fell to her knees, cautiously touching the edge of her nose and felt something sticky and warm. _My nose is bleeding, I didn't hit it that hard, did I?_ She felt disoriented and confused, like she was in two time lines at once, and she couldn't tell half the time which one was which.

"Caylee?" She looked up as a familiar person entered the room, "are you in here?"

Caylee looked at him, her brown eyes were rather round and half spacy, "Diego?" She asked, her voice hoarse.

 _She spotted Diego walking over from the basketball court, looking quite proud of himself, she had watched his earlier match and had seen him win the game. "Diego!" She called his name, "help me! Amber's in danger!"_

 _Right away his expression changed from proud to worried and scared, "What? How?!"_

 _Caylee stopped next to him, now wheezing and hardly able to breathe. "Jump… Canal!"_

"Caylee? Are you in here?" Diego then froze when he saw Caylee. She was kneeling on the floor, leaning on one of her arms while she had her other arm held up so her hand was near her nose, and blood stained the tips of her index and middle finger. He recognized the strange expression Caylee had on her face, she was pale, her freckles stood out a little more against her skin, and her brown eyes were spaced out and super confused.

"Diego?" Caylee said, her voice was hoarse and rough, clearly she had been having flashbacks by the way she was currently looking.

Caylee abruptly stood up and Diego quickly trapped her in his arms, holding her still to keep her from running past him and out into a different room. "Caylee!" He tried calling her name, seeing that she wasn't at all registering that he was there, "snap out of it!"

 _Diego's face turned terrified, "oh heavens… Come on!" He started running as well, flagging down Amber's twin brother Sean in the process. "Sean! Your sister's in trouble!"_

 _Caylee chased after them both, running past them and stumbling to a halt near the canal where her ginger-haired friend stood inches away from the swiftly moving water. "Amber no!"_

Caylee struggled against Diego, fighting to run after whatever she was seeing, "Come on sis," he said, tightening his grip, "stop running for two seconds." He grunted.

" _Amber, please! Don't do this!" Caylee pleaded with her friend, "We can help you!"_

 _Amber turned her blue eyes on her friend, and Caylee's breath hitched at the bruising on her friend's cheek. "How Caylee?" she asked softly, "nobody can beat daddy."_

 _Caylee stared at her, "my dad can try! Diego's dad's a cop remember?!"_

 _Diego nodded vigorously, "my father's a cop Amber! I can get him to help!"_

Diego breathed a sigh of relief when he felt Caylee go still before her knees buckled and he quickly lowered her gently to the ground, his light brown eyes worried. Usually, Caylee stayed at home with her service dog Indiana, or Indy for short, the dog was trained to gently break her free of her flashbacks and comfort her among other things. Diego pulled out his cell and quickly called Charity, waiting impatiently for her to pick up.

 _Amber shook her head, "daddy will hurt me even more," she whimpered, her blue eyes filling with tears, "I'm tired of being hurt Caylee!"_

 _Caylee felt her fear spike as Amber took a step closer to the edge, "I know Amber, I know you are," she said, speaking quickly and trying to get her friend to come back from the edge, "but remember when I protected you?" She asked, begging her friend to remember when she had taken a punch for her, "I can try to protect you more!"_

"Diego, did you find her?" Charity asked when she picked up the phone, her voice was strained and worried, "I have Brody with me, although his date's pretty confused and a little annoyed."

"Yeah, I found her, I'm going to call her mom and get her to bring Indy here, Caylee's stuck in a series of flashbacks, she's already ran into a few walls judging by how her nose is bleeding a little, and right now she's conscious but she can't hear or see anything around her."

"Where are you?" Charity asked, "I'll come and wait for Indy with you."

Caylee made a small whimpering noise and Diego felt his heart get stabbed, he knew what she was reliving now, "room 102," he said, his voice thick, "she may scream or start sobbing, so don't be frightened if she does."

" _But he still hurts me Caylee!" Amber sobbed, the ten-year-old looked broken, and defeated, like she was done fighting. "Daddy still hurts me!"_

 _Caylee floundered, struggling for something to say, "I-I'll tell my parents, I'll tell Diego's parents! We'll get other people involved Amber! We all love you!"_

 _Amber hesitated, her blue eyes full of tears and exhaustion._

 _Caylee's brown eyes held concern and terror, unsure if she was saying the right thing. "I p-promise that we'll get help, we can't do this alone."_

Diego looked up as the door that he had recently closed creaked open and Charity slipped into the room, her blue eyes were extremely worried and she looked hassled. "Hey," he said quietly.

"Hey, is she okay?" Charity asked as she sat side saddle on the ground and adjusted her dress to keep it from wrinkling. "Brody's waiting for Indy with his date." Her tone turned a little venomous at the end and Diego gave her a flat look. "What? Brody should've gone with Caylee! If he had then this wouldn't have happened and Caydy would've happened!"

Diego rolled his eyes, "you and your shippings," he mumbled before he jumped when Caylee gave a heaving breath like she was trying to keep from crying.

" _Are you sure?" Amber asked quietly, "are you really sure?"_

 _Caylee nodded, tears were beginning to gather in her brown eyes, "I'm sure Amber, we'll get someone to help us."_

" _I'll help too," Diego promised, "my dad will help us."_

 _Sean finally made it to the canal, "come on sis," he begged his twin, "don't do this to me!"_

 _Amber jumped, startled and Caylee stared as she took a step back._

" _Don't!"_

"No!" Caylee abruptly yelled, "Amber don't!"

Diego and Charty jumped and they both tensed, looking at Caylee and waiting for her next outburst, but Caylee didn't say anything, instead, she kept heaving breaths and tears trickled down her face.

 _Amber slipped, and the ten-year-old's arms did a windmill fashion as she fell backward._

"AMBER!"  
" _AMBER NO!" Caylee lunged, trying to catch her friend's hand as she fell into the water with a splash and scream. "Caylee!"_

" _No!" Deigo yelled as Sean jumped in after his sister, "you can't pull her out Sean! The current!"_

 _Caylee ran part way down the canal before she threw herself to the ground and reached, trying to reach her friends who's gurgling screaming was making her ears begin to ring. "Grab on!"_

 _Amber tried, reaching as far as she could, "Caylee!" She screamed and spluttered, "help me!"_

 _Sean coughed and tried to reach as well, but Caylee's fingers barely skimming against the tips of his before they vanished, disappearing into the pipe that led the canal out of the fenced off school grounds in the back._

" _NO!" Caylee scrambled to the fence and tried to climb over it, it's barbed wire sinking into the soles of her shoes and cutting her hands, "AMBER! SEAN!"_

 _Diego hauled her back, "Caylee," his voice was choked up, "there's… they're gone."_

" _No!" Caylee thrashed in his grip, "let me go! Amber! Sean! No!"_

Caylee dazedly pushed away whatever was wet that was touching her face. Big round brown eyes looked back at her, brown eyes that belonged to her best friend and service dog, who was a pure bred black poodle, Indy. Indy was curled against her side, apparently at some point she had been laid down on the floor, with her head resting gently against her collarbone and shoulder. "What?" she asked, her voice was hoarse, and hard to hear, "what happened?"

Diego leaned down so she could see his face, "you had a series of flashbacks, we couldn't break you out of them."

Caylee blinked, as if trying to remember what had happened to her before she aburptly sat up and shut the memories out. "I need to go home and sleep," she mumbled and rubbed one of her eyes, "my energy is gone."

Diego nodded, "I know."

Indy settled herself to be curled up next to Caylee's lap with her head resting on top of one of her legs, looking at her with worry in her dog eyes.

"Let's get you home," Charity said softly, "you had me really worried there Caylee."

Caylee looked over at her friend while she brushed her fingers through her dog's soft hair, her hands trembling slightly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Charity leaned over and hugged her, "do you feel okay now?"

Caylee returned the hug, not caring that Charity could feel her body shaking, "I'm exhausted, I can't think properly, I'm feeling incredibly guilty, and I'm going to pass out if I don't get some sleep."

Charity smiled softly at her, "I'm glad you're feeling somewhat okay now."

"Lets get you to my car," Diego said, "your dad brought Indy and had to go, so she's going to have to come with us."

Caylee nodded, "she would come anyway," she leaned over and pressed her face against her dog's fur, getting comfort from her dog's scent and soft hair.

"Do you think you can walk?" Diego asked her, "otherwise one of us will have to carry you."

"I'm not going to try when my hands are shaking," Caylee said. "I'll fall if I try," she admitted."

A new voice spoke up quietly, "I'll carry you Caylee."

Caylee lsat back up and ooked up to see Brody who was kneeling in front of her, his blue eyes were concerned and worried about the brunette. "Oh, hey Brody," she mumbled, "where's your date?"

Brody looked a little guilty, "outside, I didn't want to bring her in here with your flashbacks and stuff."

Caylee was silent for a moment, just rubbing Indy's head as Indy nuzzled her, trying to get her to focus on her. "I'm fine, go be with your date," she mumbled, "I'm sure this wasn't what you had planned for the dance tonight."

"It wasn't," Brody admitted, "but I don't mind as long as you're okay."

Caylee looked at him for a little while, looking at his blue eyes, a little touched that he didn't mind sitting there waiting for her to recover.

Diego spoke up and broke the moment, "Lover boy," he adressed Brody with a huff, "dude, stop staring at her, if you're going to carry her then do it, if not then scooch out of the way."

Brody's blue gaze flickered to Diego, "calm down, I'm going to carry her."

"Then go," Diego grumbled, clearly he wasn't particularly pleased about Brody doing it.

Brody did, he shuffled over, put one arm behind Caylee's back and the other under her knees, and gently lifted her up.

Brody gently brought Caylee to Diego's car, Thea on his heels. The red head looked a little annoyed, but she seemed mostly okay with her date carrying that now half asleep girl with the girl's dog trotting worriedly at his heels. But Brody wasn't really worried about what Thea thought about the situation, he was more focused on the girl in his arms.

Sitting near her during those last few moments where she had been trapped in the flashback had been terrible, her crying had stabbed his heart and by the way she had been very closed off to him, he could guess that she wasn't happy with his choice of date, and by the way he had seen her watching them at the beginning of the dance before she had disappeared, she had wanted to go with him. Which made him feel guilty. He gently set her down in the backseat before letting Thea get in. He himself then got in as Diego told Indy to sit on the floor of the passenger seat with Charity who cooed and got all excited about the dog, and they got in the car as well.

Brody looked out the window, he wondered how the whole thing would have played out if he had taken Caylee to the dance in the first place.

:) :( :) :(

Diego glanced back at Caylee who was sitting in the backseat looking tired and border line exhausted while Brody was walking Theat to her door. "You still awake back there?" He asked her quietly, "you've gotta stay awake till Brody at least gets back."

"I'm awake," Caylee mumbled, "why?"

"That way we can put Indy in the back," Charity smiled at her friend as she twisted around to look at her, "then she can make sure you don't have an flashbacks in your sleep.

"Do you want us to stay with you for the night?" Diego asked before he grinned sheepishly, "I don't really want to be alone either."

Caylee cracked a smile, "maybe Eggo," she said, calling his by one of the nicknames she called him by, "we'll see. Even so, you all would have to go home and change."

"Ooh! Movies!" Charity smiled, "we should watch Disney movies!"

Diego snorted, "alrighty then, I'll bring popcorn, we each get a blanket and wear pjs."

"Sounds good to me," Brody said as he slid into the car, "so we're all going over to Caylee's?"

Caylee nodded as Diego started down the street to Charity's house, since her car was at Caylee's. "Yeah, for apparently Disney movies, sleep, and popcorn." She mumbled, "my family's all out on a vacation at the moment, so I'm completely by my self for the week."

:( :( :(

"Don't hurt Caylee again Brody," Diego warned the other boy as the credits for the latest Disney movie, The Lion King, started rolling. The girls were asleep, Caylee lying on her side with her head sandwiched in a bundle of blankets with her dog sprawled next to her asleep as well, and Charity on the other hand would be surprised when she woke up, seeing how she had taken half of Diego's large and fuzzy blanket, and was facing him, only her blond hair visible.

"I know," Brody sighed, he was on Caylee's other side, her back was brushing against his legs from his position leaning back against the couch. "Thank you for not punching me."

"Next time you better ask her to the dance," he warned him, "or you will be suffering from a bloody nose."

Brody nodded, "I know."

"Good," Diego smiled before he looked over at Charity who mumbled in her sleep and rolled over, pulling the rest of the blanket around her and snuggling against it. "Welp," he sighed and pulled a blanket from the pile that Caylee had her head sandwiched in, "Charity constantly steals my blankets when we do stuff like this." He groaned and scooted down so he was lying on his back.

"Yeah, well Caylee steals my hoodies."

"Touche," Diego conceded, "I guess we better get used to it."

"I already am," Brody shrugged and moved away from Caylee so he could go to sleep. Just in case, he rolled up a blanket and put it behind her, keeping her from rolling over against him.

343434343

 _ **Tada! A chapter! :D Anyway, in all seriousness, the story that Caylee has flashbacks from is true, while the date, ages, and names are all wrong, the story is true. I went through that thing, but I didn't have a friend (Diego) there, and I still suffer from survivor's guilt even to this day. I do have PTSD, and my dog does have a little service dog training :P I do get flashbacks, my ears often ring with the gurgling screams, and I have a hair trigger fight or flight response, just like Caylee. I hope you all don't say, "I'm so sorry you went through that!" Cause it's not a big deal anymore ^_^ but I don't like pity, and Caylee will be very angry if she has to deal with pity reviews :P**_

 _ **Anyway, so yeah, I went through that same situation back what, eight years ago? I can't remember :P but like Caylee, I have a terrible past ^_^'**_

 _ **ANYWAYS, I love you all, dear readers, and until next time!  
**_ _~Tigercry_

 _(The sleepy tiger about to pass out :P)_


	113. Singing World Moment

**_~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~_**

 _Bree and Jay really are cute aren't they? ^-^ Bree's one of my favorites out of all of the girl characters ^-^_

 _Okay, I'll read up about her and try to make a character for her (Violetpaw):D_

 _I like that version too, and I am writing second part, it's where Holly, Jay, Cynthia, and Leon are apprenticed! :D :D_

 _I don't really like hugs... ***pushes Caylee forward***_ _she'll let you hug her! :D_

 ** _~Donotkali~_**

 _I am indeed making a second part! :D It's where Holly, Jay, Cynthia, and Leon are all apprenticed and the whole incident in the books :)_

 ** _~Mina Harrrker~_**

 _Hello! :D :D :D and thanks! I enjoyed it as well ^-^_

 ** _~Blue Tulips 1995~_**

 _Random question, what's the 1995 part of your name? ^-^' my brain squirreled..._

 _And thanks for your comment on chapter 111! :D_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _Ah, the 'fight' was hilarious :D it was actually a part I decided to add at the last second :P_

 _Of course! :D I have plans for Ivory in that world and I'm already working on the second part of that world :D_

 _It did happen, but I'm okay with it! :D Also, Caydy is a real thing indeed :D The guy Brody's based off of is indeed my intelligent and handsome boyfriend :D but believe me, he's just as dense as Brody XD_

 ** _~Azrakatz~_**

 _Who, Cynthia? Not really, she just has a decent fashion sense, even if she herself doesn't like to follow it :P_

 _Cinderblaze is the best thing in the Warriors world! :D :D Have fun reading them all! They slowly get longer, and longer, and longer as you go on XD I'm at what, 112 chapters now? and I have three more to finish up this weekend XD_

 _ **~Silver-Rose-Writes~**_

 _Yay! No pity! :D :D I'm okay now, and it's made me into who I am today so I'm okay with it :D :D :D_

* * *

 _Cynthia and Leon's Engagement Story_

 _ **~Singing World~**_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 23_

 _Jay- 24_

 _Bree- 25_

Nervousness flickered in Leon's chest as he ran one hand through his blonde hair, he was currently pacing in his brother's bedroom, too nervous about the upcoming event for tonight that Cynthia didn't know about yet, all she knew was that she needed to be at Leon's grandparents' restaurant at six, and right now it was roughly five-forty.

"Will you stop pacing a hole in my floor," Jay grunted from where he was lying on his bed curled up around Bree who had been sick all day and was still running a fever. "The crash will wake Bree up and she's supposed to be sleeping."

"Sorry," Leon mumbled and stopped pacing only to tap one of his feet on the floor and drum his fingers against his arm.

"Leon," Jay said and lifted his head to look at his brother, "quit being that nervous. She won't say no."

Leon looked at his brother, a rising panic in his amber eyes, "how do you know that? I've broken her heart multiple times Jay! She could easily say no!"

Jay carefully slid the arm that Bree had been using as a pillow out from underneath her and sat up, tucking the blankets closer around his sleeping girlfriend. "Because I know Cynthia," Jay said as he got up and walked over to his brother after adjusting his glasses. "She won't say no." Leon opened his mouth to contradict it, but his brother cut him off with a slap upside the head. "Leon," Jay said firmly and grasped his taller brother's shoulders, his blue eyes flashing, "Cynthia won't say no. She loves you, and only you."

Leon looked at his brother, uncertainty flickering in his amber eyes. "What if she does?" he asked in a quiet tone clearly he was terrified about Cynthia saying no.

"No what ifs," Jay replied firmly, "she will say yes. You have to believe she won't say no."

"Jay," Leon said quietly, "there's always that possibility."

"Your right, there is that possibility," Jay agreed, "but trust me and Holly, we've been there the entire time, we know what happened and we know she won't say no."

Leon nodded and took a deep breath, "right, I gotta go before I'm late and she leaves."

Jay nodded, "go ask her."

Leon nodded and left the room with the intent of going to the restaurant.

:) :) :)

Leon quietly entered the close to empty restaurant in a light blue polo shirt and new black jeans with the leather jacket Cynthia had given him for his birthday last year. He could see Cynthia sitting at one of the tables by herself, dressed in a dark blue dress that had thin straps and a black jacket was draped on the back of her chair. He could tell that she was tired by the slouching of her shoulders and a little nauseous with how she hadn't chosen anything to eat yet despite that was what he had told her to not wait for him to eat. _I hope she doesn't get Bree's sickness on top of everything else,_ he thought briefly before he took a deep breath and walked toward her from behind. _Here goes nothing,_ he thought before he nervously licked his lips and started singing as he approached her from behind. " _I found a love, for me,"_ he sung softly as he placed his hands on the back of her chair, " _darling just dive right in and followed my lead…"_

Cynthia lifted her head and looked up at him, her blue eyes lighting with surprise, "Leon?"

" _Well I found a girl beautiful and sweet,"_ Leon continued singing as he moved around the chair to be standing next to her, " _I never knew you were the someone waiting for me. 'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love,"_ he sang, crouching next to her so he was a little shorter than her. " _Not knowing what is was."_

"Leon, what-" Cynthia tried asking him a question but Leon cut her off by putting one hand over her mouth.

" _I will not give you up this time…. But darling', just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own"_ He stood up and offered her one of his hands, " _and in your eyes you're holding mine."_

Confusion glittered in Cynthia's eyes but she took his hand and allowed him to gently pull her to her feet.

" _Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms…"_ Leon sang and led her out to the yard in the back of the restaurant. " _Barefoot on the grass,"_ he continued once they had reached outside and let go of her hand to take off his shoes and socks before waiting for her to follow his lead.

Cynthia still looked rather confused, but she did as he wanted her to and slid off her sandals.

" _Listening to our favorite song,"_ Leon continued as he turned on a small device lying in the dew-wet grass before he offered her his hand in a dancing position.

Cynthia took his hand and followed him, putting her arms around his neck and letting him lead the slow dance.

" _When you said you looked a mess,"_ Leon sang softly, " _I whispered underneath my breath, but you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight…"_

Cynthia's blue eyes softened and she kept her blue gaze on his face, their noses close to brushing.

Leon cradled Cynthia's face in his hands, using one of his thumbs to brush against the scar that went along her left cheekbone and down her neck. " _Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know,"_ he sang softly, his amber gaze fixed on Cynthia's face, " _She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home…"_

Cynthia's eyes widened slightly at the last sentence.

" _I found a lover, to carry more than just my secrets, to carry love,"_ Leon sang and dropped his hands so that his arms were around her waist instead. His amber eyes glimmered with pride but mostly love as he spoke the next phrase, " _to carry children of our own…"_ his tone lowered and he rested his forehead against Cynthia's, " _we are still kids, but we're so in love… fighting against all odds…"_

Cynthia's blue eyes glistened slightly, touched by Leon's song. She tucked her head under his chin, letting him lead the dance while she listened to the song he had created just for her.

Neither of them noticed Leon's grandparents and parents watching them through the back entrance of the restaurant along with Bracken, Cynthia's father.

" _I know we'll be alright this time… Darling just hold my hand, be my girl and I'll be your man. I see my future in your eyes…"_

Cynthia tightened her embrace and squeezed her eyes shut as tears pressed against her eyelids.

Leon held her closer, " _baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms! Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song…"_ He gently used on hand to brush away the few tears that had escaped and were making a trail to her chin, " _When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful… I don't deserve this, darling you look perfect tonight…."_ He felt her shoulders tremble slightly and he held her closer, gently swaying from side to side with his cheek resting against the top of her head as he patiently waited for her to handle the emotions that had tipped her already over emotional state. " _Baby I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms, barefoot on the grass listening for our favorite song…"_

Cynthia used one hand to rub the remaining tears away, listening to the soothing tones inside Leon's voice as he sang.

" _I have faith in what I see… Now I know I have met an angel in person,"_ Leon continued to sing, " _and she looks perfect…."_ Once he felt her draw back a little he loosened his grasp and sang the last two lines while reaching into one of his pockets, " _I don't deserve this,"_ he sang as he took her hands and knelt on the grass on one knee, her amber eyes gentle and loving, " _you look perfect tonight…"_

Cynthia's eyes widened again as she finally caught on what he was doing, "really?" she breathed, her gaze now looking at Leon's face and the closed hand he had.

Leon's lips quirked into a smile and he nodded before he opened the small ring box he had in one hand, "Cynthia, will you marry me?"

Cynthia threw herself at him, nearly knocking him down as she kissed him with her hands on either side of his face.

"So is that a yes?" Leon asked once she drew back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yes, yes!" Cynthia exclaimed, her face buried in his shoulder, "of course I'll marry you, Leon," she said, her voice muffled but clearly emotional.

Leon held her close as she started sniffling, trying her best to keep from crying again. "It's okay," he told her, "cry all you like, I'm just glad you said yes."

Cynthia gave a blubbering laugh, "I'm a mess, aren't I?"

Leon chuckled, "no, you're not a mess, you're a beautiful angel whose emotions are a little out of a whack."

Cynthia laughed and drew back, "I love you so much."

Leon smiled and took her left hand to slide the silver engagement band onto her ring finger, "I love you too sweetheart."

 _ **My cousins asked me to write Cynthia and Leon's engagement story, but I couldn't remember the normal world's, so I wrote the one for the Singing Talent world ^_^ I also have been hearing this on the radio for a few weeks so it was practically begging me to write something about it! XD Anyway, sorry I haven't uploaded anything, I have a Christmas special to upload (sorry about the lateness ^-^') and I'm working on a space one, and I have a Halloween one to upload as well ^_^ (my heavens, I'm so behind! XD) I hope you all have a Happy New Years, and I hope guys will wish Bree, Jay, and Holly all a happy birthday! (Bree- Dec. 25th, Holly and Jay- Jan. 1st)**_


	114. Christmas Drabble

_Christmas Drabble_

 _ **~Next Generation World~**_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 29_

 _Jay, Holly- 30_

 _Bree- 31_

 _Lixa- 10_

 _Flynx- 7_

 _Miles, Cleo- 4_

 _Catie- 6_

 _Connor- 8_

"Mommy!" Flynx grinned brightly at his mother who was just emerging from upstairs. It may be Christmas, but the two older kids knew not to wake up their mother like they did their father or they wouldn't be opening presents for a long time.

Leon looked up from where he was sitting on the floor near the tree with a hyper looking seven-year-old Flynx in his lap; a drowsy four-year-old Miles sitting next to him, who was blinking slowly in a drowsy way; a tired and gloomy four-year-old Cleo who was half asleep on her twin; and a ten-year-old Lixa who was fidgeting and eager to start opening presents, which had been delayed due to Cleo having a seizure about half an hour ago. "Hey," he greeted, amber eyes stressed.

Cynthia gave him a empathetic look, she knew how hard it was to deal with the four kids early Christmas morning.

How they were going to make it to Bree's house by three this afternoon neither of the adults knew. At their house Christmas was a mess. Between having one kid who was prone to having seizures in the middle of the day, another who was ADHD, and their decently sized extended family, Christmas was certaintly the craziest time of year.

"Daddy I wanna open presents!" Flynx whined and wriggled in his father's grip, his multi-colored eyes were gleaming with excitement, his dirty blonde hair was a mess, and he was dressed in his race car footie pjs.

"Me too," Lixa smiled at her father and wrapped her arms around his upper arm, "come on daddy!" She and Flynx started cheering.

Miles looked rather cranky at his older siblings making loud noises and he furrowed his small eyebrows before he gave a very grumpy shout and flailed his short arms slightly, "you loud!" One of his hands smacked his twin in the face, causing Cleo to wake abruptly and fall backward, bumping her head against the fluffy cream colored carpet.

Cleo wailed in pain at the pain and grasped her head as her vision flickered and stopped. She then wailed, "I no like black!" Which spooked her brother and startled her father.

Miles jolted and huffed before he frustratedly smacked Cleo on the stomach, "stop!" he complained, "you hurting my ears!"

Cleo sniffled and scooted across the floor away from her brother and out of his range before she burst into tears, her green eyes filling with tears.

Leon's grip around Flynx temporarily loosened and the dirty blonde boy wrenched himself from his father's arms and pounced on a cushy looking present with a yell of triumph.

"Flynx no!" Leon pulled Flynx away from the presents by the middle, "you have to wait with everyone else!"

"But I don't wana!" Flynx whined, struggling against his father again.

Lixa quickly let go of her father and she plopped next to Cleo before she awkwardly pulled her wailing sister into her lap and tried to comfort her. But Cleo wasn't having it, the four-year-old struggled in her sister's lap, wailing. "Mama!" Cleo wailed, having heard how her father was busy with Flynx and her twin.

"Miles you do not hit your sister," Leon sternly told his youngest son while he struggled to hold Flynx back away from the christmas tree, "that makes her cry."

Miles looked at his father with round baby blue eyes before he looked guilty and nodded, "I sorry," he said sincerely to his father while he hung his head in shame, "I no like sissy crying."

Cynthia swiftly finished her trip down the stairs before she quickly strode over to Cleo and picked the crying four-year-old up before Cleo potentially had a seizure from the stress of the situation. "Thanks Lixa," she thanked her oldest while she situated Cleo against her shoulder so the toddler could recover from the hit that knocked out her vision.

Lixa beamed at her mother before she scrambled to her feet and skipped over to her father and younger brother, "can we open presents now?"

"After Miles says he's sorry," Cynthia said as she sat down next to Leon, ever the calm one, while holding Cleo whose wailing had stopped and now was sniffling. "And Lixa, you get to go first. Flynx, if you don't start behaving right now no opening presents till after we get back from Aunt Bree's."

Flynx froze and stared at his mother through wide and disbelieving multicolored eyes, "no presents till bedtime?" He asked in a hushed voice.

Cynthia kept her expression serious despite the urge to laugh at her son's expression. "Yes Flynx, no presents till bedtime."

Flynx immediately sat still in his father's lap, his multicolored eyes fixated on the presents. But he didn't lunge anymore, fearing that he wouldn't be able to open his presents till right before he had to go to bed.

"And now we have order, good morning Miss Discipline." Leon teased before he leaned over and gave his wife a greeting kiss.

Cynthia rolled her eyes before the short kiss. "Good morning to yourself blond hedgehog."

Leon huffed while their kids all giggled at their mother's sarcastic and teasing prowess.

"Mom!" Lixa huffed a little indignantly with her hands on her hips, "presents!"

Cynthia smiled at Lixa, "go ahead Lixa, I know the suspense is killing you."

Lixa nodded vigorously before she walked around the tree and picked up a small box, wondering what was inside. She plopped down next to her father and delicately pulled the wrapping apart, not wanting to damage the wrapping paper cause she liked the patterns and turning the paper into colorful origami -unlike Flynx who wouldn't care if the wrapping paper was plain white paper.

"Hurry up!" Flynx whined and fidgeted a little, unable to help himself.

Miles watched Lixa's progress for a few moments before he crawled on his hands and knees to her and stared as the gift was revealed.

Lixa's hazel eyes brightened excitedly as a pack of color pencils and stencils were revealed. With her artistic talent stencils and color pencils were her best friend. Besides her stuffed animals of course. "Stencils!" She gasped excitedly, "and color pencils!"

Cynthia and Leon both smiled, they enjoyed seeing the looks on their children's faces during this time, it made them seem so much more innocent and cuddly. "It's Flynx's turn now," Cynthia told them before she addressed her son, "behave Flynx."

Flynx nodded before his father released him and he calmly -or at least as calmly as he could get- walked to the tree and pulled a box out before he sat on the floor and ripped apart the wrapping paper, positively giddy from excitement. He grinned a huge grin when the present turned out to be a hat, a special hat. The hat was the same hat that he had been begging his mom to buy for the past month. It was his first very own baseball cap, and the seven-year-old loved hats -for some weird reason.

The twins were next, Leon leaned forward and pulled a blue and a green cushy matching cushy looking presents before he handed one to Cynthia and plopped Miles into his lap.

Cynthia put Cleo down in her lap and the four-year-old rubbed her eyes before she beamed at the sight of a present that was hers.

Miles looked over at his sister, waiting to make sure she was okay and ready before he opened his. Almost in sync, the pair began tearing apart the wrapping paper with their parents' help, to reveal matching blankets, that Lixa and Flynx complained about how it wasn't fair. The blankets were super fuzzy small throw blankets, which was perfect for the young twins. Miles' was a bright light blue with flecks of deep forest green, and Cleo's was a shimmering sunset color that drew her attention like a magnet. Miles smiled at his parents and pushed the blanket against Leon's face, "It soft! Look Daddy!"

Leon laughed, "yes it is Miles, it's very soft buddy."

Miles giggled and took the blanket from his father's face to put it on the ground and throw himself at it giggling madly.

Cleo on the other hand simply snuggled into the blanket and dozed, waiting for her next turn.

:)

By the time all the presents were opened, the floor was covered in new things and a barage of wrapping paper, Flynx was staring happily at the legos he got, Lixa was stenciling something with her new stencils, Miles was playing with his new toy cars -an obsession he seemed to have gotten from his father,- Cleo was asleep in Cynthia's lap snuggled into her new blanket, Cynthia had some new jewelry from Leon and chemistry related stuff with from stuffed animals from the kids, and Leon had a new kind of bullet that acted as a taser from Cynthia along with a whole army of toy cars from all the kids. Now they only had to tear the kids away from their new gifts to get ready to go to Bree's where the gang was meeting up.

Cynthia wasn't looking forward to it, that was for sure. "Lixa, get the stuff you want to bring to Bree's together please," she told her oldest who was usually pretty responsible, "we're probably going to be sleeping over."

Lixa tore her eyes away from her stencil after she put down her pencil and looked up at her mother. "Okay Mom," she said, her tone laden with disappointment.

"You can bring your stencils with you," Cynthia said as she picked Cleo up while trying not to wake her. A crabby toddler was not what she wanted to deal with on Christmas of all days.

Lixa brightened and shot off up the stairs to her bedroom to fetch the stuff she needed for the activity.

Leon rapped gently on the brim of his oldest son's cap, "Flynx, that includes you."

Flynx groaned before he reluctantly looked up at his father, "okay…" he mumbled and pushed himself to his feet before he trudged unhappily to the stairs.

"Come on squirt," Leon pulled Miles to his feet, "lets go get ready," his voice died off when he noticed that Cynthia aburptly knelt back down on the floor before she leaned over and carefully lowered Cleo to the rug that covered most of the hard wood flooring of the living room. "What's," he then cut himself off after he realized what exactly was going on. "Come on Miles, lets leave Mama to help your sister," he said and picked him up before he walked toward the stairs while Cynthia handled Cleo's siezure. If Miles realized what was going on with his twin he would start bawling and make it nearly three times as hard to get him ready for the activity.

:) :) :)

"Cynthia's exhausted," Holly mused with a chuckle as she glanced over at her sister-in-law who was knocked out on the couch in the living room with her set of twins snoozing next to her. "Christmas harder now that the twins aren't babies Leon?"

Leon groaned, "you have no idea, they are near polar opposites, and with how senstative Cleo's condition is it's caos Christmas morning."

Bree laughed, she was seated at the large table with the other adults in the adjoning dining room, leaning forward on her arms and hanging her head slightly. "I know what it's like, it's pretty difficult when Catie decided that Lion and Blissie need presents too." The mentioned cat slunk around the hallway corner, his piercing amber eyes trained curiously on his owner with his highly advanced collar that allowed translations from a 'meow' to a human voice, and other things was hanging around it's neck. Blissie lifted her head from where she -the chocolate lab- was lying sprawled in the living room with some of the kids petting her and rubbing her belly.

"How? They're pets, it's not that hard." Leon replied, "now two rambunctious toddlers, that's hard."

"You forget that our pets speak," Jay grunted to his brother with a roll of his eyes from where he was sitting next to Bree and massaging the back of her neck and shoulders, "and that Lion can be pretty picky about the things he owns."

"One semi moody teenage cat," Jay grunted, "searching for a present for him, now that's a nightmare."

Bree giggled slightly and rolled her neck, testing to see if the soreness would go away.

Holly chuckled, she was sitting in her seat with a thermos of hot chocolate in front of her mde by Finli before they had arrived here at Bree and Jay's rather spacious house. "Well Merry Christmas everyone, lets hopefully have a good year shall we?


	115. Halloween Special! (Not Mutants)

**_~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~_**

 _The song is called Perfect by Ed Sheeran! ^_^ I did? You seem to be babysitting 24/7! XD  
_

*Caylee groans but lets you hug her* "Yay, hugs..."

 _Definitely! XD I'm gonna write a chapter about Bree and Jay with their pets ^_^ Lion's a pain in the tail XD_

 ** _~Silver-Rose Writes~_**

 _Bree has two kiddos, one named Caylee and the other is Cody ^_^ Connor is Holly's ^_^_

 ** _~Venomheart the Dreamer~_**

 ** _*_** _cough, cough ***** Sorry about that, I removed the lyrics and the chapter entirely, have a good day and I apologize for the inconvenience :)_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _Talking animals galore! :D :D :D_

 _Merry what? I don't understand! My computer of a brain doesn't register ^_^_

Bree hugs Featherflight, "Thank you! Merry Christmas and Happy New years!"

Jay rolls his eyes, "I don't need a reminder that I'm getting old."

Holly smiles, "Thanks Featherflight! Happy New Years to you!"

 _Really? That song is amazing! :D :D_

 ** _Here's Brody's response to your question about Caydy being real, which I PMed you about :) (he actually reviewed this XD)_**

"Featherflight123 yes Caylee and Brody are in a relationship in real life. Yes Brody is just as dense in real life, after all I'm him XD. The relationship in real life is a bit different, for one she puts up with my hugs." ~The Lord Oblivion a.k.a Brody Templeton

 ** _~The Lord Oblivion~_**

 _Hiya Brody! :D I'm dying of exhaustion today! :P Seriously though, my brain is melting!_

 ** _~Mina Harrker~_**

 _Awsomeness I agree! :D :D :D_

* * *

 _ **~This is soooo late! Ah! Sorry guys! I didn't finish this until late last night even though it's the Halloween Special! XD The Mutants one should be uploaded at some point in time (sorry for the delay) But anyway, I hope you all have a good day and welcome back to school those who go to school!~**_

 _ **Tigercry**_

* * *

 _Leon… Stop Scaring the Twins!_

Cleo pulled a disgusted face and pushed her lunch away from her, the toddler was sticking her tongue out as well, as if something really didn't taste good. "icky."

Miles did the same from his high chair, his face pinching into a look of confusion and disgust. "yeah."

Cynthia looked sharply over at them when Miles pushed his plate off his high chair so it hit the floor and Cleo followed his example. "What's wrong now?" Usually, the twins loved quesadillas for lunch, so what in StarClan had happened to make them not eat it and throw it to the floor.

Lixa and Flynx stared at their younger siblings, shocked that they had pushed their plates off of their highchairs and make a mess.

Cleo started spitting up as an attempt to get rid of the taste and Cynthia's eyes widened, uh oh. "No, no no," she shot to her feet with the intentions of stopping Cleo before the action made her involuntarily throw up, and banged one of her knees on the table in the process. Cynthia slapped a hand over her mouth and muffled a curse word so her kids wouldn't hear it while her blue eyes watered in pain and she hurriedly limped over toward Cleo, "don't keep spitting up Cleo," she said, her voice heavy with pain that was flaring from her knee. After the surgery she had had done on her right knee, the bang against the table was not helpful. "You'll…"

Cleo promptly vomited, getting it all over the front of her clothes and the table of her highchair.

"...puke." Cynthia sighed and hung her head from where she was now leaning against the two highchairs, visibly frustrated and defeated.

Then Lixa noticed something and she recoiled. "Mama there's something green in their food!"

Cynthia adopted a look of confusion and knelt to look at the twins' food now all over the food while Cleo blinked in confusion at what exactly had just happened. Sure enough something was green, and with a flash of annoyance Cynthia recognized it as Leon's pranking food gel. "Leon," she said through gritted teeth as she stood up and Cleo started crying when she realized what exactly had happened, "you are in so much trouble."

Lixa and Flynx exchanged confused glances, what had their father done now?

:(

By the time Leon returned, Cynthia had given the twins baths, given both of them sippy cups with apple juice, and settled them down for a short nap while she cleaned up the kitchen and had Lixa and Flynx go watch a cartoon Halloween movie in the living room. Currently she was scrubbing down Cleo's highchair, her black hair in a messy high pony as she cleaned the toddler's earlier accident from the highchair and the high chair table.

The front door creaked open as Leon stepped inside, grocery bags hanging from his arms.

Nobody in the house said anything as he stepped in, the two oldest kids were both engrossed in their movie and worried about what their mother was going to do to him.

Leon looked confused, "uh, silence treatment today?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen where Cynthia was cleaning Cleo's high chair and the twins' lunch remained on the floor in the adjoining dining room. "Woah, what happened here?" He then recoiled slightly and wrinkled his nose, "and which of the twins puked?"

Cynthia narrowed her eyes and scooped up a nearby newspaper before she rolled it up and smacked him in the forehead with it. "It is your fault, you pranked the twins for Halloween and they didn't appreciate it." She told him hotly, "and for your information, Cleo puked because she was spitting up trying to get rid of the awful taste of your prank food gel." She finished and threw the newspaper at him before she continued scrubbing the high chair.

"Oh," Leon said as he nodded slowly, "I didn't think she would puke," he admitted and put the groceries on the kitchen counter. "Lixa and Flynx haven't done that in the past."

Cynthia gave him the stink eye as she brushed her bangs from her face, "You better make yourself scarce before I nail you with this sponge."

Leon's amber eyes widened and he promptly started running as Cynthia drew her arm back like she was going to throw the foul smelling sponge at him. "I'm going! I'm going!"

XD :D :) :D

Cynthia was standing next to the table with the other adults as she had a conversation with her sister Haliah while Ivory was watching the proceedings, a firm scowl fixed on her pretty face, from the silver tiara Braxton had decided to get as a joke but Lixa had insisted on Ivory wearing it. But she jumped when she heard a crash as Miles toppled off the couch with a yelp.

"Boo!" Leon exclaimed and suddenly Miles' twin gave a loud scream of fright before she sat down on the floor with a bump and burst into tears.

Cynthia spun around to look at her youngest children to assess the situation before she would go and make sure that they were both okay.

Leon was crouching on the floor in front of Cleo with a creepy looking animal mask that he was currently holding up so he could see his bawling daughter.

Miles was rubbing his head and sniffling, but the three-year-old boy seemed to be okay after his tumble off the couch at seeing his father's mask.

Cleo on the other hand was practically sobbing and was currently pushing herself awkwardly to her feet to totter over to her mother for comfort. Her green eyes were glazed and distant and she couldn't see, so she hadn't seen her father's mask, she had only heard him exclaim Boo to scare her.

"Leon!" Cynthia exclaimed a moment later and bent down as her youngest daughter clung to her left leg and hid behind her, still crying, "will you please stop scaring the twins!" She picked up Cleo who buried her face in her mother's shoulder still crying. "You made Cleo cry and Miles fall off the couch this time!" She retorted irritably as she walked over to the couch and picked up Miles before she set him down on the couch once more.

Miles looked at his mother, "scary!" He yelped and pointed to the animal mask, his baby blue eyes round with his exclamation and his earlier scare.

"I know," Cynthia ruffled her son's black hair, "daddy's being mean isn't he?"

Miles cocked his head half an inch before he nodded firmly, "daddy mean!"

Leon looked slightly guilty, even more so as his older children came over to see what had happened.

Lixa gasped and she narrowed her eyes at her father, "Stop scaring them!" She huffed to her father in a way that only a eight-year-old could once she had connected the dots, "you're hurting Cleo's feelings!"

"I'm sorry Princess," Leon told his oldest daughter apologetically with guilt in his tone, "I just wanted to make them prepared for Halloween."

Flynx the four-year-old shook his head, "no daddy! Give candy 'nstead!" He replied and looked up at his mother, "can I?" Cynthia nodded and Flynx took a starburst from his pocket, unwrapped the candy, and handed it to his brother who eagerly stuffed in his mouth and smiled at his brother before he giggled and leaned forward to hug him.

"Tank you!"

Lixa on the other hand pulled Cleo's aquamarine blanket that had her name scrawled in cursive letters on it and handed it to her mother who tucked it around the now hiccuping toddler who's crying had died to hiccups. "Be nice to the them!" She huffed at her father and walked away to go rejoin the rest of the kids.  
Flynx got out of Miles' grip, smiled at his mother, and gave his father a flat look, "be nice daddy," before he ran after his older sister.  
Leon sighed, put the animal mask down on a chair, and scooped up his youngest son, "I'm sorry bud," he apologized to his toddler, "that was mean."

Miles crossed his arms over his chest, "really mean daddy!" He said around the starburst in his mouth.

Leon nodded, "I'm sorry."

Miles beamed at his father and hugged him, "'s okay!"

Leon then looked at his daughter who's blind green eyes were half closed and still full of tears. "Cleo, daddy's sorry for scaring you pumpkin."

Cleo started crying again, hugging her mother's neck in the process and crying at the sound of her father's voice. Clearly she wasn't quite ready to hear her father talk to her after the scare he had given her.  
Cynthia gave Leon the stink eye -at which Miles giggled- and walked to a different room to soothe their crying daughter and maybe put her down for a nap. Hopefully Cleo's sight would return by the time Cynthia and Leon went and took their kids out trick-or-treating, otherwise she probably wouldn't be going.

XD XD XD XD

"Alright, are you ready Lixa?" Leon asked his oldest daughter who was spinning around the living room in her safari themed costume giggling at her mother's playful teasing and compliments on her outfit while she tried to convince Cleo to put on the tiger costume.

"No mama!" Cleo huffed and the three-year-old pushed away the tiger costume, annoyance flickering in her green eyes. "I no wanna be Tigger!"

Laughter was in Cynthia's eyes as she responded to her toddler's anger. "It's not tigger princess," She laughed, "it's a tiger, like the cats Lixa likes so much."

Cleo's green eyes lit up, "tiger?" She asked, poking at the costume.

Cynthia nodded, "yes, it's a tiger."

Cleo smiled at her mother and plopped down to her sitting on the ground, with her feet lifted like she was waiting for Cynthia to help her put the costume on over her pjs.

Cynthia rolled her eyes and began to help the toddler put on her costume, a faint grin on her face at her daughter's antics..

Leon was helping Flynx fit the safari car costume over the modified double stroller that the twins would be in when they got tired from the walking and when they were going between hourses. This way they wouldn't have to carry them the entire time.

"I'm ready daddy!" Lixa smiled at her father as she put on the safari ranger's hat with a bright smile.

"Roar!" Miles rushed over to his sister and made a roar, his arms high in the air as he did so. With his chest puffed out proudly. He was in a soft lion's costume, and clearly he was happy being in the fluffy costume that was his favorite animal.

Lixa flinched and giggled, "Miles has a big roar!"

Miles smiled and proceed to run to his mother and roar at her too.

Cynthia laughed, "goo job Miles, your a real lion!" She was almost finished with getting Cleo into her costume, with just the hood and a sleeve to go.

"Mama! I roar too!" Cleo said in an attempt to not being outshined by her twin. "Roar!" She nearly hit Cynthia in the face with one of her hands, but her mother just laughed, unfazed by nearly getting slapped in the face by her youngest daughter.

"We have two big and strong roaring cats," Cynthia teased as she pulled the hood up of Cleo's costume and zipped up the front. She looked up at Leon, "is the cart ready?"

Leon nodded, "it's all working, thank heavens for Bree's help in making it."

Flynx smiled, "I helped too!" He was a safari ranger like Lixa, but where she had a skirt, shorts, safari shirt, and hat, Flynx had cargo pants, a safari collared shirt, a safari hat, walkie talkie, and a com like thing in his left ear. "Lets go!"

"Yeah!" Lixa grinned, "lets go get candy!"

"Candy!" The twins exclaimed from where they were now sitting in Cynthia's lap side by side with identical smiles on their faces.

:) :) :)

Cynthia yawned as she guided the twins to their bedroom, Leon was tucking Lixa in and reading her a story, and Flynx had passed out in the stroller a few houses away from their house, so putting him to bed had been easy. The twins, not so much. Cleo was fussy, crying about how she didn't want to go to sleep, and Miles was so tired that the toddler could hardly walk straight.

"I no wanna!" Cleo cried, clinging to her mother's leg, "No sleepy!"

Cynthia was beginning to develop a headache as well with the noise and from the stress of the day. "Sorry Pumpkin," she said to her daughter as she continued to lead Miles toward their bedroom and dealt with Cleo clinging to her leg, "but you need to sleep before you have a seizure or a sugar rush."

"No!" Cleo wailed, crying with her face buried into her mother's jeans as Cynthia kept walking. "I no like seeping!"

Cynthia leaned down and picked up Miles as she stopped next to his bed, "g'night Miles," she said as she put him down on the bed and tucked him in while temporarily ignoring her wailing youngest, "sleep tight little one," she leaned down and kissed her son's forehead as his blue eyes drooped closed.

"Mama!" Cleo wailed, tugging at her mother's pants, "I no want dream!"

Cynthia's head snapped over to look at Cleo and her blue eyes softened, now she understood why the youngest child didn't want to go to bed. She gently scooped up her daughter, "you've been having nightmares Cleo?" She hadn't known because usually Leon put the twins to bed, and he had a bad habit of getting frustrated with the kids if they weren't going to bed and giving up, putting up the twins' rails and leaving them to tire themselves out.

Cleo stopped crying and hiccuped before she nodded and rubbed one of her eyes, "scary deam," she sniffled and rubbed at one of her eyes.

Cynthia nodded, pulled a blanket from Cleo's bed, and walked over to the rocking chair she hadn't bothered to get rid of just yet before she sat down in it with her youngest and got comfortable, allowing Cleo to fall asleep knowing that she was there. "If you get a nightmare I'll be right here," Cynthia promised her daughter gently as she spread out the blanket and tucked it around her, "Go to sleep Pumpkin," she said and brushed her fingers through Cleo's bangs while she began to softly sing to her, singing a quiet lullabye.

That was what Leon found when he went into the room half an hour later, wondering where Cynthia had disappeared to. He chuckled softly, his amber eyes soft as he gazed at the sleeping mother and daughter.

Cynthia was asleep or dozing, her head leaned back against the back of the chair, arms curled around her daughter, and her feet were propped up using the ottoman she had gotten after Lixa was born, having complained about how the chair had a tendency to hurt her back.  
Cleo was curled up snuggle\


	116. Singing number 10 REWRITE

**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**

 _ha ha ha XD  
Yeah, Leon's in so much trouble :P_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _huh, that's fascinating!  
I agree, Leon would be an amazing father ^_^_

* * *

 _ **This is a temporary chapter, it's only gonna be up for a little while because I'm not sure if this song is public domain or not. If it's not here then it'll be on Wattpad under my name Tigercry ^_^**_

* * *

 _Sad Song REWRITE_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 19_

 _"Leave me alone!" Cynthia's voice rose to a high pitch as she tugged on his grip on her wrist, "let me go, Leon!" She cried, her hands were shaking as she tried to pry his fingers from her wrist, tears were trickling down her face and the liquid half blinded her._

 _"Let me explain!" Leon pleaded with her, his heart was breaking at seeing how torn up she was, StarClan he never meant for this to happen! He never meant to do this to her! One argument where he overstepped his bounds caused one thing to happen after another, and now he was dealing with Cynthia's reaction to the whole thing. "I didn't mean to do it, Cynthia!"_

 _Cynthia vigorously shook her head, "I don't care! Let me go!" She was getting hysterical, the gentle and feisty singer was broken, her pride was smashed, her heart was broken to pieces, and her trust in the one person she needed to have in her life had been shattered. "I don't want you touching me!"_

 _Leon pleaded with her, "Please let me explain! I didn't mean to hurt you!"_

 _"You did!" Cynthia cried, "let me go!"_

 _"I didn't mean to cheat on you!" Leon exclaimed, trying to get her to see that he hadn't meant to do any of it._

 _That broke the floodgate, Cynthia started sobbing, almost unable to speak anymore through the force of her emotions and the betrayal she was feeling, "let me go…" She sobbed, pulling fruitlessly against his grip, "please…"_

 _Leon's heart broke when she looked at him, her blue eyes were round from the earlier shock, red-rimmed from her tears and tears swam in her beautiful blue eyes. "Cynthia…"_

 _"Let me go…" Cynthia pleaded brokenly, "let me go Leon…"_

 _Leon felt a hand on his shoulder and his brother spoke up, "let her go, Leon," Jay said, his tone was calm but anger simmered beneath the surface. "She's going to hyperventilate."_

 _Leon numbly did as his brother asked and released Cynthia's wrist, his amber eyes followed her as she fled from him, running away toward where Bree walked in the front door and colliding with her hard enough that Bree was knocked backward into the wall._

 _Bree's amber eyes widened and the brunette quickly dropped everything_ in _her arms to envelope Cynthia in a tight hug, still sitting on the floor with her crutches sprawled on the floor nearby._  
 _Cynthia finally broke down, blubbering as she buried her face into her friend's shoulder and howled, a huddled mess on the floor with Bree hugging her and gently comforting her._  
 _Holly walked in the door a moment later and quickly knelt down, resting one hand on her sobbing friend's back, her green eyes were highly concerned and worried even as Bree gently rocked slightly from side to side, quietly hushing Cynthia's cries. She looked up at Leon who just gazed brokenly back at her. "What happened?" Holly asked, having been gone for the past few days._  
 _Leon turned around and started numbly up the stairs, hearing his brother answer for him._

 _"Leon and Cynthia had an argument last night and Leon…"_

 _Leon couldn't hear the rest of the sentence as he disappeared up the stairs and went into his and Cynthia's room for the first time since his and Cynthia's argument where he froze, staring at the room, having stayed in his brother's room for the night. It was a mess, Cynthia seemed to have been more upset than he thought she had. The room was a complete mess, Cynthia had strewn books, art supplies, clothes, blankets, notebooks, and even all of her small notebooks that held all of her lyrics were all over the floor, one of the lyric books was laying on the floor face up with a few pages ripped out and crumpled up or torn and shredded. The bed was messy, with all of Leon's blankets on the floor while Cynthia's were messy enough that Leon could tell that she had tossed and turned for a while. Cynthia was usually a decently heavy sleeper and hardly moved when she was asleep once she found a comfortable spot, so the blankets were usually pretty neat if she had slept well. He numbly went over to the open lyric book and looked at the open page that had newer ink and was written in an angry and messy scrawl of Cynthia's. The title was 'Don't let me Stop you' and Leon looked blankly out the window. "What have I done…" he breathed aloud._

* * *

Leon looked back at his computer screen, he had been watching stuff on youtube when he got a notification from his laptop from youtube from Cynthia's youtube channel with the title, My Excuse For Not Uploading Videos. He was half tempted to click on it and half tempted not too, simply because he wasn't sure what he was going to survive watching it. Bracing himself he put on headphones and clicked on it, holding his breath as it loaded. Guilt bit at his gut when it did load and began. Cynthia had her face camera on and was weakly smiling at the screen, her blue eyes were still red-rimmed and she looked just as broken as when she had that few days ago.

"Hey SapphireSquad," Cynthia started, her blue gaze flickering downward toward the desk, like she was struggling to make the video in the first place. "I apologize a thousand times for not uploading lately, but I've honestly not been mentally fit to make any videos and I lost a few of my latest song lyrics. I know I'm starting to sound like a messed up excuse maker, so I'll tell you guys what's going on, or more like what happened." She fidgeted slightly in her chair and cleared her throat before she began, "a few days ago I had an argument with my boyfriend, which you know, every couple argues, and we've had some pretty big ones, but this one was terrible and it involved my chosen career as a musician and YouTuber."  
Leon felt even more guilty, he had accidentally said that she should choose a different career and that it was a little silly being a YouTuber.

"Anyway, so we argued and he left, walking out the front door and leaving me by myself in the house I share with CheerfulCuriousity," Cynthia continued, "I admit that I totally ruined me and my boyfriend's bedroom and tore some of the lyrics in my lyric book out, but hey," She tried to look indignant, "I was super upset and hurt about the whole thing. Anyway," her face fell to a more sad expression, "He stayed in his brother's room and I overheard them talking, more like yelling the next morning and I found out that he had…" She hesitated and her shoulders hunched slightly like she was trying to protect and reassure herself, "he cheated on me, and I can't just forgive him, I-It's not even as simple like he kissed a different girl or whatever… Anyway, I confronted him later that afternoon after crying enough that I gave myself a headache, and he admitted it and tried to explain to me what happened but I couldn't handle it and refused to let him explain. He broke my trust and it's been really hard for me." She sighed and ran one hand through her hair, "so I'm sorry but there won't be any videos till I recover from this." She sighed, cradling her head in her hands, "my life is screwed up." She then said a sentence that made Leon feel like he had stabbed himself in the heart. "We were supposed to be getting engaged," Cynthia whispered as she lifted her head and rested her arms back on the table, her blue gaze distanced slightly like she wasn't completely focused on the task at hand. "He's taken me out to look at rings," she sounded a little choked up now, "and possible places for the whole proposal." she bit her lower lip for a few moments and Leon knew she was keeping her lip from trembling from her emotions. "We've talked about possible wedding colors, styles, and even a possible time." She closed her eyes for a moment and Leon guessed she was reorganizing her thoughts. "So yeah, sorry everyone, but I can't upload until I can recover properly," tears were pricking at the corners of her eyes now and Leon felt even worse than before, "I wish you all tons of luck with everything you do till the next time I upload, until next time." The video switched to her exit screen, with some of her music being background music and a few links to her channel, art videos, game videos, and music videos.  
Leon paused it and ran one hand through his blonde hair, he felt terrible, even worse than before. He scrolled down to the comments, looking at the comments pinned at the top.

 _ **CheerfulCuriousity** (Official)(Pinned by SapphireGleam)_

 _Guys, I know that you all want to kill the boy_

 _who screwed up and cheated on Sapphire,_

 _but you all need to understand that he's an impulsive person_

 _and that it was an accident. In no way does that excuse his actions,_

 _but that does mean that everyone should be considerate of_

 _what he is going through as well._

 _ **PerfectGrumpyTone** (Official)(Pinned by SapphireGleam)_

 _I agree with Cheerful, while yes, he definitely deserves to be kicked into next week,_

 _think about him as well. I wish you luck Sapphire and feeling better_

 _(it gets better over time, take it from me) and I will hunt that boy down_

 _if you or Cheerful would like me too._

 _ **LeafofIntelligence** (Official)(Pinned by SapphireGleam)_

 _Sorry about my pain in the butt of a brother Sapphire, he's pretty impulsive and_

 _tends to make terrible decisions when he's angry,_

 _so I hope you forgive him for his actions._

 _He loves you a heck of a lot and I hope you feel better soon,_

 _you can always come to me or Cheerful if you'd like,_

 _we're always here for you Saph._

Leon felt both worse, and better knowing that their friends were there to support her while he had screwed up and didn't know how to fix it. He skimmed through other comments, looking at what other people said and feeling his guilt worsen at the comments directed toward him and their rude words and threats, but he stumbled onto another comment and blinked, noticing how the person had defended him.

 _ **Banannasrule2018**_

 _Guys, the guy's actions are uncalled for I wholeheartedly agree,_

 _but what's the point of being rude to him? Three trusted YouTubers_

 _are telling us to be easy on him because it was an accident,_

 _stop bad mouthing him and be nice. Everyone makes mistakes,_

 _and while his actions are a terrible mistake, that doesn't mean_

 _we should make him feel worse! What if he was reading through the comments_

 _right now? I hope the guy reads this comment_

 _because I'm sure I'm one of the few not bad mouthing him_

 _and getting all upset at him. I know his actions were terrible and I agree,_

 _but not everyone can be as perfect as Sapphire,_

 _and I hope he knows what he's now missing out on,_

 _SapphireGleam's incredible! And SapphireGleam,_

 _if he doesn't see that you're the best girl out there in the world_

 _then it's his problem._

 _Leon blinked in surprise when before his eyes Cynthia responded to the comment._

 _ **SapphireGleam** (Official)_

 _I wouldn't be surprised if he did read through these,_

 _he has a habit of guilt-tripping himself after something bad happens,_

 _thank you Banannasrule2018, you're correct, it was an accident, I'm aware that it was._

 _But it's not something that can be forgiven after a few days,_

it _takes time to rebuild that trust and I haven't seen him try to apologize either, so it'll take time._

 _I'm flattered you think so highly of me, it's a gladly appreciated compliment,_

 _it's nice to know that my viewers and trusted fans (even if some of you are crazy)_

 _are still there and are still supporting me. Thank you Banannasrule2018,_

 _I hope your day will be bright like a_ sappire

Leon closed his laptop, feeling as guilty as before and wishing with all his heart that he could go back in time and prevent himself from cheating on Cynthia.

* * *

Leon jogged over to Cynthia as she was leaving the school, "Cindy wait!"

Cynthia tensed and shot off, sprinting away from him just as he was about to touch her shoulder, "leave me alone!" She yelled over her shoulder as she sprinted back into the school and threw open the door to a stairwell before racing up the stairs. She didn't want to talk to him, she didn't. He broke her in more ways than one, and there was no way in the world she was going to let him break her even more. _I don't want to! He will hurt me even more!_ Cynthia thought in a slightly panicked state and ran faster, able to hear his pounding footsteps a little ways behind her. He cheated on me, I can't talk to him, I just can't! She shoved open the stairwell door, nearly running into a poor sophmore before she swerved out of his way, and slid around the corner not breaking her pace. She could hear her heavy breathing in her ears, she could feel her pulse beating erratically as she tried to outrun Leon despite that she knew it was a lost cause, she was never going to escape him…

"Leon! What are you doing?!"

Cynthia couldn't have ever been happier to hear Ivory's voice in her life.

The blonde was standing near one of the lockers, Braxton's arms loosely around her waist, however she pushed Braxton's arms away and moved away from him as Cynthia shot behind her, hiding behind the junior, panting and out of breath while clutching her lyric notebook to her chest.

Leon skidded to a stop in front of Ivory, "I wanted to asked Cynthia to help me with something," he told Ivory, "the talent show's coming up-"

Ivory cut him off with her arms crossed over her chest, "I am well aware of the talent show," she said cooly, "I want to know why you were chasing her up a flight of stairs and down a hallways!" She snapped at him.

"I was trying to ask her to help me with the talent show!" Leon exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air, "that's it!"

Ivory narrowed her eyes, "Leon, Cynthia doesn't want to talk to you, you hurt her and she needs time to heal without you tearing open the healing wounds."

"For StarClan's sake! It was an accident! I didn't mean to do it!"  
"You didn't mean to… you have got to be kidding me," Ivory then snarled, "you didn't mean to go prancing off with Hannah?!"  
"No! I didn't!" Leon replied in exasperation, "I was blinded by anger! I had argued with Cynthia and offended her terribly! I was furious at her and myself! I didn't mean to 'prance off' with Hannah!"

Ivory took a step toward him, "Then why haven't you apologized?!"

"Because she's more skittish than a rabbit!" Leon retorted, "Cynthia's been so skittish around me that I can hardly say even two words to her!"

Cynthia's ears were ringing now and her head was spinning, she needed to go home and either hide somewhere for a while or find somewhere she could relax and possibly sleep.

"Well I wonder why!" Ivory short back, and niether of them noticed that Cynthia started sprinting down the hallwaytoward a different stairwell.

"I didn't mean to!" Leon shot back

"Ivory-" Braxton tried to get her attention.

"Shut it Braxton," Ivory snapped, "she gave everything to you Leon, of course she's skittish! You broke her trust in you!"

"Ivory-" Braxton tried again but this time Leon cut him off.

"I know she has!" Leon retorted, "I know and I can't do anything about it!"

"IVORY!" Braxton yelled, finally getting their attention.

"What?!" Ivory snapped at him, her frustration in Leon before slightly taken out on Braxton.

"Cynthia left," Braxton said calmly, "she ran off, probably to go home."

Ivory nodded before she looked at Leon, "fix this," she growled, "otherwise I will beat you to pulp." She then grasped Braxton by the hand and began pulling him down the hall, silently simmering in anger.

Leon sighed, ran one hand through his hair, and walked down from where he had come up the stairs. I have to apologize, even if I have to trap her to do it.

* * *

Leon crept quietly into Cynthia's bedroom and closed the door behind him. He could hear the water running in her bathroom so he had enough time to drop off his hoodie and stand by the door before she came into the room. He waited as the water turned off, feeling a little nervous, not wanting to trap her but having not much of a choice if he wanted her to potentionally forgive him.

Cynthia came into the room a few minutes later, she used two fingers to brush tears away from her blue eyes as she closed the bathroom door and gave a small hiccup.

Leon's heart stung painfully, knowing that he was the reason for her longer bouts of crying, but it warmed slightly, she looked beautiful. Upset and clearly torn up about something, but beautiful. Cynthia looked like she was going to go to sleep, with her blue soccer shorts and a tank-top, comfortable clothes for her. Her black hair was damp, dripping occasionally from her bangs and down the side of her head to her neck where the water pooled slightly at her collarbones, and she was wearing her glasses, so he assumed she had taken out her contacts. "Cynthia," he said quietly and noticed how she tensed up like a board at his voice, "can I talk to you?"

Cynthia clenched her jaw like she was arguing with herself before she nodded and reluctantly continued moving toward the bed, still intending to go to sleep.

Leon looked around the room, noticing how she hadn't moved anything of his, having instead kept them all clean and organized. The bedroom was much more organized than that last time he had seen it. "You haven't moved any of my stuff," he said, trying to come up with what to say.

Cynthia sat down on the bed and shrugged, not saying anything in return.

Leon pulled a chair from the desk and sat down in it near her, giving her all of the space that she wanted, "I want your help," He said quietly.

"With what?" Cynthia replied, her voice was a little nasally, nodoubt from the crying she had done. "The talent show?"

"Yeah," Leon said, feeling the awkwardness and tension between them seemed to be getting thicker the longer he was in the room. "I was going to do a song but the song I wanted to do got rejected and when I made another one and got it approved I realized that there's a second part… a girl's part." He avoided looking her in the eyes, trying to keep it secret that he had made it for them before he had ruined their relationship.

"Lyrics?" Cynthia asked quietly as she took off her glasses and cleaned them with her shirt and Leon scooted the chair closer before he reached over and dropped her copy onto the bed.

"It starts with me singing these," Leon told her quietly, _"You… and I, we're like fireworks and symphonies exploding in the sky… With you, I'm alive! Like all the missing pieces of my heart, they finally collide…"_ Suddenly he stopped singing abruptly as he felt Cynthia's lips being gently pressed against his own. He tensed up, unsure what to do in this situation. The kiss itself was gentle, chaste, and held a hint of longing, like Cynthia severely missed their relationship and the way it used to be, like when he would build a childish fort out of the blankets of the bed and he'd pull her under it with her where together they would goof off, telling each other ridiculous stories between laughter filled cuddles and kisses. Leon responded to the kiss a moment later, but when his hand brushed the side of her face, Cynthia pulled back, keeping her face still closer to his own like she used to when they had kissed before. She liked to be close enough that she could repeat the action if she felt like it.

"Sorry," her voice was slightly hushed, like she was still caught in the effects of the kiss itself. "I shouldn't have. We're not together anymore." She mumbled, and sat up straight before brushing her bangs behind her ears. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Leon told her sincerely, "I don't mind."

Cynthia closed her eyes, "I shouldn't have kissed you," she shook her head slightly as if slightly in denial, "you cheated on me."

Leon nodded, feeling even more guilty than he already had been, "and I'm sorry, I can apologize a thousand times and always be sorry-"

"We were supposed to be getting married soon Leon!" Cynthia's blue eyes flashed open, and finally Leon got to hear what she had really been thinking. She choked up slightly, her blue eyes glittering with more tears, "I wanted the engagement so bad," Leon's heart stuttered at the past tense, "I wanted to spend my life with you so badly and you threw it away!" She said thickly.

"I know I did," Leon replied, "I honestly didn't mean to do anything with Hannah, I wanted and still want you to marry me Cynthia," He said sincerely, hope fluttering in his heart. "I still want a blue and gold wedding because you chose the colors, I still want to be with you for the rest of my life!"

"Leon," Cynthia said quietly, "you didn't just kiss a different girl," she closed her eyes again, with a few tears escaping her blue eyes, "you did more than that and I can't forgive you right now." She opened her eyes again before she ducked her head, clutching the paper in her hands in a tight grip.

Leon's heart fell and he nodded, feeling a lump growing in his throat as he saw rapid tear droplets splash against the paper that he had laminated, "I know." He stood up, taking his part of the song with him as he did so, "if you forgive me by the time the talent show rolls around please help me with the song." He walked over to the door and looked back at her, looking at her hunched form and speaking in a thick voice. "I love you, you're the only one my heart wants, I love you Cynthia Casi Lawson." He heard Cynthia give a heaving sob once he left and shut the door behind him.

* * *

 _Three Weeks Pass_

Leon sighed heavily as he tightened his neck tie and fixed it's position so that it wasn't crooked. If he was going to do this he didn't want to look dumb while standing on the stage singing by himself and potentially embarrass himself while Cynthia didn't show up to the talent show to help him.

He hoped that Cynthia would forgive him after their conversation inside their bedroom when he had given her the lyrics to the song, but so far she hadn't responded, which ment he didn't know if she would show up. He hadn't even seen her had lunch today, which in of itself was weird. A voice broke him from his thoughts.

"Our next participant is Senior Leonardo Bramble singing Sad Song by We the Kings," The directer for the talent show, who was Diana, introduced Leon, "Leon, will you please come onto the stage?"

Leon adjusted the wireless mic earpiece he had before he pushed through the curtains and onto the stage as the music started. _I can only hope at this point,_ he thought to himself as he waited for his cue which he received a moment later. _"You… and I... we're like fireworks and symphonies exploding in the sky… With you, I'm alive! Like all the missing pieces of my heart, they finally collide. So stop time here in the moonlight, 'cause I don't ever wanna close my eyes!"_ He sang softly, keeping his tone sad and almost depressed, which wasn't that hard in the first place. _"Without you! I feel broke, like I'm half of a whole! Without you I've got no hand to hold! WIthout you I feel torn like a sail in a storm… Without you, I'm just a sad song…"_ He sighed, he didn't see Cynthia, now he was going to be embarrassed and mortified. "I'm just a sad song…" Then his head whipped around as the curtains softly rustled and he heard the sound of Cynthia's sandals against the hardwood flooring.

 _"With you, I fall…"_ She walked closer to him, her blue eyes fixed on his face even as they heard the student body clapping slightly and a few of them whooped at the sight of Cynthia emerging onto the stage. _"It's like I'm leaving all my past in sillhouettes up on a wall…"_ She was actually holding a mic in one hand, having gotten used to singing into a microphone after everything that she did on a daily basis. _"With you, I'm a beautiful mess…"_

Leon could agree with that statement, Cynthia was wearing a royal blue strapless dress with white sandals and her black hair was up in a bun with a blue rose pinned up in the bun itself.

 _"It's like we're standing hand in hand with all our fear up on the edge,"_ Cynthia continued singing, beginning the chorus, _"so stop time right here in the moonlight, 'cause I don't ever wanna close my eyes…"_

Leon's heart swelled with joy as he took over in the song at his part of the chorus and stood next to her, facing her. _"Without you, I feel broke, like I'm half of a whole! Without you I have no hand to hold! Without you I feel torn like a sail in a storm… Without you, I'm just a sad song…."_

Cynthia rejoined in the song, getting lost in the music like she usually did when she sang, _"You're the perfect melody, the only harmony I wanna hear! You're my favorite part of me! With you standing next to me I've got nothing to fear!"_  
Leon smiled, his amber eyes lighting up and softening slightly, _"Without you I feel broke, like I'm half of a whole…"_ He brought one hand up to cup Cynthia's cheek that was closest to the stage as she took over once again.

 _"Without you I've got no hand to hold…"_ Cynthia sang softly.

They both started singing again, raising their voices, _"Without you I feel torn like a sail in a storm!"_

 _"I'm just a sad song,"_ Leon sang as Cynthia lowered her voice and sang in the background, _"Without you I feel broke like Im half of a whole! Without you I have no hand to hold… Without you I feel torn like a sail in a storm!"_ He paused for a moment before continuing, _"Without you I'm just a sad song… I'm just a sad song…"_ His voice faded as the music trailed off and stopped.  
The student body clapped and cheered while Cynthia nervously laughed and Leon chuckled a little with her.  
"With that stunning performance," Diana started to wind down the talent show, talking about the positions and how the top performer or performers would go to the state competition while the second place would go to district and for everyone to vote for the competitors, while Leon and Cynthia slipped off of the stage to wait with everyone else.  
The silence between them was rather awkward as they walked, clearly unsure what to say to eachother even after the performance.

Leon braved the silence and asked her a question, nervousness made his tone wobble slightly. "Thank you for helping me," he said quietly, "even though you didn't have to and I don't deserve it."

"You're wrong," Cynthia responded after a few moments of silence, clearly choosing her words with care. "You deserve my help, you always have." Tendrils that were coming out of her bun were now partially hiding her blue eyes, "always."

Leon looked over at her, "always?"

Cynthia simply nodded, deciding not to say anything, unsure how to respond.

Leon then tentatively asked his next question, "what… what did you decide?"

"I forgive you," Cynthia said quietly and Leon smiled, "but," and Leon's smile turned apprehensive. "I want to go slow, I want to make sure it'll work this time."

Leon smiled at her, "okay, we'll start slow and build up to what we had before."

Cynthia nodded, she was still looking down at the floor walking besides him. "Yeah."

"What else is bothering you?" Leon asked gently, picking up on her behavior pretty quickly. "Is there another but coming?"

Cynthia shook her head, "no." She was then silent for a few moments before she spoke again, "I talked to Hannah a few days ago."

Leon looked surprised, "what did she say?"

"She said when you realized what was going on you left," Cynthia replied quietly and smiled slightly, "and she told me you were ranting about how you had messed up before you left." Her blue gaze drifted over to him, "she apologized to me for taking advantage of you in your angry state."

Leon looked surprise, his surprise was mounting. "She did? Wow, I have to admit that I'm shocked." He said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Cynthia looked up at him, a faint smile gracing her features, "me too, I was stunned, Hannah doesnt usually apologize like that." Her blue eyes softened, "but she saw how it had messed up our relationship and apologized to me, apologizing for taking advantage of you and of not realizing how badly it could ruin our relationship-"

The intercom turned on over the speakers, "Leon and Cynthia please return to the stage along with Mike, Braxton, and Ivory."

Cynthia and Leon looked at eachother, what in the world?

They arrived back on the stage a few moments later, confused and definitely not expecting what happened next. "The winning participant or the talen show is Leon and his companion Cynthia!"

Both of their jaws opened, they hadn't been trying to get to the top three in the first place and they scored first?!

Leon numbly took the trophie, his amber eyes were wide and he glanced at Cynthia, who had a matching look or shock and surprise.

"The student body has selected you two to go to the state competition," Diana smiled at them, "which is in a few months, so if you'd like you can change up your routine or whatever. Bring our school the honor of winning!" She cheered and the rest of the students followed her lead.

Cynthia and Leon locked eyes, determination now showing brightly in their eyes, they had a chance to give their school a parting gift, and despite their current issues they were going to do it. They were going to win state and bring their school the title finally since Leon's parents had went to school.

* * *

It was dark, and Leon was feeling a little nervous, this was it, and he was particularly nervous. They had seen the competition being the last pair to go, but that didn't settle the worry knawing at him and Cynthia. They had been working hard over to past month and a half learning to be able to sing while dancing, and memorizing a dance in the first place. It had taken a lot of trial and fail, but they had enjoyed it. It helped repair Cynthia's damaged heart and make them closer to eachother, helping rebuild their lost relationship. He heard the music quietly start up and Leon watched from his position kneeling on the stage with a white vase in front of him which held a thornless blue rose as half the lights slowly began to turn on as he started singing. _"You… and I... we're like fireworks and symphonies exploding in the sky…"_ He sang as he picked up the rose and stood up with the vase, _"With you, I'm alive! Like all the missing pieces of my heart, they finally collide."_ He put the vase down on the edge of the stage and tucked the rose into one of his suit vest's pockets that they had made a hole for the stem to go through, _"So stop time here in the moonlight, 'cause I don't ever wanna close my eyes!"_ He then walked toward the center of the stage and stood there for a moment with his hands in his pants pockets. He was wearing black slacks, a light blue longsleeve with a royal blue tie, and black suit vest that currently had the rose tucked into one of the pockets. _"Without you! I feel broke, like I'm half of a whole! Without you I've got no hand to hold! Without you I feel torn like a sail in a storm… Without you, I'm just a sad song… I'm just a sad song…"_

The other stage lights slowly turned as the faint sounds of Cynthia's sandals were heard and she started her part, walking over from the edge of the stage. Cynthia was dressed in the blue dress she had been wearing the first time they had sung this, but now she was wearing a navy blue thin cardigan over it to cover her exposed shoulders. _"With you, I fall…"_ She sang softly as she approached Leon who pulled the rose from his pocket and offered it to her after twirling it around his fingers and lightly bowing. _"It's like I'm leaving all my past in sillhouettes up on a wall…"_ She sang as she curtesied to Leon before she turned around and let him weave the rose into the curled bun her black hair was in. _"With you, I'm a beautiful mess…"_ Leon offered her his hand and she took it, allowing him to spin her around once as she continued singing, _"It's like we're standing hand in hand with all our fear up on the edge,"_ she took one of Leon's hands as she sang the words and Leon started to lead the dance they had learned for this which was kind of a vague tango or fox trot. _"so stop time right here in the moonlight, 'cause I don't ever wanna close my eyes…"_ She finished her part quietly and Leon took over the song.

 _"Without you, I feel broke, like I'm half of a whole!"_ Leon sang as he dipped her with a smile before pulling her back up, _"without you I have no hand to hold! Without you I feel torn like a sail in a storm!" He spun her around once again, "Without you, I'm just a sad song…."_

Cynthia joined back in on the song as Leon continued to lead the dance, _"You're the perfect melody, the only harmony, I wanna hear! You're my favorite part of me! With you standing next to me I've got nothing to fear!"_ She trailed off, looking at Leon's amber eyes as he drew her closer for more of a slow dance for a few moments as they traded off parts.

 _"Without you I feel broke, like I'm half of a whole…"_ Leon trailed

 _"Without you I've got no hand to hold…"_ Cynthia sang softly before Leon joined her and together they sang the next line.

 _"Without you I feel torn like a sail in a storm!"_ Cynthia's voice faded to background and Leon sang louder, pulling Cynthia into the kind of dance they had been doing previously. _"Without you..._

 _"Yeah I'm just a sad song… Without you I feel broke like Im half of a whole! Without you I have no hand to hold… Without you I feel torn like a sail in a storm!"_ Leon spun Cynthia around so that she was nearly nose to nose with him as he sang the last few lines. _"Without you I'm just a sad song… I'm just a sad song…"_ he trailed off as the music faded and stopped, his amber eyes were soft and gentle looking at Cynthia's pretty blue eyes.

Cynthia smiled, she was breathing a little faster than normal, but Leon didn't mind nor was he surprised, singing while dancing was hard and it took a lot of air. He smiled as well, happy to see that she was happy.

Applause jerked the two out of their moment and Leon let her go so they could bow, or curtesy in Cynthia's case, and get off of the stage, which they did a few moments later, disappearing backstage and taking a few deep breaths each.

"We did it," Leon said, a smile spreading across his face.

Cynthia nodded, "we did, we did it."

Leon opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted by Diana nearly bowling him over and Bree yanking Cynthia down into a hug.

"You guys were amazing!" Bree squealed happily, hugging Cynthia tightly, "that looked awesome!"

Diana nodded, "my mom would be so proud!"

Diana's mom was the one would had taught them the dance, which they were very grateful for.

"Well I did record it," Holly smiled as she came over to them with Jay, she, Bree, and Jay got in simply using their status', while Diana had gotten in because she was representing their school along with the principal.

"Really?! Let me see!" Diana rushed over to her, allowing Leon to be free of her squeezing hug.

Bree released Cynthia as well, "you two looked like professionals! It was truly spectacular!"

Jay nodded and adjusted his glasses, "no mess ups this time. Even I have to admit that it was nearly perfect."

Cynthia straightened up, "thanks for the compliments guys," she smiled, "now we're just waiting to see if we managed to get first place."

"Contestants please come up to the stage with your school representatives,"

"And that's our que," Leon smiled, nervousness showing in his eyes even as he tentatively grasped Cynthia by the hand before going back toward the stage.

They stood there waiting anxiously, fidgeting slightly and holding their breath every time someone was called going up from tenth place.

"What if we didn't get it?" Cynthia whispered into Leon's ear as the fourth place winner was awarded, "I mean, there's always that possibility…"

"Don't worry, we will," Leon said, trying to reassure them both as he turned his attention to the woman handing out the awards who was calling the top three places.

"Third goes to Yukai Academy student Sean for his guitar solo," The woman said, handing a senior the third place trophie, "second goes to Suiako High student Maikai for her amazing dance routine," she handed the junior the trophie, "and first place goes to," she paused for dramatic effect and Cynthia tightened her grasp on Leon's hand, feeling even more nervous than before.

Cynthia glanced at Leon, unsure if his expression mirrored hers, nervousness and falling hopes.

"Ruxburg High students Leonardo Bramble and his partner Cynthia Lawson!"

Leon's eyes widened and his mouth fell open, they had actually done it? They had won!

He could hear Diana jumping up and down and cheering behind him exclaiming how they had won as the woman handing out the awards handed Leon the trophy who simply stared at it for a few moments before he turned his gaze to Cynthia who had a very peculiar look on her face. Before he could say anything and ask her what that expression was for, she jumped, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him firmly, being particularly excited and having not kissed him in months now.

Leon wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her up as he responded in turn. It was almost like their first kiss outside of a game of truth or dare all over again, Cynthia had done the same thing, given him a funny look that Holly later translated as _'I want to kiss you but I have no idea if it's appropriate right now'_ when they were fifteen before had she leaped at him and nearly knocked him to the ground, kissing him in the middle of the basketball court, apparently too hyped on adrenaline to care. He could hear Diana still bouncing around, even more now that he and Cynthia were kissing on the stage, he could hear Firen apologizing for them breaking the rules in a rather amused tone and the woman who had been giving out the awards lightly chuckling in response, but he was focused on the girl in his arms. He would never do anything to jeopardize their relationship again, not in his lifetime and if he was capable of it.

Cynthia pulled back a few moments later, her blue eyes fixed on Leon's face, her blue eyes triumphant, sparkling with joy, and slightly dazed from the kiss itself. "I missed that," she said in a hushed voice as Leon let her go.

Leon's lips quirked into a smile, "me too."

Then Leon was startled by Diana yanking his arm up as high as she could reach and yell, "We win!"


	117. Wild One-shot number 5 REWRITE

**_~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~_**

 _Sorry, it had a glitch ^-^'_

 _I know right?! How dare she?! XD_

 ** _~Amberdawn~_**

 _It's a request, but maybe? I prefer Hollyleaves (Fallenleaves x Hollyleaf) and Cinderblaze (Lionblaze x Cinderheart) The person who requested it asked my a few times before I agreed since I didn't really see them as a couple..._

 ** _~Arabella 88~_**

 _Thanks! I'm glad that you enjoyed it! ^_^_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _Diana is certainly Diana ^_^ and I agree, I really need to have them in more of the chapters, although I do have an idea nipping at my brain, it's Ivory's take of a spinoff of Flashes Vs. The Dark Blades, and the possibility of showing a little of her past in either fighting for love or hope or Flashes Vs. The Dark Blades ^_^ A snippet for the idea for the Flashes Vs. The Dark Blades is this:_

No! Ivory's vision tunnel focused at the sound of a gunshot. _Braxton!_ She abandoned the sniper rifle she was ordered to be under to fling herself over the edge of the roof to land onto the metal fire escape. "Atol! What are you doing?!"  
"I'm sorry Ivory, I couldn't do anything."  
"Braxton was just shot!"

* * *

 _Cynthia and Leon's Little Girl REWRITE_

 _Cynthia, Leon- 21_

Leon awoke with a start after someone pulled the blankets off of the bed. His amber eyes flashed open and he opened his mouth to complain, but he froze when he saw what was going on.

Cynthia had taken the last blanket off of the bed and she was tucking it into a large nest-like thing made from all of the blankets in the house and any towels she could find as well. She had her black hair in a sloppy ponytail, she was wearing a ruffled and slightly wrinkled tank-top and shorts, and her cheeks and face were slightly flushed, from what he didn't know just yet. Midway through her current activity she straightened her posture and hissed through her teeth, resting one hand on her gently swollen stomach, narrowing her eyes to slits, and flattening her black cat ears against her skull.

"Cyn, you okay?" Leon quickly sat up and got off of the bed before making his way over to her after making sure that his phone was tucked into one of his pockets. " _What's going on?"_ he asked in the wild's language, noticing how she didn't respond to the English.

Cynthia didn't seem to know herself as she gave him a piercing stare and didn't bother replying, too busy hissing in pain to respond.

Leon then called Sarah, since she would know and she would want to know what was going on.

Sarah picked up after a few moments of hesitancy, "Leon, why are you calling at four in the morning?"

"Cyndy's built a nest like a thing and she hissing in pain," Leon quickly rambled in English, "do you know what's going on?"

Sarah drew in a sharp breath, "is whatever she's sitting on wet?"

Leon looked over at his partner who had gained a terrified expression and she was staring down at one of the towels beneath her, which was indeed now wet. Yeah, why?"

"I'll be there in about ten minutes, Cynthia's going to have the baby today. Try to calm her down and help her regain control, she probably has no idea what's going on besides that she feels an intense need to follow her instincts."

Leon bobbed his head, "okay, see you then." He then hung up, put down the phone, and took both of Cynthia's hands, " _you're giving birth Sweetheart,"_ he rumbled in the wild's language and released one of her hands to gently brush her bangs from her face, " _it's going to be okay."_

Cynthia breathed in a deep breath and nodded, still looking incredibly scared, " _Stay with me please,"_ she pleaded with him, " _I can't do this by myself."_

" _I'll be there the entire time,"_ Leon promised and embraced her, holding her to his chest, " _I will help you where ever I can."_

Cynthia whimpered, hiding her face further in his chest, " _Leon I'm scared…"_

" _I know Sunshine,"_ Leon kissed the top of her head, " _It'll be okay."_

:( :) :( :)

" _Are you okay?"_ Leon asked his partner from his position sitting next to her in one of the middle seats of her mom's car because Leon was too worried about his partner to drive them. " _You're starting to sweat,"_ he picked up a clean cloth from the seat next to him and used it to gently wipe his partner's forehead.

Cynthia was sitting in the other middle seat with the seat partially reclined back and her blue eyes squeezed shut as she struggled to breathe, she couldn't wait for the resting period and the contractions stopped for a little while, they hurt really really bad. " _I'm fine Leon,"_ she hissed, getting a little fed up with his worrying, it was causing her already high-stress levels to go even higher. He had been freaking out since Cynthia herself had calmed down and regained control. Not to mention that he fainted abruptly on the stairs and narrowly didn't crash into her sending her tumbling down the stairs. So Cynthia was quickly reaching her limit.

" _Are you sure?_

" _Yes! I'm sure!"_ Cynthia hissed and Leon fell silent for a few moments.

" _You're sweating a lot Sunshine-"_ Leon rumbled, worry coating his tone.

Cynthia abruptly snapped at him, snapping at him and biting at his arm as he reached over to brush her bangs from her face, worried about her. Cynthia jolted back barely a second after she had bitten him, her blue eyes widening like golf balls and she slapped her hands over her mouth, staring at him with wide round eyes. "StarClan I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to!"

Leon had quickly pulled his arm back and covered the spot that she had bitten him at, his amber eyes were hurt and confused about why she had bitten him.

"I'm s-sorry!" Cynthia stammered, "I d-don't know what o-over came me!"

"It's fine." Leon mumbled, and rubbed the spot that was viciously stinging from Cynthia's sharp canine teeth, "doesn't matter."

"It matters!" Cynthia stammered, "I sh-shouldn't have bitten you-" She cut herself off with a small cry of pain, and a low pain filled hiss along with tensing up like a board and pulling her legs up toward her chest slightly.

Leon stayed quiet, sitting silently and watching his partner struggle, understanding that she didn't want his help. He rubbed his arm where she had instinctively bit him,

Sarah glanced back at them through the rear view mirror, worried. This was going to bite Cynthia in the butt, even if the whole thing was an accident and she hadn't meant to bite him and it had been instinctual.

:( :( :( :( :(

" _I'm sorry I didn't mean to bite you!"_ Cynthia whimpered to her partner, she had a death grip on his wrist, her blue eyes were wild and downright terrified, " _please come with me!"_ She pleaded with him, " _I don't want to do it alone!"_

Leon couldn't look her in the eye, knowing that his partner was scared, very, very scared. " _I won't go anywhere Sunshine,"_ He attempted to soothe her without looking her in the eye. He also covered her hands clamped around his wrist, " _I'll be out here the entire time."_

" _No! I want you to come with me!"_ Cynthia stepped closer to him and buried her face into his chest, " _I can't do it on my own! I need your help!"_

Leon brushed his thumb over her knuckles, getting her to loosen her grip on his wrist, " _You'll be fine Sweetheart, it'll be okay."_

" _I want you to help me!"_ Cynthia whined, trying desperately to convince her partner that she was sorry about biting him earlier and that she needed his help, " _I want your support!"_

" _You have it,"_ Leon rumbled, " _you have my support Cyn."_

Cynthia burst into tears, howling, " _Why won't you go with me?!"_ The wild howled, " _I want your help!"_

Leon couldn't look at her anymore, she didn't want him there, he couldn't go through it knowing that she didn't really want him there in the first place. " _No you don't Cyn, you don't need my help, you can do it by yourself."_ he brushed her bangs from her face, " _Youl'l be fine-"_

Cynthia took a few stumblings steps back, looking at him through hurt and tearfilled azure blue eyes, " _No I won't! I need my partner's help!"_ The wild's lower lip trembled slightly as she whimpered her next words, " _Do you not want the baby?"_ She whimpered brokenly as her grip on his wrist went lax, " _O-or did I do something wrong?"_

Leon shook his head, " _you didn't do anything wrong,"_ he leaned toward her and gently kissed her forehead, " _but I know you can do it by yourself, you'll be fine Sweetheart."_

Cynthia didn't look reassured, she looked more broken, hurt and confused, not sure what she had done to make her partner not want to help her while she brought their first child into the world which was hard enough on her to not have her partner there.

The nurse gently grasped Cynthia by the wrist, "come on, you don't have a lot of time till you start active labor Cynthia."

Cynthia's blue eyes flickered with something as she continued to stare brokenly at her partner.

The nurse urged her a little more, this time speaking in their language, " _Cynthia, you don't have a lot of time if you want to make sure the area is safe."_

Cynthia nodded numbly to her and looked at her partner, betrayal flashing across her expression before she simply uttered one phrase in english. "You don't want the baby do you?" she mumbled before she turned and let the nurse led her to one of the empty rooms, her shoulders were hunched like she was trying to make herself smaller and her black cat ears were drooping miserably against her skull.

Leon watched, his jaw clenched as he did so, _I'm really sorry Sunshine, but you don't want me there._

:( :( :( :(

Leah opened the door to the dimly lit room, she had always liked how the rooms in the wild's hospital were more like a normal room than a hospital room, and how there was always soft music played as an attempt to soothe the patient. Her patient was curled up on the floor in the middle of what looked like a nest made from blankets, towels, and anything else soft that was in the room itself. She was half sitting up, curled in a ball with her chin resting on the edge of the soft nest and her hands gently resting on her stomach with her fingers splayed. The wild seemed to be out of it, distant and mentally far away. " _Cynthia,"_ she spoke in the wild's language, making it easier for the wild to understand her in her current state, " _how're you feeling?"_

" _Leave me alone,"_ Cynthia lightly hissed, " _you're not my partner."_  
" _I know, but he sent me to make sure you're okay while you give birth,"_ Leah told her quietly as she approached her, keeping her movements slow so that Cynthia could react if she chose to. " _Any pain?"_

" _I've been in pain since I woke up this morning,"_ Cynthia growled in a hostile tone, " _of course I'm in pain."_

" _Cynthia,"_ Leah knelt in front of her at the edge of the nest, " _it's me, Leah, not some random doctor, me."_

Cynthia's attitude changed from hostile to more miserable as she lifted her head and turned to look at her, " _Leah?"_

Leah nodded, " _It's me Cynthia, I'm here to make sure you and your baby end up being healthy,"_ she smiled at her, " _and to make sure your alright while Leon's not here."_

Cynthia shuffled to one side, making more space in the nest so that Leah could sit next to her as well. " _I'm okay,"_ she mumbled, " _My partner…"_ She hesitated and changed what she was going to say, " _is outside."_

Leah nodded, " _I know, I talked to him for a moment,"_ She knelt next to Cynthia inside the nest, " _may I?"_

Cynthia nodded and moved her arms to be down at her sides.

Leah gently pressed against Cynthia's gently rounded stomach, she marveled at how different wilds and humans really were, especially at a time like this, wilds were heavily influenced by the wildness inside them in regards to having children and they only had five months instead of nine along with the baby itself being born at a healthy but smaller weight to keep from hindering the mother. " _Seems to be good so far,"_ that was her wild's specialty, the ability to tell if something was going wrong in someone health wise. " _Do you want to be outfitted with the nasal breathing tube now or later?"_ She asked gently, it was a precaution, because of how vocal wilds had a tendency to be they didn't want her to pass out on accident midway through.

" _I don't care,"_ Cynthia rumbled as she relaxed, snuggling deeper into her nest.

:) :( :) :(

Leah looked sympathetically at Cynthia, the wild's pain levels had started going up as half an hour went past from her arrival. By now she could see the few people sitting in the observation area, watching nervously and worriedly through the glass window in a small dim room connected to the room Cynthia and Leah were in. Leah glanced at a few of the machines that were feeding her numbers and Cynthia's current vitals via wireless through the bracelet around her wrist and the small patch on her neck and stomach. Cynthia had been getting more vocal as the minutes rolled by, stopping the silent treatment to instead give quiet groans or the occasional moan of pain, to now where she kept speaking in her language, mumbling things or like now, speaking in full phrases.

Cynthia was currently hunched over so that her elbows were against her knees and her head nearly touching her knees, moaning in pain and keening for her partner to come back and to help her. " _I want my partner,_ " she whimpered into her knees, " _I want my partner!"_ She howled and Leah's heart broke for her, the wild was scared, in a new place and being forced to give birth to her first born there while her partner had left the room and stayed behind in the waiting area, unsure what she had wanted from him.

" _It's okay Cynthia,"_ Leah gently tried to soothe her, the wild's parents hadn't arrived yet, and she was hoping that her father would be able to help her understand that the hospital was safe, " _He's outside waiting-"_

" _I want him here,"_ Cynthia whimpered, her body trembling slightly as she tried to push, wanting the pain to stop and her partner to come back to her, " _I want him here."_

" _I know, I know,"_ Leah soothed, " _save your strength for a few minutes, you're going to need all of your strength soon."_

Cynthia was silent for a few moments as her body relaxed and she pushed herself up so that she was looking at Leah through tired and betrayed blue eyes, " _my partner doesn't love me,"_ she whimpered to her, tears welling in her blue eyes, " _h-he doesn't want our baby."_

Leah's heart broke more, Cynthia really was insecure about her partner after he had rejected her during her first time going into heat, that seemed to have stuck with the female. " _He loves you very much,"_ she tried to reassure her, " _he's just unsure what to do right now."_ Cynthia had been in a lot of pain earlier and she had accidentally bit her partner in the car and snapped at him to stay away from her even though afterward she had begged and pleaded with him to come with her, panicking and scared of having to bring their baby into the world alone and him rejecting their son or daughter.

Cynthia didn't respond and instead sobbed, over come with emotion and drowning in her stress.

:( :( :(

Leah smiled as she wrapped the squaling baby in a soft blanket that Cynthia had brought with her. " _It's a girl!"_  
Cynthia flopped so that she was lying on her back in the blanket and towel nest she had made earlier, her face was flushed, sweat beaded her skin, and her body was trembling slightly from adreniline which had kicked in soon after the resting period had ended and from exhaustion. Cynthia scrambled up so that she was sitting up a second later, her blue eyes narrowed and protective over her crying newborn. " _Give me my baby,"_ she hissed, her black cat ears were flattened in hostility against her skull and a low and protective growl rumbled through the nervous mother's body.

" _She's right here,"_ Leah purred and gently gave the baby to her, " _I'm just making sure she's healthy."_

" _I can do it by myself."_ Cynthia growled, still pretty hostile and protective.

Leah nodded, " _alright,"_ she rumbled, " _here,"_ she gave her the baby who continued to wail and cry, wanting her mother.

Cynthia took the baby from Leah, her blue eyes softening a good amount as she gazed at her first child.

The baby hiccuped and stopped crying, blinking open her hazel eyes and snuggled closer to her mother, awkwardly grasping at her shirt and the edge of her blanket.

Cynthia barely looked up as the door opened, too focused on her new baby and admiring her to take any notice about the person she already recognized as not hostile.

Sarah slipped into the dim lit room, her green eyes shining brightly at the sight of her daughter gently holding her granddaughter. " _She's beautiful Cynthia,"_ Sarah purred to her daughter with pride in the wild's language as she went over to her and gently brushed two fingers over the baby's pink face. Her fingers brushed over the tiny blonde bear ears that blended in well with the baby's short and wet blonde hair, " _and a wild like you and Leon."_

Cynthia bobbed her head, " _Yeah, she's perfect."_ She then looked up at Sarah, her blue eyes turning nervous and a little timid, " _W-where' is L-Leon? Is he s-still outside?"_

" _I didn't check,"_ Sarah admitted, " _but I assume so."_

" _I'll check,"_ Leah said and she stood up before leaving the room to check and see if Leon was still outside.

Cynthia's blue eyes were already beginning to droop slightly from exhaustion, she was clearly beyond exhausted.

" _What's her name?"_ Sarah asked her daughter gently, making sure to not touch the baby anymore, just in case Cynthia's instincts flared and she attacked or snapped at her mother which was likely due to how strong her instincts were.

" _Lixa,"_ Cynthia murmured as she rubbed one of her eyes before returning her arm to its earlier position.

" _That's a beautiful name,"_ Sarah praised her daughter, " _she's got your face shape."_

Cynthia traced Lixa's nose and chubby cheeks and chin with one of her fingers, her blue eyes fixed on the half asleep baby in her arms. " _I guess."_ She smiled a little, " _she's got L-Leon's freckles."_

Leah returned to the room a moment later, her expression was a little concerned and held dread and hesitation. She needed to get Sarah a little bit aways from Cynthia before the wild lashed out at what she was about to say, "Sarah, do you want to get Bracken? He'll want to come see his granddaughter."  
Sarah looked up at her, noticed her expression and nodded, "I'm sure he will, should I send in any of the nurses or anything?"

Leah nodded, "maybe one, so that we can clean a few things up."  
Sarah nodded and left the room, sending in a young nurse as she did so.

Leah smiled faintly when she looked at Cynthia who was holding Lixa very close to her body, snuggling with her and watching her doze off, but the smile faded when she remembered what she had to tell the wild. She hadn't seen Leon out in the hallway which meant that he had disappeared, and that may be the straw that broke the camel's back. " _Cynthia,"_ she said gently, " _I didn't see Leon outside."_

Cynthia stared at her for a moment before she blinked, opened her mouth and closed it again, and whimpered, " _no…"_

Leah nodded, " _I didn't see him anywhere."_

Tears welled in Cynthia's eyes and she abruptly hissed, " _you're lying!"_

" _I'm not Cynthia,"_ Leah told her gently, " _I'm not lying."_

" _Go away!"_ Cynthia roared, opening her mouth and giving a vicious mountain lion sounding roar, " _leave me alone!"_

Leah moved backward to the wall, making sure to stay in her range of sight so that she wouldn't panic or attack her.

Cynthia's blue eyes shone with hurt and heartbreak, she had thought that Leon wanted the baby too cause otherwise she wouldn't have gotten pregnant in the first place, but clearly she was wrong. " _Leon doesn't want our daughter,"_ she whimpered to herself as she gently put down her daughter and tucked her into the blanket nest, touching her baby's face before she stood up an stepped out of the nest and onto the cool tile. " _He abandoned me!"_ she lashed out in hurt turned to anger, sending a machine to the floor and yanking the breathing tube from her nose, hardly flinching when her nose started to bleed slightly from the force she had used. " _He left me on my own!"_ She roared, and punched at the small drawer set toward the front of the room, her hand splintering the wood beneath it. " _Leon left me again!"_ Her blue eyes were wild now, like a disoriented animal, dangerous and potentially deadly.

Then Lixa started to cry, startling her mother from her bubbling emotions and making Cynthia more stressed, unsure what she was supposed to do to quiet her.

Cynthia temporarily pushed away her emotions and quietly walked back over to the nest, not noticing how her nose was bleeding slightly and how her hand was now bloodied up as well; as she knelt back down in the nest and carefully picked Lixa up, holding her close to her chest. " _What little one?"_ She tentatively cooed to her newborn daughter, looking at her.

Lixa blinked at her and made a quiet whimpering noise, which Cynthia quickly translated as Lixa was feeling her hurt as well, of which she wasn't surprised, it was common for infants for mirror their mother's mood or emotions, so her baby was very upset as well.

Cynthia cuddled her to her body and cooed a few times to her, trying to make her feel better while she was still in complete turmoil.

The door opened and Cynthia spun around to look at who was coming in, her blue eyes flashing protectively with a hiss escaping her mouth.

It was Leon, he had his cellphone in one hand and a small box tucked under his free arm, "I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, "I was getting something for Cyn to eat later and Sarah just called me…" His English trailed off as he took in the sight of Leah standing next to a wall with a young nurse trembling slightly with wide eyes, a broken piece of medical equipment, a fist sized hole in the drawer set, and the red rims of his partner's blue eyes. " _What… what happened?"_ He asked Cynthia in a rumble as he cautiously stepped deeper into the room and placed the box down on the stripped bed that Cynthia had clearly taken everything off of to put in her nest.

Cynthia hissed, " _you abandoned me! You left me to bring my baby into the world completely by myself and you left!"_

Leon's amber eyes immediately went to the small newborn held against his partner's chest as she said that and his eyes softened, " _is that the baby?"_ he asked softly in a hushed rumble, " _Sweetheart you're amazing!"_ he could see fuzzy blonde hair, tiny blonde bear ears and part of the baby's face from his vantage point.

" _I'm not your 'sweetheart!' You left me again!"_ Cynthia hissed then whimpered looking like a kicked puppy, " _even though you said you wouldn't."_

Leon flinched, that stung, but he deserved it. " _I-I didn't know what to do, you didn't want my help then you did and I didn't know which one you really wanted."_

" _I pleaded with you!"_ Cynthia hissed, " _I tried everything to get you to come with me! I needed your help and support! I wanted to be able to know that my partner still loved me,"_ her voice broke, " _and what he did want the baby."_

Leon looked guilty, Leah and his parents had told him repeatedly that he had to be there for the first time Cynthia gave birth, it would be extremely hard on her and if she left like her partner didn't want the baby she had tried so hard to bring into their lives then she would be crushed and if the opportunity came up she would give the baby up if only to have her partner happy. " _I love you so much that I didn't want to upset you,"_ he rumbled in a guilty tone, " _I didn't want to make it harder on you by forcing you to constantly change your mind about if you wanted me here or not."_

" _I wanted you to help me,"_ Cynthia whimpered to her partner, hurt and heartbreak in her blue eyes, " _It hurt so much and you didn't help me."_

Leon looked even more guilty as he slowly walked over to the nest, " _I know, and I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do after you bit me."  
_ It was Cynthia's turn to look guilty, " _I didn't mean to, you kept pestering me and I was in a lot of pain."_

Leon bobbed his head, " _I know, I should've come in her and helped you,_ " He sounded regretful now, " _I'm sorry, I should've listened to Lion."_

Cynthia whimpered, " _you should've, I really really needed your help."_

Leon slowly knelt at the edge of the large and soft nest, " _I know, and next time I'll be here the entire time."_

Cynthia cuddled Lixa, her blue eyes flickering with semi conflicted emotions. " _I don't know,"_ she whimpered, the sound sounded partially broken, " _you rejected me once, and you didn't come with me this time."_

" _I can say I'm sorry to Pluto and back but it's up to you to accept it or not,"_ Leon pleaded in a rumble, " _I'm sorry, I've learned my lesson!"_

Cynthia's blue eyes softened, and the female's wild's gentle heart was displayed by how she responded next. " _I know, and I trust you."_

Leon smiled in relief, " _thank you, Sweetheart."_ He looked at the baby in his partner's arms who was quietly dozing, tired out and exhausted. " _Can… Can I see the baby?"_

Cynthia nodded and scooted closer to him so that his knees were touching her thigh, " _yeah, her name's Lixa."_ She purred, the vibrations helping the baby sleep, " _she's her father's daughter."_

Leon smiled and with a feather lite touch brushed his fingers over his baby's freckles that was almost like his own. " _She's perfect,"_ he looked over at Cynthia and spoke in a hushed whisper, " _I'm so sorry that I didn't come help you with her birth."_

Cynthia smiled at him, her blue eyes were content now, happy now that Leon was there, her baby was safe and healthy, and she herself was safe with her partner around. " _It's okay,"_ she purred and leaned against him, nestling her face into his chest, " _stay here with me."_

Leon wrapped his arms around her, hugging her closer and resting his chin on the top of her head, " _I will, I'm not going anywhere for however long you want me to."_

Cynthia smiled and snuggled closer, her blue eyes drooping shut, " _I'm gonna sleep,"_ she slurred through a purr, feeling her exhaustion pulling down on her body. She scooted away from Leon and lowered herself down onto her side, lying there with Lixa held firmly but gently against her body.

Leon scooted over and sat behind her before he tucked Cynthia's bangs behind one of her ears and leaned down to kiss the top of her head, " _Okay, I'll protect you,"_ He rumbled gently and ran one hand up and down her back in a soothing fashion, " _I won't let anyone touch you or the baby, I swear."_

Cynthia didn't react, already asleep.


	118. She Will Forever Be My Girl

**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**

You were _on a plane? Was it fun?! :D_

 _ **~Silver-Rose-Writes~**_

 _I agree the ending was pretty cute ^_^_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _I'll get to work on that Ivory one! :D_

 ** _~Blue Tulips~_**

 _Thanks!_

 ** _~Sunfrost21-KITSTAR~_**

 _Hello! I'm glad you liked the chapter!_

 ** _~Mina Harker~_**

 _I'm glad!_

 ** _~Dawnshade49~_**

 _I agree! Leon really is an idiot at all times! :D_

* * *

 _She Is And Forever Will Be My Girl_

 _Briarfeather Version_

"I'll give, it all, for you," Jay sang gruffly into the microphone, gently strumming his guitar in the process, "If you let me, for your love…" His blue eyes raked over the crowd, his eyes still held the reserved and slightly emotionally deadened look that he had had for the past eight years after his decision to leave Vyliea. "Thank you Yukota," the young singer addressed the crowd at the end of the song, "it's been great being here."

 _ **He's been gone for eight years…**_

Jay sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets before taking his sunglasses off and perching them up on the top of his head, Vyliea, he sighed inwardly, looking around at the beautiful coastal town where the sea lapped at it's sandy and rocky shores. _I forgot how amazing this city is..._

 _ **But he hasn't been forgotten…**_

As Jay pushed open the hospital room door he froze in his tracks at the sight of a brunette perched at the edge of his cousin's bed, laughing and grinning brightly at the blonde. "Bree?" Jay asked, his voice catching in his throat as the brunette turned, startled. Bright amber eyes locked with Jay's baby blue ones and Jay stared at the women in front of him who had grown so much since he had seen her.

She was beautiful. Bree's darker brown hair had gotten longer over the last seven years, more curly than wavy; her amber eyes were as youthful and bright as they had been the last time he had seen her; she had gotten taller, gained a more athletic and fit build over the years after her surgery that had fixed her paralysis; more freckles were scattered throughout her face; her skin was less tan than he remembered; and her style of clothing had changed as well. Currently, the woman was wearing black skinny jeans with a short sleeve button up blouse with a creamy colored jacket draped over her lap, but the most startling thing was that around her neck and resting just above her collarbones, hanging from a thin golden chain was the thin wedding bands Jay had left behind. A thin smooth golden band and an elegant diamond studded silver band since Bree's hands had been highly sensitive to gold.

Bree stared at him, her amber gaze turning from amused to sharp with surprise and hidden hurt. She subconsciously lifted her right arm to touch her fingertips to the rings dangling from the necklace chain before she spoke, hardly able to utter his name. "Jay?" she breathed in a hushed tone, "what're you doing here?"

Ivory pushed herself up into a sitting position, one half of the blonde's face was highly swollen, and from her movements, Jay could tell that she was really not feeling well after the stabbing and near suffocation. "Bree, calm down," she rasped, "Holly told him about what happened to me."

Bree bobbed her head, "okay…" She said quietly, now unable to meet Jay's eyes and fixed her gaze on the ground, "I'll come back and visit later Ivory," the brunette smiled weakly at her, "listen to the doctors while I try to get them to clear my device okay?"

Ivory nodded and gave Bree as much of a smile as she could, "I'll try, hopefully, I don't die of boredom while I'm here."

"Good luck," Bree giggled weakly before she stood up and squeezed past Jay, flinching when his shoulder brushed against her own.

 _StarClan_ , Jay thought as he watched Bree disappear into the hallway, _I forgot Bree moved here…_

"Hey Jay," Ivory smiled slightly at her cousin, "it's good to see you after eight years of you being gone."

"Hey Ivory," Jay replied, his tone as curt as ever, "what did you do to land yourself in the hospital after such a good track record?"

* * *

Jay looked around as he followed Bree down the hall toward her office inside the building of the inventing company Holly had told him that Bree worked at. "So this is where you work?" He asked, glad to see that she had followed her dream of developing technology and inventing things. He could remember something she had told him back when they had been first dating fresh out of high school, well she had graduated years before him seeing how she had easily skipped all of junior high and nearly half of high school.

 _"I want to change the world," Bree's amber eyes glowed with the force of her words, "build something that could fix my spine and help people who need it. I want to invent something that will change the world, something huge!"_

He was glad she had done what she had set out to do, even after he had walked out on her.

"I own all of this," Bree replied as she swiped leaned forward and allowed the retina scanner unlock her office. She was wearing a white mechanic's jumpsuit over a t-shirt and jeans, with a white backpack slung over one shoulder that looked like the one she had used during high school. "Spent years buildin' one of the largest inventing company in the world." She looked behind her at him, "I actually did something with my life after you walked out." She then stepped into the office and allowed Jay to step inside, which he noticed looked more like a workshop than an office. "Blissie, status report of everythin'," Bree spoke to seemingly thin air, "Lion, you as well."

Screens that wrapped around two walls, all holographic, flickered to life as Bre entered the room and flicked her wrist before typing on a holographic keypad.

"Everythin's normal," A southern male voice came out of nowhere and Jay jumped, "unless Blissie sees something weird everythin's completely normal."

 _ **Something unexpected has shaken his foundation**_

"Hi, mom!" The workshop's door opened and the woman from the lobby was revealed to be standing there with a girl wearing a backpack, overalls, and a light orange hoodie. The girl had freckles like Bree, paler skin, icy blue eyes that gleamed like her mothers had for over eighteen years, and dark brown wavy hair nearly black pulled up in a ponytail.

Bree's entire face lit up at the sight of the little girl and she pushed herself out from underneath the supercar she had been working on to sit up and let her run over and hug her tightly. "Hey princess!" She smiled and cuddled the little girl in a motherly embrace. "Did you have fun at school?"

Jay stared his jaw slackening slightly at the sight of the young girl.

The girl nodded vigorously, "it was awesome!" then she noticed Jay. She escaped Bree's embrace and walked over to where he was sitting in an office chair before she spoke to him. "Hey, I know you! You're that singer that my mom listens to!" The girl smiled at him before making a face, "it's not really my thing though, no offense."

Jay glanced over at Bree, wondering if what the girl had said was true and that Bree did listen to his music, but she was avoiding his gaze and looking down at the ground. So he replied to the girl, "it's fine," he said to her before curiosity tugged at his gut, "what's your name?"

The girl held out one of her small hands, "I'm Catie!"

Jay couldn't help but look over at Bree at the sound of the girl's name, Catie was the name that he had suggested as a name for a girl if they ever had kids while they had been on their honeymoon here in Vyliea years ago.

 _"Hmm," Bree hummed and snuggled closer to him, not really paying attention to the static coming from the radio anymore. "I want a boy," she mused aloud, "named Cody, what about you? What would you name the girl?" Her amber eyes twinkled, "you did say you wanted a daughter."_

 _Jay rolled his eyes, "Catie," he said rather gruffly, "I would name her Catelynn but Catie for short."_

 _Bree giggled, burying her face in his shirt to muffle her giggles, "Catelynn? How would you spell that?"_

 _"C-a-t-e-_ l-y _-n-n," Jay spelled out with a huff, "why?"_

 _"No reason," Bree replied, her voice now giggly and sleep ridden, "I was just wondering!"_

Bree avoided his gaze, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor and away from him.

"How old are you," he paused on the name, "Catie?"

Catie looked confused, not understanding his and her mother's behavior. "I'm seven, why?"

Jay felt like someone had briefly stabbed him in the heart, that could only mean one thing, Catie was his.

Bree looked up and finally met his gaze, her amber eyes glimmering faintly with tears.

 _What have I done?_ Jay asked himself as he looked at his daughter, taking in her appearance and getting used to the concept.

* * *

"I didn't find out I was pregnant till a few weeks after what was supposed to be the last day of our honeymoon," Bree said quietly, her voice was thick and choked slightly with emotion, and she hung her head like she was trying to protect herself, "I didn't want to believe it, you had left me less than a week after we got married and I was still nursing my broken heart so I didn't want to believe that I was going to have a baby by myself, without the person I had loved more than anything else, and suffering under the heartbreak of you leaving me."

* * *

"What's going on down there Jay?" Leon asked he was holding his son Flynx while Cynthia was curled up on the couch asleep while the new twins were asleep as well. "I'm trying to settle everyone down for a nap while the twins are sleeping."

"Turns out that I have a daughter," Jay told his brother via video chat, "did you know that Bree was pregnant when I left?"

Leon was silent for a moment before he sighed, "I knew she was when you left yes, Cyn had started to notice the signs but we kept it to ourselves because it wasn't our place to get involved."

* * *

"I have no right to ask this of you," Jay sighed as he stood on the porch, looking at Bree who was leaning against the door jam of the front door, "but I want to get to know Catie, Bree."

Bree looked at him, her amber eyes slightly glimmering with tears, "you lost that right when you left me," she said quietly, cheer absent from her voice to be replaced with hurt. "I've spent eight years hiding how badly your leave affected me Jay, and I'm not going to let you break it all down so I can be hurt again."

Jay looked at her and a rare word came out of his mouth. "Please…"

"Fine," Bree gave in a bit reluctantly, still unable to say no when he asked her something with the special word. "Only two weeks," she said quietly, the brunette's amber eyes were conflicted between wanting to forgive him and hurt that she had been silently suffering under for eight years.

* * *

"You like technology right?" Jay asked Catie when the child was setting the table and Bree was in the kitchen, his tone was more calm than curt, something he had been working on for the past week.

"Yeah," Catie said a little stiffly, "my mom does work at an inventing place," she said in a very haughty tone and narrowed her icy blue eyes on him. "Why're you asking?"

Jay fell silent, pushing the small hoverboard further beneath his chair and said nothing, his blue eyes taking on a rather indifferent look.

"Catelynn!" Bree's voice was highly stern as the brunette came over to the kitchen entrance, where she looked at her daughter, who wavered slightly under her unusually stern gaze.

"What?" Catie said indignantly with an attitude more fit for a teenager than an eight-year-old girl, "I said I wanted to meet him, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on him! He hurt you!"

Bree sighed, looking more disappointed than annoyed, "come here Catie," she went back into the kitchen and Catie reluctantly followed on her heels.

Jay listened as Bree talked to their daughter, making sure to keep an indifferent expression as he listened.

"Jay's not someone you can just push away and ignore or snap at, he's your father," Bree told her, "and he deserves your respect Catie, no matter what."

"He left you!" Catie shot back stubbornly, the eight-year-old's attitude reminded Jay of his attitude back when he was a teenager. "He hurt my mama! He doesn't deserve anything!" That was one of the first things Jay had heard Catie say that was more like her age.

Jay glanced over at the kitchen entrance, looking at what he could see of Bree when she crouched down in front of her daughter. I made so many mistakes. He mused when he heard what Bree next said, defending him when she had no reason to.

"Yes, he did leave, but that doesn't matter, he's still your father and he's still the guy I married Catie," Bree said quietly, "and he's not going to be here forever, you told me you wanted me to find your father again and he found me, Catie, you don't have much longer to get to know your father."

"Why do you still say that you married him?!" Catie asked indignantly in a huff, "he left!"

"Catie," Jay saw Bree rest her hands on her daughter's thin shoulders, "forgive him please, he will forever be your dad, that's never going to go away."

 _ **This February**_

"She's got your smile you know," Jay said quietly as he helped Bree with the dishes, "your smile too."

"She has your knack for complaining," Bree replied quietly after a few moments of silence where she had dried and put away the last dish, "and your eyes," she said in a whisper before the brunette left the kitchen without another word.

 _ **Love Can Change You**_

Jay's lips turned up at the corners into a smile as he watched Bree smile and crouch down in the sand, playing with the gritty mineral with her small hands, she hasn't changed that much, he mused before the blue-eyed man quietly walked over to her, his feet sinking slightly in the sand and leaving footprints, "I'm going to regret this," he said with a slight smirk as he crouched down next to her, "but I'm going to ask anyway." He put down the buckets and shovels he had brought with him in front of them both, "sand castle contest? Catie's the judge."

Catie, who was splashing around in the shallows spun around at the sound of her name and she grinned and rushed over to them, "say yes mom!" She pleaded, "I want to see you build a sand castle!"

A competitive spark lit up Bree's amber eyes and she smiled a confident white toothed smile at him, "I'm going to beat you!"

Jay grinned, happy to hear her usual cheer back in her voice, "I don't doubt it, I'm not the engineer, you are."

 _ **Life Can Challenge You**_

"Michael," Jay had finally called his manager for his music. Bree was asleep next to him, curled in a ball on the couch with her head resting partway on his lap, seemingly exhausted after late events. "I'm done," he said to his flabbergasted manager and gently ran his fingers through Bree's loose dark brown hair, "I'm switching to YouTube full time. I have a family now…"

 _ **Your Choices Will Define You**_

"Why did you leave my mom?" Catie asked as Jay tucked her into bed for the first time since he had gotten there.  
"I got lost-" Jay replied quietly.

 _"I'm sorry," Jay said to Bree who was staring at him, her amber eyes round and hurt, tears trickling down her cheeks, "I… I have to go, my career…"_

 _Bree looked like he had slapped her…_

"I was young."

 _Jay carefully placed his golden band on top of the hotel room's dresser, his blue eyes covered by black tinted sunglasses. "I'm sorry," he whispered to Bree's sleeping form, "I'm so sorry…" Bree was huddled beneath most of the blankets, having cried herself to sleep away from him while he had been gone talking to Michael..._

"And stupid."

 _"What happened?!" Leon's amber eyes flashed and the younger brother looked furious, "Bree flew to_ Vandala _, surprised Cynthia, Holly, and I by coming to the girls' apartment in the night, and has been hiding in the house all month!"_

 _Jay looked at his brother, red-rimmed blue eyes focusing on him, "I left," he said gruffly, "got a career offer."_

 _Leon slammed his hands down_ on _the table, "then you get your sorry pain in the butt back to_ Vandala _and fix this!" He looked furious, "you shattered Bree's heart! And not only that, but you also had to do it hardly two months before me and Cynthia's wedding!"_

 _"I didn't plan it around then to mess up your wedding Leon," Jay snapped back and stood up, "Not everything is about you!"_

 _"Well, the world doesn't revolve around you!"_

"But you've found our way back now right?" Catie asked, her bright icy blue eyes focused on her father's baby blue eyes.

* * *

"Have you seen the stats about surviving in an accident in a convertible?" Catie asked in a huff as Jay headed toward his convertible. "They are low, staggeringly low!"

 _ **She Will Forever…**_

"Bree drives a convertible, what's so special about hers?" Jay asked in exasperation, and a moment later wished he hadn't said anything as Catie started rambling about her mother's car and Lion.

 _ **Be My Girl.**_

"I'll rent a car," Jay sighed as he walked away from the front door and toward his car

Bree's lips twitched into a smile, "Catie told you about those stats she found did she?"

"Pretty much," Jay replied over his shoulder, "so I have to rent one otherwise she won't come with us."

"Jay," Bree tossed him her keys when he turned around, "just don't ruin my car till at least after tomorrow alright?"

* * *

 _ **Written By**_

 _ **Caylee Mitsuko**_

 _ **Based off of the Plot Line of Forever My Girl**_

 _ **Performed by**_

 _ **Breanna Grayas**_

 _ **Jay Bramble**_

 _ **Leonardo Bramble**_

 _ **Cynthia Lawson**_

 _ **Holly Bramble**_

 _ **Catie Grayas**_

 _ **And**_

 _ **Michael Jukoa**_


	119. Fight Or Flight Sequel (Finally)

_**~Silver-Rose-Writes~**_

 _I PMed you regarding your question :D_

 _ **~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _I'm probably gonna write that one out completely because it's gonna be so cool! :D_

* * *

" _Don't move!" Leon yelled, pointing to his partner at his side, "move and she'll throw it!" He was breathing heavily, his bulletproof cargo jeans and tan colored t-shirt were dirty and dusty, being captured for years took a toll on your clothing._

 _The guards froze, staring at the black haired chemical engineer who had a medium sized glass jar in one hand, blue eyes glimmering dangerously, simmering with anger, her white lab coat streaked with dirt and other faintly glowing chemicals. "Move one finger and I'll blow up this entire compound," Cynthia growled angrily. She and Leon had been captured for that past seven years, torn away from their family and unable to see their kids grow up past their teenage years because of the people who captured them._

 _A guard came skidding around the corner and Cynthia shrugged, her blue eyes flashing with anger, "Suit yourselves." She vigorously shook the jar which glowed a light blue before she chucked it at a guard._

 _Leon pulled her by the wrist and broke through a window, pulling her to his body as they fell and the compound blew up in a giant fireball and shockwave._

 _:)_

 _Caylee's icy blue eyes widened at the sight of a small faint pulsing point on the wide field radar, "Mom!" She ran over to her wheelchair-bound mother, "Cynthia and Leon are on the field! We have a faint signal!"_

* * *

Cleo walked over to a rocking chair that was tucked in a corner of the room she was in before sitting down in it with her son, the infant tucked snuggly in her arms as she gazed out the window. The window's position couldn't be any more perfect, she could see Leroy's house from the window and often pointed it out to her young son, now every time she pointed at it he would giggle and babble something that she understood as his attempt to say, daddy. She looked down at the baby sleeping in her arms, he had dark hair, a dark brown nearly a black, but he had his father's sunset colored eyes, something that slowly developed from a bright amber like her own father's to the color of his father's eyes that always took her breath away. Cleo leaned her head back against the back of the rocking chair, gently rocking it while wistfully studying a picture sitting on the window sill, a picture of her and Leroy, the only couple like pictures she had.

The picture contained the two of them in just normal casual clothes, having spent the day at Leroy's hometown and met his guardians. In the picture she was wearing a light blue slightly worn denim jacket with the sleeves folded back to the elbows with a light red tank top beneath it paired with darker skinny jeans and dark gray converse with her hair up in a curly ponytail, her bangs tucked behind her left ear. Leroy had been wearing a blue and green plaid shirt folded back to the elbows with loose blue jeans and black tennis shoes, with his hair styled into the usual flat top with the top combed to the left. The picture itself was great, taken without them noticing it displayed the easy-going attitudes and atmosphere around them, Leroy's left arm was looped around Cleo's waist as he pressed a kiss to her temple, she had her eyes closed, leaning into his side, comfortable around him.

:) :) :) :)

"We found your parents!" Caylee squealed, doing some sort of a happy dance before squeezing three of her cousins one by one. "We found them!"

"What?" Lixa breathed, staring at her younger friend, looking dumbfounded. "W-what?"

"We found them!" Caylee repeated, looking more excited than they had ever seen her, "They caught a faint visual of their position!"

"Show me." Cleo emerged from a separate room, her six-month-old son held sleeping in her arms.

Caylee nodded and pulled out a small laptop, bringing up a short video and showing them, all four of the Bramble-Lawson kids' eyes widened as they watched the compound suddenly blow up in a massive blue fireball, a calling card of their mother's.

"No way," Flynx breathed before he threw his hands into the air and jumped around, "They're alive! Our parents are alive!"

"And they've still got their skills!" Lixa laughed, "they aren't broken!"

Miles grinned, "Finally after five years we found them!"

Cleo looked out of their flat window, her green eyes locking on the small town surrounded by a shimmering shield, ' _I can finally go back! I can see Leroy again!'_ She and her siblings locked eyes, "let's go find our parents." Cleo said and other three broke into wide grins.

:) :) :)

"Cleo," Bree smiled at the young woman, "come with me."

Cleo did as she asked and followed the more experienced woman to a storage hanger. "Uh, Bree? This is just an abandoned hangar."

Bree flashed her a bright grin and flicked on a light switch, the hangar quickly lit up, revealing a pair of fighter jets specially customized to fit their pilot's styles. "This isn't just a hangar Cleo, this is your parents' hanger."

Cleo's green eyes widened with shock as she finally got to see her parents' unique fighters, designed by the woman in the wheelchair next to her. "Which one is which?"

"The blue one is Cynthia's, the fire like one is Leon's," Bree smiled, "the blue one is designed to hold a multitude of Cynthia's chemical compounds whether the compound was in the form of a bomb, a gas is released, or a spray of flammable liquid." She rolled over to the Jets, running one hand along the underside of the blue jet, "the fire colored jet is designed to be strong and bulky, able to plow through practically anything and hold more missiles, ammo, and bombs than most fighters."

Cleo followed Bree taking in the sight of the eagle fighters, her parents' squadron that consisted of the two fighters, a mechanic, a ground technician, and a medic. "They… They're magnificent. I can see why they're called the eagle squadron."

"Yeah, they are aren't they?" Bree smiled, "but I didn't take you here for these, I brought you here for a special part that only your mother's jet has used." She rolled over to a small pod-like structure. "Do you see the dip in the underside of Cynthia's plane and every plane since then?"

"Yeah, I always thought it was for aerodynamics."

Bree laughed, "Nah, it's for this." She took a controller from her lap and pressed a button, the small pod in front of them popped open with a small whoosh of air, signaling an airlock. The inside of the pod was cushioned and soft, designed to hold something small. "Cynthia asked me to design this and I think you can use it now."

"What is it?" Cleo asked, studying the strange pod.

"It's a baby pod." Bree smiled at Cleo's blanch and plain shock. "It's nearly impenetrable, the only way to break it is with Cynthia's chemical compound specially designed to break the airlock in case of emergency."

"Uh, is it safe?"

"Of course!" Bree looked offended, "It's padding is specially designed to nullify the g-forces so the baby isn't at all affected by the high altitudes, speeds, and air resistance. It connects to a special part of the plane that allows it to stay still while the plane spins or does barrel rolls and even if you go vertical, the pod will remain horizontal and keep the baby safe and secure."

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Well you and all of your siblings were in it," Bree chirped cheerfully, "and nothing's wrong with you is there?"

"No, so it's safe then. Why're you showing this to me?"

Bree went serious, "the journey to fetch your parents is going to be more than an overnight trip, it'll take a few days and I assume you don't want my daughter to be watching Christopher for at least a week?"

"I see your point," Cleo said and took a deep breath, "I'll use the pod, thank you, Bree."

"No problem Cleo, just bring my friends back alright?"

"I will."

 _ **I'm coming home, I'm coming home**_

"Relations Eagle leader ready, other members, what's your status?"

"Relations Eagle Backup is ready," Miles confirmed from inside his bulky fighter, blue eyes gleaming with hope and determination

"Relations Eagle Bomber is ready," Flynx confirmed from inside his fighter, his multicolored eyes gleaming with determination to go get their parents.

"Relations Eagle Strike One has a few complications, give me a second," Cleo said through the radio from where she was standing next to her plane with Christopher in her arms in his own flight suit and helmet, a sight and had Cleo laughing for hours beforehand. "Bree, you're sure this is safe for him?"

"It's probably the safest place he could be Cleo." Bree told the nervous pilot, "I promise he'll be perfectly fine."

Christopher giggled and reached for his mother's face, giggling happily. Cleo looked torn for a moment before she carefully deposited her son into the pod and closed the lid.

"Once the pod is hooked up to your plane, one of the screens on your dash will give you an image of what's going on inside the pod, and it will have an audio connection to your plane, meaning you can talk to him through the radio and it'll sound like you're right next to him, sound good?" Bree informed her, lifting the pod and putting the heavy object on her wheelchair's lap before rolling toward Cleo's plane and setting it down below the dip in the center of the plane. "Caylee, initiate baby pod hook up."

"Roger mom!" A moment later, a robotic arm came down from Cleo's plane and Bree hooked it to the pod.

"Make sure to initiate cradle hook up, we want it hooked up to the special cradle, Caylee."

"It's hooked up!" Caylee responded a moment later and Cleo heard a notification come through her helmet.

" _Cradle pod hook up is complete, proceed as normal, audio and video will be active in ten seconds."_

"Thanks, Bree!" Cleo quickly jumped into her fighter and closed the cockpit, buckling in and starting up the jet while Bree got clear. A moment later she heard Christopher crying through her helmet that was connected audio wise to her plane. ' _Time to see if the audio works.'_ She thought before speaking softly, "It's okay Chris," she soothed, "mama's here, mama's right here little one." To her surprise he quieted and looked at her through the screen, he giggled happily around the pacifier in his mouth doing some jumping and grabbing motions. Cleo was surprised, she could hear the babbling and giggling her son was making. "Relations Eagle Strike One is now ready with the extension of a cradle pod with Relations Eagle Junior tucked inside."

"No way!" Miles laughed, "Chris is coming with us?"  
"Of course, he's my son and if we're going to get his father to join us on the journey, we'll need his help," Cleo replied firmly and Christopher giggled at his mother's voice.

 _ **Tell the world I'm coming home**_

 _ **Let the rain wash away**_

 _ **All the pain of yesterday**_

' _How long until you come back Cleo?'_ Leroy wondered as he stared blankly out of his front window, he was just waiting for Cleo's plane to land in front of his house and when she would finally return to him.

"Leroy," His Grandmother called as she walked towards him, "someone wants to talk to you."

Leroy took the phone from him and spoke depressedly into the device, "Leroy Sheridan here."

"This is Cleo Bramble or the Relations Eagle squadron. For StarClan sakes Flynx! Shut up already! I'm trying to talk to Leroy and your jokes are dreadful!" Cleo's exasperated voice filtered through the device.

"Cleo?! Is it really you?" Leroy asked breathlessly.

"Yeah Leroy, It's me." Cleo replied in the same soft tone before her voice hardened and she snapped at her siblings again, "will the three of you shut up already? Shut up for I'll mute you guys!" she waited for a moment a spoke again, "thank StarClan!"

"I missed you so much!" Leroy weakly laughed, "why are you calling Cleo?"

"Well, I need your help and I have someone you might want to meet." Cleo replied and when she next spoke, her voice was warm and gentle, a voice he had heard her use around children, "Hey Chris, you wanna say hi to daddy?"

Leroy's sunset eyes widened as he heard the distinct and happy sound of a baby babbling. "No way, I… I'm a father?!"

"Yeah," Cleo replied, her voice back to normal, "you're a father to a six-month-old son named Christopher Lionel Sheridan who's twenty pounds and full of chatter."

"Do you want me to meet you somewhere?" Leroy asked, "and can I meet my son?"

"Of course you can, and look out the window."

Leroy did as she asked, "I don't see anything."

"Just give it a minute…" Cleo replied and he saw it.

A familiar gray and yellow fighter land and roll to a stop in front of his house, the wings collapsing inward to avoid hitting any of the houses.

Leroy dropped the phone, threw open the front door and ran to Cleo's jet, catching her as she jumped out. "You're here!" he breathed, looking at her, purposely holding her up and off the ground so she was "taller" than he was. Cleo's green eyes twinkled and Leroy realized that she didn't have her helmet on, her auburn hair fluttering in the weak wind.

"I'm here," Cleo smiled at him, "I'm really here with you."

Leroy smiled as well and promptly kissed her, relieved to finally have her in his arms once more.

It wasn't until Cleo received a whimper through her earpiece that they broke apart and looked at each other, bright green locking with warm sunset. "While I love this position because I'm finally taller than you," Cleo smiled, "I should really get Chris before he starts freaking out because I'm not on the screen."

"Right," Leroy replied and kissed her again anyway.

Cleo allowed it for a few moments before she used her arms and pushed herself away, "Seriously Leroy, he's going to start crying here in a second."

Leroy sighed and put her down, watching her as she disappeared under her jet while running one hand through his golden blonde hair. His slight irritation vanished when he saw Cleo reemerge with a slightly chubby baby held in her arms, the baby giggling and babbling at his mother.

"Leroy," Cleo introduced him to his son, "this is Christopher, but we all call him Chris."

Leroy gazed at the baby and noticed that he had his eyes and his mother's freckles. "He's perfect," he grinned, looking up at Cleo, "he's amazing Cleo."

"He knows you're his dad," Cleo smiled, "you can hold him if you want to."

"Please?" Leroy said and carefully took him in his arms, looking down at the baby with loving sunset eyes. "Hi Chris, do you know who I am?"

Chris babbled and squealed, reaching for his father's face. Cleo smiled, "he's saying daddy," she said, "that's the same noises he makes when I point to your house from my flat."

Leroy smiled and cuddled his son for a few moments before he looked up at Cleo, "So, what do you need my help with?"

"We found my parents and we need your help retrieving them."

 _ **I know my kingdom awaits**_

 _ **And they've forgiven my mistakes**_

 _ **I'm coming home, I'm coming home**_

 _ **Tell the world I'm coming**_

" _Well, this is going just peachy." Cynthia deadpanned as she and Leon trudged along through a thick forest._

" _At Least we're free and you got the field trackers working." Leon smiled and hugged his wife, "they'll come Cyn," he said, knowing exactly what was bothering her, "They'll come for us, I promise."_

" _I sure hope so Leon," Cynthia sighed, looping her arms around her husband's waist and returning the embrace, burying her face in his neck, "I sure hope so."_

 _ **Haha, here we go**_

"Count me in," Leroy confirmed, sunset eyes gleaming, "if you'll finally come live with me after and we can raise our son as a family then count me in."

Cleo's green eyes gleamed to love, "Thank you, Leroy, thank you so much!" She threw her arms around him and kissed him, being careful to not squish Chris between them.

 _ **I'm back where I belong (Oh, he's back)**_

"Relations Eagle squadron reporting the recovery of a squad member. Leader is ready, other members?"

"Relations Eagle Bomber is ready to make things flash."

"Relations Eagle Backup is ready to deploy."

"Relations Eagle Strike One is ready to strike the enemy and Relations Eagle Strike Junior is secure and on board."

"Relations Eagle Strike Two is ready to aid the striker."

"Welcome back to the squad Leroy," Lixa said, her voice warm.

"I'm glad to be back Lixa," Leroy replied contently, glad to be back in his fighter at Cleo's side.

"Yeah! Welcome back Leroy!" Flynx piped up, his voice enthusiastic.

"Thanks, Flynx, it's nice being up here again."

"Just don't start flirting with my twin halfway through the mission okay?" Miles teased.

"Miles!" Cleo exclaimed completely embarrassed.

"Of course not Miles," Leroy grinned, "there's no need to flirt when I'm not competing with anyone for her attention."

"Smart alec."

"Right back at ya Miles."

 _ **Yeah, I never felt so strong (Felt so strong)**_

 _ **I'm feelin' like there's nothing that I can't try (There ain't nothin' you can't try)**_

 _ **And if you with me put your hands high (Put your hands high)**_

"Let's go get our parents!"

"Totally!"

"Finally!"

"For once and for all!"

"If that's what you guys want then it's what I want too."

"Thanks, Leroy," Cleo smiled, looking out of her jet to look at him.

Leroy just smiled and winked at her before shooting forward and doing a maneuver that made Cleo laugh at the result, a heart made out of the white colored exhaust of his fighter.

 _ **If you ever lost a light before, yeah, this one's for you**_

 _ **For you, and you**_

" _Hurry up Cyn! I can't hold them back for much longer!" Leon exclaimed as he fought the enemy ground troops guarding the closest city._

" _I'm almost done!" Cynthia replied, extracting the last chemical compound she needed from a small leaf before squeezing the extract out into the tiny jar she had other chemicals in and shaking it. "done! Move Leon!"_

 _Leon did as she asked, racing towards her as she threw the jar which shattered at the troops' feet, releasing noxious amounts of a potent knockout gas that left them all out for ages._

 _Cynthia and Leon took off, racing into the city, "We need to find something to change into, search your pockets, do you have any storage discs?"_

 _Leon searched his pockets while they both paused, hiding behind a building while Cynthia emptied her pockets of storage discs that contained her chemical equipment in search of a clothing disc. "I found two!" Leon exclaimed and pulled out two discs from his pocket, "I have a clothing disc and a miscellaneous disguise kit."_

" _I have a clothing disc," Cynthia said as she turned around to face him, brandishing the tiny disc. "We'll have to share the disguise kit."_

" _Sound good… wait, where did you hide all of those discs? I was searched when I was captured, weren't you?" Leon asked in confusion, staring at the small pile of storage discs that his partner had._

 _Cynthia flashed a mischievous grin and raised her eyebrows, "I'm a woman, they didn't dare get to close to many areas."_

 _Leon raised his eyebrows in surprise before he laughed, "you sneaky devil," he chuckled, shaking his head slightly in disbelief._

" _Why thank you, now get changed you prat!" Cynthia accepted the compliment and playfully snapped at him as she shedded the dirty lab coat._

 _ **The dreams are for you (The dreams are for you)**_

 _ **I'll be home soon (I'll be home soon)**_

"Your parents are on the move, they're stationed in a city a few days journey," Caylee relayed through the radio, "my mom is going to try and get their gear to activate to give them a message that you're on your way. Once you locate them your parent's jets should be on route to their position."

"Thanks for the information Caylee," Lixa spoke, "we have a few more hours of daylight, we'll keep going for six more hours before we take a break for the night and sleep in the jets, Caylee, who's on ground control for the night?"

"I am!"

"Alright, make you alert us of any changes throughout the entire night, okay?"

"Roger Relations Eagle leader!"

"Six more hours, do you think you can handle that everyone?"

"Of course!" Flynx grinned, "Flying is fun!"

"I'll handle it easily," Miles replied easily, "this isn't that boring."

"Cleo?"

"I can handle it, what about you Leroy?"

"No sweat."

"Alright, then we'll go for six more hours." Lixa decided and the flight continued.

 _ **I hear "The Tears Of A Clown", uh, I hate that song**_

 _Cynthia and Leon were startled to hear Leon's squad watch flashing and playing the music to the most annoying song in the world. "Shut it off!" Cynthia hissed at him, she was in the middle of using a liquid contact to make her sapphire blue eyes an ocean color._

" _Sorry!" Leon hissed and quickly shut off the sound, but it kept flashing. "Cyn," he narrowed his contact colored chocolate brown eyes, "it's morse code!"_

" _Huh?" Cynthia blinked a few times before she looked over at him, "What?" she asked when he nearly jumped a mile as she looked at him.  
_ " _Sorry," he apologized sheepishly, "I'm not used to the silver and blue in your eyes being covered by another color."_

" _I'm not used to the chocolate brown either," Cynthia shrugged, "I like the amber better, it's more unique."_

 _Leon pulled her closer by the waist, studying her now ocean colored eyes, "I like the sapphire better too."_

" _What were you saying about morse code?" Cynthia asked, breaking the moment between them._

" _My watch, it's flashing in Morse code," Leon replied, lifting his arm so they both could see the flashing watch."_

" _E… a… g… l… e…" Cynthia spelled out as they received the message. "Eagle?"_

 _Leon's eyes lit up, "our kid's squadron is the Relations eagle squadron! They're coming for us!"_

 _Cynthia grinned and briefly kissed him before continuing to use the random objects to disguise herself._

" _Oh yes!" Leon grinned a moment later as he noticed the small sticky fake blonde mustache in the pile of objects, "I'm totally using this!"_

" _Using what? Oh StarClan no!" Cynthia blanched and attempted to snatch it from him, "no mustache!"_

" _Yes!" Leon grinned and turned around, walking backward and pinning her to the building wall while he put on the sticky mustache that matched his hair color. "It's awesome Cyn!" He grinned, letting her go and facing her with a cheeky grin, he knew how much she hated facial hair, it bothered her to no end. When they were younger and before any of their kids were born, Leon had tried having a mustache before, but Cynthia had blatantly refused to have him closer than two feet with the explanation that it tickled and she didn't like it when she was trying to have a moment with him when she wanted to laugh because it tickled her skin._

 _Cynthia looked at him, "it actually doesn't look that bad."_

" _What? Seriously?" Leon tried to look down at the mustache that adorned the skin above his upper lip._

" _But there is no way in the world you are kissing me with that on," Cynthia said making a face while tucking her black hair into a baseball cap, giving her the appearance of someone much younger._

" _Cyn!" Leon whined, drawing his partner close to him so their faces were a few inches apart. "It's not that bad!"_

" _Leon no!" Cynthia wrinkled her nose and pushed her husband back, struggling against him, she really didn't want to kiss him while he had the mustache on. "I am not kissing you with that thing on-!"_

 _Leon cut her off and kissed her anyway._

 _Cynthia pushed him back a moment later and used her sleeve to rub her mouth, "Ew! Gross Leon! That's disgusting!"_

 _ **I always feel like they talking to me when it comes on**_

Cleo settled comfortably in her plane with Chris on her lap, the only light source was the dimmed cockpit light designed for this purpose, sleeping in the cockpit. But she wasn't sleeping, she was cuddling Chris, brushing her fingers through his soft dark brown hair and watching him through soft emerald green eyes. She smiled when Chris looked up from his bottle at her, his innocent sunset colored eyes round and rather drowsy. _You've had a tiring day my little man,_ she murmured silently as she gently straightened out his flight suit. _You went on an all-day flight with me and you even met your father today._

Cleo's green eyes distanced slightly. _I forgot how long ten months can be, it sure felt like it was longer._ She idly brushed her fingers through Chris' soft hair her gaze directed toward the leather bracelet sitting on the dashboard. _I missed Leroy a lot more than I expected, but if I had to choose when I missed him the most it was when Chris was born,_ she closed her eyes, _nothing could've stopped what I felt like those twenty hours, I had been so tempted to call Leroy and beg him to come help me that I would've been it not for Miles. He had tried so hard to try and take my mind off of Leroy that day especially, somehow knowing that I needed Leroy there to meet our son when I did._ She felt a pang of guilt that still bothered her, _yet all I did was cry and yell at him, poor Miles…_ She was jolted from her thoughts at a light rapping noise on her cockpit windshield and looked up to see Leroy standing there and smiling at her some kind of container tucked under his arm. With a push of a button, the windshield went up and Leroy slipped into the cockpit into the spot next to Cleo, "Hey, Princess…"

 _ **Another day, another dawn (Another dawn)**_

"Wake up!" Miles rapped hard on the windshield, "We gotta get moving! We're wasting daylight!"  
Cleo blurrily opened her eyes and lifted her head from Leroy's shoulder, looking at her twin through a drowsy and confused expression. Miles smiled at his sister, "come on sis! Catie locked down their position!"

Cleo grinned and shook Leroy, "come on Leroy!"

 _ **Another Keisha, nice to meet ya, get the math, I'm gone**_

 _ **What am I supposed to do when the club lights come on?**_

"Relations Eagle Squadron," Catie addressed the family, "I've got a lock on Cynthia's field tracker and have uploaded the coordinates to your jets!"

"Cynthia? What about Leon? What about our father's?" Lixa asked, highly confused from her position in her jet which was taking off into the air.

"I'm having issues with Leon's, he's on the move while Cynthia's been at the same spot since last night." Catie replied quietly, "something might be wrong with her."

"Then we have no time to waste," Lixa said quickly, "we need to get there by morning!"

 _ **It's easy to be Puff, but it's harder to be Sean**_

 _ **What if my son stares with a face like my own**_

 _ **And says he wants to be like me when he's grown? (Me when he's grown)**_

 _ **Haha, but I ain't finished growin'**_

 _Leon rushed down the street, heading toward where he had told Cynthia to stay, his partner wasn't doing well after being in a city after being locked away for years, her immune system wasn't strong enough to fight the sicknesses that the city held lurking in the shadows. Plus it was likely that Cynthia had been given a poison at the lab that wouldn't activate till after she left the lab. Last night she had started coughing and despite the medication, he had given her she was still getting worse, she had developed a fever, terrible chills, and was very stiff and sore, not wanting to move. But Leon had been running around town trying to find somewhere that he could work for the day and have a place for him and Cynthia to stay where they could eat, Cynthia could fight the poison and where they could wait for someone to find them._

 _ **Another night the inevitable prolongs**_

 _Cynthia groaned when Leon lifted her and started running back toward the place he had found where they could wait till help arrived for them._

" _I know," Leon whispered to his partner, "I know you're in pain," he cradled her body closer to him, "they're coming," he glanced up at the sky, 'at least I hope they are.'_

 _ **Another day, another dawn**_

"There's the city!" Cleo exclaimed as she spotted the city hidden under dense foliage, "we found it!"

"Don't rejoice just yet," Lixa said, her voice brisk and worried, "something's going on down there, and it doesn't look good."

"What do you mean?" Flynx asked before he was cut off by Catie who sounded panicked.

"Cynthia's tracker just went offline again!" Catie yelped, "and it's registering as damaged and destroyed!"

"I'm getting readings down in the city that leads to the possibility-"

"Get to the point!" The four siblings snapped in sync at Connor, their cousin.

"Leon and Cynthia could have been found," Connor replied quickly, "I think it's possible that the scientists-"

"Connor!"

"Fine! I think they're part of the thing that's going on down there!"

"Fire!" Miles exclaimed, "something's on fire down there!"

"We need to get down there!" Lixa yelled, slamming one fist down on her display, "now!"

"Cleo's already on her way down," Leroy told Lixa, he was looking at Cleo's plane which had the windshield up and Cleo herself was nowhere to be seen.

 _ **Just tell Keisha and Teresa I'll be better in the morn'**_

 _Leon smashed his fist against a guy's nose, frustrated at the stupid spies littered around the city. He felt panic rising in his chest, even more so as he rushed over to where Cynthia was lying on the ground currently unconscious with blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. "Come on!" He glanced up again at the sky, "Where are you guys?!" He crouched down and lifted Cynthia up and over his shoulder, making sure he had one arm free to defend himself._

 _ **Another lie that I carry on**_

Cleo narrowed her eyes, the displays on her helmet meant nothing to her as she dove down toward the ground, cutting through the air like a bullet, having honed the technique over the past years. _Nobody is going to hurt my parents anymore! Nobody!_

 _ **I need to get back to the place I belong**_

"Catie! Get Leon's fighter over here!" Lixa barked as her display light up, alerting her of the presence of enemy fighters. "We're going to need it to get him up here and to fight some of these guys off! Miles, get down there and help Cleo! Flynx, Leroy, it's up to us to keep these fighters away from the city!"

"On it!" Miles said and his jet nose-dived in a controlled dive toward the ground, shimmering before it disappeared from view due to a cloaking device.

"We're soo close!" Flynx yelled and angrily pounded his fists against his display before he gripped his controls and shot toward the fighters, "get over here you cowards!" He roared with a Flynx like battle cry and shot toward the fighters.

"Nobody is hurting this family again," Leroy promised, his sunset eyes darkening as he followed Flynx's lead, "never!"

 _ **I'm coming home, I'm coming home**_

"Leon!" Leon spun around to see his daughter perform a near perfect split kick to two spies' heads before landing lightly on her feet and rushing over, "Dad!"

Leon's tired and bloodied face broke into a wide grin, "Cleo!" His daughter crashed into him with enough force that it almost knocked him off of his feet, "you guys came!" He hugged her tightly, "you've gotten so big!" He held her at arms length, looking at his now grown up youngest daughter. "I wish Cynthia could see you right now," he said with a gentle smile, "you look just like her."

"Where is she?" Cleo asked, looking around for her mother.

Leon's smile fell and he jogged toward a small shed where he disappeared inside and Cleo followed, her green eyes quickly adjusting to the dim lighting. "We were attacked…"

 _ **Tell the world I'm coming home**_

 _ **Let the rain wash away**_

"Cleo! Status Report!" Lixa barked to her sister as she barrel rolled and destroyed two fighters, "we need you and Leon up here!"

"Dad's okay," Cleo's voice was slightly choked and emotional.

Lixa's grip on her controls went slack, "what about mom?" She asked in a whisper.

"Mom's hurt and unconscious," Cleo said quietly, "she and dad were attacked last night and she's been poisoned. Twice."

Lixa's face drained of color, "no…"

"The scientists who kept them poisoned her with a poison that would activate when she left the prison thing, and then she was stabbed in the shoulder with a poison coated blade." Cleo murmured, "I-I'm on my way up, Dad wants to stay here with her, he's not sure if she's gonna make it…"

"Okay…" Lixa's voice withered and trailed off before she cleared her throat, "I'll have Dad's fighter land near his position. C-Can you give him your com?"

"Of course," Cleo replied before Leon's voice was heard over the fighters' coms

"Lixa?" her father's voice was exhausted, worn down, and defeated

"Daddy?" Lixa responded, her hazel eyes gleaming faintly with tears while her brothers fought the fighters around her, "how's mom?"

 _ **All the pain of yesterday**_

"I don't know darling," Leon responded softly, his voice was rather raspy, "I need her fighter to find out what's wrong and what the poison does."

 _ **I know my kingdom awaits**_

 _ **And they've forgiven my mistakes**_

 _ **I'm coming home, I'm coming home**_

 _ **Tell the world I'm coming home**_

"I'm back in the air," Cleo told Lixa when she had settled into her jet and started to help them fight, "we gotta fight these guys off till dad comes back."

"With or without mom," Lixa said quietly, she sounded like the shy girl her parents had raised until their capture, her normal personality.

The boys didn't say anything, knowing that they couldn't help the girls feel better.

Except Leroy, who decided that he would try. "Cleo," he said through a personal communication and stopped abruptly as Cleo burst into tears, the strong and independent front crumbling at the thought of losing her mother. "Princess," Leroy soothed, trying to comfort her, he could hear Chris beginning to cry as well, hearing his mother's emotional state and mirroring it. "Princess it's going to be okay, Cynthia's incredibly strong, something as simple as a poison can't get rid of her," he comforted as he watched leon's bulky red fighter shimmered into view on the ground. He turned to the public communication system, "Leon's fighter has landed on the ground."

 _ **"Ain't No Stopping Us Now", I love that song**_

Cleo buried her face in her hands and continued to cry, _I thought we could save them! We were a few minutes too late! I'm going to lose my mom!_

 _ **Whenever it comes on it makes me feel strong**_

"Leon's fighter is taking off," Flynx said numbly, his hyperactive tendencies had disappeared completely when Cleo had given the news.

 _ **I thought I told y'all that we won't stop**_

 _ **'Til we back cruising through Harlem, Viso blocks**_

 _ **It's what made me, saved me, drove me crazy**_

 _ **Drove me away then embraced me, forgave me**_

 _ **For all of my shortcomings, welcome to my homecoming**_

Leon's fighter spun expertly in the air, easily demolishing fighters. With twenty years of flying and thirty of fighting under his belt Leon was just short of being a legend in their group.

The five watched the fighter, all of them feeling numb and broken, they hadn't managed to save Cynthia...

 _ **Yeah, it's been a long time coming**_

"What are you two crying about?" Cynthia's voice was heard over the coms, raspy and barely audible, but there. "You know I thought you would be glad to see us, not crying that we're back in time to get your four back in line."

 _ **Yeah, and here I stand, a better man**_

"Ow!" Flynx had hit his head on his windshield. "Mom!"

"Thank StarClan-!" Miles grinned.

"You're alive!" Lixa gasped, staring at her display which flickered before she could see Leon and Cynthia inside Leon's fighter. Cynthia was sitting in Leon's lap with a helmet on, her blue eyes glazed from a high fever and sweat dampened her black hair and forehead, but she was awake and conscious.

Leon grinned, " she's awake and very much alive." Cynthia pinched him and Leon yelped before looking at her like a wounded puppy, "ow! What was that for?" Cynthia smirked and pinched him again, this time making him jolt. "Ow! Crazy woman!" He complained, "this is what I get for hauling your sorry butt out of a fire? Ow! Cut it out!" He grasped her wrist with a pout, amber eyes twinkling slightly.

"That is what you get for not alerting them _before_ we took off!" Cynthia responded in a raspy voice, "you had them thinking a poison killed me off!

 _ **Thank you all, thank you all**_

"Thank the Stars," Lixa smiled brightly, "we missed you two so much!"

"Well I'd hope so," Leon said with pretend arrogance, "we are your loving parents."

"Okay, hush you," Cynthia mumbled and pinched him again.

Leon jolted and looked at her, "ow! Cynthia that's not funny!"

The ghost of a smirk spread over Cynthia's face and she pinched him again for the fun of it.

"Ow! I'm sensitive there!" Leon whined, "I've been beaten up fighting for our lives!"

Cynthia gave a hoarse snort of laughter, "What, was any of your opponents a girl then?"

Leon grumbled and rolled his eyes, "jeez, I'm not sure if I missed this part of you."

Cynthia laughed and their kids all grinned, glad to see their parents all goofy and rather normal.

 _ **I'm coming home, I'm coming home**_

 _ **Tell the world I'm coming home**_

 _ **Let the rain wash away (Let it wash away)**_

 _ **All the pain of yesterday**_

"Cynthia! Leon!" Bree's smile threatened to break the technological genius' cheeks. "It's been soo long!" She yanked Leon down into a hug before pulling back and pulling a face, "Leon, you do not need facial hair," she told with with a giggle, "you look super odd with it!"

Leon rolled his eyes and goofily stroked his very scraggly and short dirty blonde beard, "eh, I like it."

"Well you're not keeping it," Cynthia rasped from where she was sitting on an examination table with an IV that was giving her the antidote to the poison. "I hate it. It tickles."

Leon grinned, "well I think it's awesome."

"Dad," Cleo sighed, she and her brothers were standing near the wall, "you look better clean shaven."

Leon looked over at his youngest daughter, "what do you mean?" He said in a slightly hurt tone, "Leroy's got hair on his face and you still like him," he whined childishly.

Cleo didn't bother glancing over at Leroy, "he's been gone for half a year and we've been looking for you."

"I'm shaving tomorrow morning," Leroy told Cleo's father simply, "haven't had time with all the chaos."

Leon pouted and looked at Cynthia with amber puppy eyes, "please!"

"No," Cynthia replied swiftly in a raspy tone, "it tickles my skin so no."

Leon's pout deepened, "Cynthia!" He whined, "I like it!" He went over to her and playfully rubbed his cheek against hers, which caused the weak fighter to sneeze and nearly topple off the examination table.

"Leon!" Cynthia rasped and swatted him upside the head before pushing on his face, "go away, you're not getting near me till you shave."

Leon pouted but then he noticed something and turned to look at Bree, "wait, where's Jay?"

Bree's smile faultered and her expression turned grim. "He's not here," she said softly, hurt and faint annoyance gleaming in her amber eyes, "Jay hasn't been here since after you guys left."

 _ **I know my kingdom awaits (Ain't no place like home)**_

 _ **And they've forgiven my mistakes**_

 _ **I'm coming home (Whoo!) I'm coming home**_

 _ **Tell the world I'm coming home**_

* * *

 _Jay's screen flickered to life and he saw that Bree was sitting there in front of her screen, patiently waiting for him to call like he usually did. "Hey," he said, his voice still gruff and curt._

 _Bree's amber eyes were withdrawn, she was hiding everything she was feeling. "Hey," she greeted him, she looked tired, more tired than she usually did. "How's it going?"_

" _You mean besides the fact that I've been undercover for what, seven years now?" Jay grunted angrily, "I'm fine." He saw the flicker of hurt and a little jealousy in Bree eyes as he mentioned the op that had taken him away from her and their daughter and threw him into a different life as a different person with a different family. However, Bree didn't comment on her own feelings, she never did unless he asked her to, otherwise she kept all of her feelings about the whole thing to herself. "What about you? I heard Leon and Cynthia have returned."_

" _I'm fine," Bree shrugged and her fingers flew over a keyboard out of view of the screen, "yeah, Cynthia's being treated for poison and both of them have a few weeks to themselves as they readjust and get their strength back."_

 _It was quiet for a moment, neither of them saying anything that they wanted to say but couldn't risk saying from being spied on while Bree set up a powerful firewall and defense system that would allow them free speech._

 _Jay heard the telltale click of the security being inputted and spoke, his voice more relaxed than curt and gruff. "How's Catie?"_

 _Bree shrugged, "she's okay, missing her father and exhausted from helping out the others. Holly's given her my job," She shifted her position slightly, "Holly says I'm getting depressed," she said quietly, "I've been a little more quiet lately."_

 _Jay looked at her, his eyebrows furrowing in concern, "depressed? Holly's thinking you have depression?"_

 _Bree looked at him, her amber eyes were tired and defeated, "yeah... I miss you," she murmured, tears gathering in her amber eyes, "do you know when you'll be coming home?"_

 _Jay's blue eyes softened and he gazed softly at her, "I miss you too Firefly, but I don't know when they'll let me go home, we still haven't found the mole."_

 _Bree swallowed hard and nodded, closing her eyes for a brief moment, "It's been seven years," she said brokenly and looked at him, propping her head up on her arm and looking at him, "I want my husband home with me and our daughter."_

 _Jay's blue eyes glinted with a small amount of tears as his emotions got to be a little too much for him to handle, "I know, I wish I was there too, I miss you and Catie so much." His eyes softened more when Bree closed her eyes and ducked her head tears dripping down onto the desk she was in front of. "Bree…" he spoke softly, "don't cry…"_

 _Bree gave a muffled sob, like she was struggling to keep from breaking down completely._

 _Jay looked pained, "Bree, it's okay…"_

 _Bree pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes, trembling while trying her best to stop crying._

" _Bree?" The door creaked open to reveal Finli, whose sister was the agent Jay was working alongside. Finli's green eyes softened and he hurried over and hugged Bree, pulling her into his arms and comforting the brunette while Jay watched, helpless and unable to do anything to help comfort his miserable wife._


	120. More Drabbles

**_~Snowcrystal of thunderclan~_**

 _The series isn't over yet! We're still missing Jay in that world, aren't we? I agree it is a little sad :(_

 _No! Don't cry! :(_

 ** _~Silver-Rose Writes~_**

 _The ending was pretty sad, wasn't it? :( The situation is complicated, but I am working on a sequel! The only problem is that Jay's actually captured so Bree has to go find him! :D_

 ** _~Featherflight~_**

 _Late reviews are just as good as perfectly timed ones :D I'm going to write out the entire story for that trailer actually, cause it's really good :D_

 _My part is the mustache too! :D I think Cynthia's reaction to the whole mustache thing is hilarious :P_

 ** _~Mina Harker~_**

 _Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!_

* * *

 _ **A/N: So My brain's filling up with random drabbles and I need to get rid of them, so here's a splatter of random drabbles I've been thinking about that that have been stealing space in my brain! So here you guys go!**_

* * *

 _ **Also! IMPORTANT! I need to know what couples you want to see on the Valentines Special, so far I have** Cinderblaze **,** Hollyleaves **,** Briarfeather Ivybreeze, Ivyfrost, Sandheart, Leaffeather **(as teenagers) and** Squirrelclaw ** _scheduled. Are there a_ ny more you guys want to see?**_

* * *

 **Ivory, the Broken Yet Strong, and Fierce**

 _Seven_

Ivory scrambled back up, staring at Jacob through determined green eyes, "No!" She spat at him, the seven-year-old was furious, there was no way Jacob was going to even touch her twin sister. Diana was cowering behind her near the wall, whimpering in pain and clutching the welt on her arm from the towel Jacob had snapped at her. Blood trickled from Ivory's mouth from a bit tongue and split lip which was both from the punch she had gotten from the man in front of her, and her back stung viciously from the snapping of the towel she had been given after she had pushed her twin into a corner and huddled around her, protecting her. "You can't hit her!" The seven-year-old snarled, her parents were due home at any minute, and if they didn't get here she had called her 'babysitter' even though she called him her big brother, so he would stop him. "My parents are going to hurt you!" She spat at him, "and if they don't At will!"

Jacob narrowed his eyes at her and picked up the young girl by the front of the shirt, "what did you say?" He growled at her.

Ivory promptly spat blood in his face and flailed her short arms, scratching at his face as well, "You heard me!"

Jacob roared in anger and moved to hit her but he howled when Ivory promptly sank her teeth into one of his knuckles, biting down hard. "Get off!"

Ivory simply growled, continuing to bite down even as Jacob pulled at her shorter ponytail hard, trying to dislodge the little girl's teeth.

Diana scurried into a corner and started bawling, tucking her small body as close to the wall as she could while she watched through fearful eyes as Ivory diverted Jacob's attention from her.

Ivory dug her fingernails into his wrist, biting down with as much pressure as she could, ignoring the pain and the blooming headache she was beginning to get. She could taste blood now and she didn't like the metallic taste, it meant hurt and weakness, something she hated feeling.

The front door abruptly slammed open as Ivory finally let go with a howl when Jacob released her ponytail and got her with the towel again across the back. Atol was revealed, the broad-shouldered teen looked outraged and completely furious.

"What the heck is going on?!" Atol roared, taking care to keep his language clean despite how angry he was.

Ivory's knees buckled as Jacob kicked her in the back and she dropped to the floor, hitting her head in the process and spitting out more blood.

"At help!" Diana cried, her blue eyes full of tears that were trailing down her cheeks and chin, "help! He's hurting Ivy!"

Atol stormed over, stopped next to Jacob and kicked Jacob in the chin, knocking him clean off of his feet and possibly dislocating his jaw, "get out of here!" He snarled at the thinner man and punched him in the nose for good measure,"out!"

"He's staying here," Ivory spluttered through her now nosebleed, "he can't j-just leave."

Atol looked over at the small girl and nodded so he scooped up Diana in one arm and picked up Ivory in the other before glaring heatedly at Jacob and leaving the house, running across the street to his own house.

Ivory's head bounced against his shoulder as she blinked slowly, the fight draining from her body now that she and her sister was safe. Her green eyes drooped, sleep sounded like a good idea…

:( :( :( :( :(

 _Twelve_

Ivory's head snapped back so fast she nearly got whiplash and it felt like her teeth rattled.

"Ivory!" Diana exclaimed she was struggling against Jacob who was and had been trying to inject something into the younger twin's arm since he had started having an episode.

Ivory stumbled in a dazed fashion, her vision was spinning even as she stumbled over to Diana and Jacob and managed to snatch the syringe from his before she stumbled away from him, "you can't do that to her," Ivory half slurred, highly dazed and struggling to walk straight after that hit. "She's my baby sister."

"Fine!" Jacob released Diana and tackled Ivory to the ground, "then you'll get it instead!" The syringe clattered out of Ivory's hand and Jacob picked it up.

"Ivory!" Diana yelled, "snap out of it!" She cried, "he's gonna inject you again!"

Ivory was too dazed to respond, she could remember the feeling of her blood being on fire for a few minutes, but beyond that nothing had happened last time, and she couldn't do anything now. "Is kay," Ivory slurred, trying to speak, "is kay Dia." Then she felt the pain as the needle was jabbed into her arm and howled, kicking sluggishly at him as fire engulfed her blood.

:(

Diana sobbed, why couldn't she do anything to protect her sister like her sister did to her?! Ivory was always the one who suffered from these, she usually escaped with little to no injuries, but Ivory was always beaten up afterward and confused from these chemicals Jacob kept trying to inject into her but Ivory always got in the way.

Atol's arrival was a little late but better than nothing as he barreled in and knocked Jacob off of Ivory and tackled Jacob, punching him over and over again, "how dare you?!"

Diana, on the other hand, scrambled over to her sister who was lying still on the floor, "Ivory?" She whimpered and shook her by the shoulder, "Ivy? Ivy wake up-"

Ivory suddenly started seizing, the preteen's body seized and twitched while white foam tinged red from the blood already in her mouth started foaming at her lips and her green eyes rolled back.

"Atol!" Diana flat out screamed, "Something's wrong with Ivory!"

Atol whirled around and just about had a panic attack, "Call nine-one-one!" He said quickly as he tried to check Ivory's breathing around her seizing.

The girl who Atol had apparently had with him before he arrived gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, her green eyes widening with shock.

Diana clumsily managed to dial and they answered.

"Hello, you have reached the emergency services-"

"My sister's been given some kind of injection and she's having a seizure!" Diana cut the operator off and sobbed, "she's foaming at the mouth and everything!"

"Stay there, help is on the way." The operator said quickly.

:( :(

"...issues, not… if… recover… bad… lungs."

That was what Ivory heard as she started regaining consciousness, able to hear the steady beeping of machines, able to smell the smell of antiseptic and feel the cotton sheets against the skin of her arms. Her body ached, she hurt from head to toe and it felt like she was breathing through an oxygen mask.

"Thanks for telling us," she heard her father sigh, "I know you've done all that you can." She could hear her mother crying into something, probably her father's shirt.

"Thank you," Her sister's voice was raw and more of a sniffle than words.

"Let m-us know if something else can be done," Atol's voice was gruff, "Ivory's an athlete, if she can't breathe even decently it'll kill her main interest."

Ivory felt horror spik her senses, no more sports?! What about her martial arts? Or knife fighting? All of that gone?!

"I will, but the only option I'm aware of is a surgery to repair the tissue of her lungs." The doctor said before he left, "have a good day." The door clicked shut behind him she assumed it was behind him anyway.

 _Surgery? What the heck happened to me?_ Ivory's body felt sluggish and achy, it was nearly impossible for her to move, at least for the moment. So instead she mustered up all the strength she could muster and groaned. Weakly. _Wow, that was so impressive lungs, thank you for making my sound like a weakly dying cat._

"She's awake!" Diana's voice was ecstatic

 _(Extra Scene)_

"I'm Braxton," the boy greeted her once the nurse had left, a slightly grumpy smile quirking up the corners of his lips.

Ivory nodded, focused on trying to get her legs to work properly with the whole walking thing, "Ivory. What happened to you?" She asked just to keep up the conversation, silence made her uneasy now, it was too easy for something to happen or a loud sound to startle her.

"Car accident, lost feeling but not motion in my legs," Braxton shrugged, he was still on the bench press, doing about sixty pounds per rep.

"Ah," Ivory's tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on lifting her legs one at a time to slowly walk. It was a long process, she had to remind her chemically fried brain what to do to walk.

"You?" Braxton asked and put the bar down before looking over at the struggling blonde.

"Got an injection that sizzled my lungs and fried by pain receptors." Ivory shrugged before barely managing to catch herself before she fell onto the mat. "Oh, and it fried my brain motion wise, I have to remind it how to walk and stuff."

"Sounds like fun," Braxton said before he continued to bench press, "I can't feel anything and you have trouble with motion, aren't we the perfect pair?"

Ivory barked out a laugh which caused her to start coughing, hacking in the struggle to breathe through her ruined lungs. She dropped to her knees and doubled over in the process.

"You okay over there?" Braxton put down the bar again and sat up on the bench press, looking over at her through emotionally numbed amber eyes. "You sound like your dying."

Ivory spat out a small glob of blood when her coughing easied and grasped onto the bars again, "One of the many perks about having ruined lungs that can't be healed with today's medicine." She grunted and looked back at him, "I'm not dying. Yet." She narrowed her eyes slightly and studied his amber eyes, "you didn't lose your feeling by a car crash, did you?" She asked as she awkwardly hauled her body over to the wheelchair that was just sitting there waiting for her. She nodded toward the scarring on his muscular shoulders, "knife wounds, belt welts, I've seen them before."

Braxton's amber eyes shut down, becoming indifferent as he smoothly slid off the bench press and into his wheelchair, "where?"

Ivory snorted and awkwardly fiddled with the wheelchair, not sure what to do with it. "On myself mainly." She looked up at him in time to see his highly surprised expression. "What? Did you think I was screwing around with chemicals and got too close to one?"

"No," Braxton drawled sarcastically, "I thought a hippo stabbed you."

Ivory pretended to look offended, "ouch, you think so lowly of someone you just met."

Braxton cracked a smirk, "well you're just like me, sarcastic, a victim to people screwing with us," both of their eyes darkened at that, "and good looking."

Ivory blanched, taken completely off guard and her face flushed a bright pink, "Woah, woah, woah, moving a little too fast there Romeo."

Braxton shrugged, "I'm not apologizing, you're one of the only girls I've seen since I got put into this ward. I've driven off the other guys."

Ivory looked at him incredulously, "seriously? You're less scary than the stuffed bear my sister keeps in her bedroom."

Braxton gave her a flat look and Ivory continued.

"Although that thing is missing an eye, needs some more stitching, and wears an eyepatch, pirate hat and parrot, so it's just about as terrifying as clowns."

Braxton smirked again, "ah, clown phobia much?"

Ivory smirked back at him, "I saw that shiver run up your spine, you're scared of clowns too." the blonde smirked as she managed to use the wheelchair correctly and rolled over to him. She then stuck out her hand, "Ivory Franchise, in pys therapy for reteaching my body how to move and react to the rest of the world."

Braxton rolled his eyes, "as I said before, Braxton." he then smirked and shook her hand, "Braxton Crawford, in pys therapy for learning how to move my lower extremities without feeling and bulk up my upper body for life in a wheelchair."

"Oh this is going to be the start of a wonderful," Ivory drew out the last word, "friendship. Don't you think? And no sarcasm."

Braxton shrugged, not bothering to release her hand, "Definitely, glad to meet you Ivory, I'll see you tomorrow at some point."

* * *

 _ **Cynthia's Knee Surgery Piece**_

"Leon..." Cynthia slightly slurred from the medications she had running through her system to keep her pain levels at a normal level with the pain in her knee from the surgery. "I wanna kiss…" She mumbled and clumsily bumped her nose against Leon's.

"You need sleep," Leon replied, looking perfectly fine with Cynthia pulling him close like this, "you're high off of these meds Cyndy."

"Nuh uh," Cynthia mumbled and sluggishly lifted her head a little, "I wanna kiss from yoou," she slurred, lifting her head a little more and angling her face closer to his, "I miss just us."

"Cyn, you need sleep, I'll try to be here later okay?" Leon sighed, he understood where she was coming from, they hadn't had much time to themselves since the twins were born with one baby's health issues and

Holly stifled her giggles, this looked highly amusing, to say the least.

"Nooo," Cynthia slurred, "I wanna kiss," she mumbled, her blue eyes fixated on his face.

Leon sighed and pecked her on the lips, "there."

Cynthia pouted, "noo, better one," she mumbled and managed to sloppily kiss him, pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth.

Leon noticed his sister and rolled his eyes, "Cyn, Holly's here to see you."

Cynthia's blue gaze didn't stray from Leon's face, "I wanna a real kiss," she mumbled, her right thumb clumsily brushing along his jaw line, "no birds…" she mumbled.

Leon's gaze flickered to his sister, "Cynthia, please let go."

Cynthia positioned her face closer to his, "then just gimme a good kiss," she mumbled, nuzzling her nose sloppily against his.

Leon's cheeks were going pink and his amber gaze continued to flicker over to Holly, "okay, but you have to let go." He then gave her a short kiss before gently taking her arm and removing it from around his neck trying to get her to let him go now that his sister was here to see Cynthia.

Cynthia complained, mumbling about how he didn't want to kiss her and he didn't love her anymore before she rolled over onto her back with her right arm over her face as she sulked, having wanted a heartfelt kiss from her husband.

Leon seemed to inwardly groan as she did so, grumbling about his moody wife.

"She just wanted a kiss, Leon," Holly chuckled, "what if you leave before she gets that kiss?"

"Shut up," Leon mumbled, his ears going pink, "she will be fine."

Holly rolled her eyes, "you still awake Cindy?" she asked, using the normal nickname.

"Go away," Cynthia mumbled, "Leo doesn't love me no more."

Holly gave Leon a knowing look, "Why's that Cindy?" She asked in a serious tone.

"He won't kiss me right," Cynthia mumbled, "and I don't like birds..."

* * *

 _ **Army Style. Kinda?**_

"I heard there's gonna be a canine team deployed to our area," Mike said casually as he, Brendon, Leon, and Braxton all made their way to the mess hall, "anyone has any ideas on who it would be?"

Brendon shook his head, "no, but I'm hoping for a woman, we've only had series upon series' of male canine teams here," he said as he grinned at today's selection of items that he and the rest of his team hadn't seen in a while. The cook at this particular base was amazing.

"What kind of canine team? They'd get taken out within a week if they don't have combat training." Braxton said flatly as he chose a random item to eat since he didn't care all that much.

"True," Mike admitted as he slid into place behind Braxton, "wait, don't you know a canine team Leon?" He said, turning hazel eyes on his squad-mate and field captain.

Leon nodded as he smiled kindly at the cook and let her choose what to give him, "surprise me," he said before addressing Mike, his amber eyes fixed on his squad-mate. "I know a canine unit as they are actually called," he snorted, "she's a very beautiful but dangerous woman and her dog has a bite that I bet could go through steel."

"No way," Mike shook his head, "not possible."

Leon hummed an affirmative as he grinned at the surprise selection, "thanks," he thanked the cook before leading his squad over to a mostly empty table where the rest of their squad was at. "Mornin' soldiers," he teased as he sat down.

"Captain," Ivory greeted from where she was cleaning her firearm, an empty plate in front of her. Ivory was with Mike, Leon, and Brendon as soldier status, they were the four in the field whose jobs were to defend the rest of their squad, or in Leon's case, lead and direct.

"Whatever, it's too early." Jay deadpanned from where he was lazily putting spoonfuls of cereal into his mouth. Jay was the team's field medic, armed with a gun and special technology and healed injuries quickly he kept the team on their feet and supplied them with the needed supplies that he carried on his back inside special lightweight and tiny storage discs.

"Hello, guys!" Bree chirped happily from where she was assembling a few circuits. Bree was a real life genius, with a mind hardwired for numbers, calculations, and reading people, she was whatever their team needed her to be. Which was usually a sniper and recon specialist with special technology and drones along with her 'armored' feline that was trained to sneak around wearing a special camera. The mentioned cat was laying on the floor wearing his special camouflage coat that changed to blend in perfectly with his surroundings. Although the feature seemed to be off right now and he was missing the specially designed mask for his furry and whiskery face and 'boots.'

"Morning," Holly greeted as she paused eating her breakfast, "any orders yet?" She was the team's strategist and diplomat, she received orders straight from the diplomatic side of the organization as well as being a translator with her ability to be a translator and lie detector with Bree's help for hidden cues.

"Well the canine unit should be arriving in the next half hour at the base's entrance," Leon responded swiftly, "our orders are to be at the gates at o'eight-hundred with Lion deployed and Ivory's scope trained on the vehicle to make sure they make it here okay. The handler may be completely geared up and should be wearing a bulletproof vest, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be careful with the raids going on around here." He looked at Holly, "what is her information?"

"Well you already know her captain," Holly replied as she took a file from her pack that was sitting on the ground underneath her, "the handler's name is Lieutenant Cynthia Lawson, she's a 'retired' combat officer, went through three years of canine training before she received her dog, whose name is Lila, and was thrown straight into the field where she's been nicknamed the 'Animal Whisperer.' Three years ago her status caught up to her and she and her dog were captured in Vyla where she was freed by her dog that she somehow managed to get out, three months later. She's been in the field with no major issues since." Holly skimmed through the file, "she doesn't have a dominant hand, she's been treated for nerve damage in her left arm and it's rumored she's supposed deaf, something that resulted from being too close to an explosion."

Leon gave a snort that he quickly corrected as Brad strode into the mess hall and everyone stood up, the captains of each team strode over while the other soldiers simply saluted and waited. Leon stood in front of Brad, shoulders straight, posture correct, and with a swift salute.

Brad looked the captains over before he spoke, "all teams have been given orders this morning, has that information been distributed?"

"Yes, sir!" The captains replied swiftly and in sync.

"Those orders will be followed today?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Light squadron," Brad said and looked at Leon, "you will be there to welcome your new squad-mate?"

"Yes, sir," Leon replied swiftly, "by o'eight-hundred, sir."

"Then at ease," Brad said before he strode toward where he could actually get some breakfast.

Everyone relaxed and sat back down, a low buzz of conversation began to fill the room as the captains returned to their squads.

"Cynthia's deaf alright," Leon told his squad as he sat back down, "but she's had these tiny fancy high tech things in her ears that converts the sound to vibration artificially."

"How do you know the Lieutenant Leon?" Mike asked curiously.

Brendon smirked, "is she one of the women you've met on liberty?" He said and lifted one eyebrow.

Leon rolled his eyes, "I met her when we were kids, she was the strange 'Justice brat' in the neighborhood who was usually in the woods goofing off and playing with the wildlife. Beyond that, she was a really popular and cute girl in high school who could and would kick anybody's butt-"

"Basically they were high school sweethearts," Holly cut him off, only daring to because she was his sister and she already knew the story, "but Cynthia's father shipped her off to the Justice Academy the month after she turned nineteen."

Brendon whistled, "wow, I was not expecting that one."

Leon shrugged, "she's a rebel though, doesn't follow rules beyond the standard ones and the set of rules she's had since forever."

Jay smirked, "in high school, they were the mushiest couple ever."

Leon narrowed his eyes as Brendon and Mike snorted, "don't overstep your boundaries soldier," he said a little stiffly to Jay, but Bree came to his rescue.

"Oh really?" Bree said and she leaned closer to Jay, propping her head up on her left arm with her amber eyes fixated on her significant other, "if I remember correctly you were the hopeless geek chasing after the school's shiest student and then the school's resident genius."

Jay frowned when Mike, Brendon, Leon, and even Braxton and Ivory, all at least smirked if not chuckled.

"Bree was darn near perfect in high school so there's not much you can say about her," Leon smirked at his brother, "she was popular, smart, and a social butterfly."

"Whatever," Jay huffed, "I'm beaten, happy?" he asked the question mainly directed at Bree.

"Yep!" Bree giggled and leaned down to rub her cat's soft fur.

Leon glanced at his watch, "let's roll, it's nearing the time of our orders."

:)

"I have a view of the truck," Ivory said of the coms from where she was perched somewhere with her scope trained on the coming truck, "it looks to be going well so far, sir."

"I second that," Bree stated, she was hiding against a wall with an electronic tablet in her hands from which she was watching through Lion's camera as the cat slowly slunk near the truck, pausing every once in a while to ensure that he couldn't be seen. "Cynthia's not visible from the front though captain, sir."

"It's likely she's in the back with her dog, the passenger seat is a highly risky position," Leon told his team from where he was looking through high tech binoculars. "Keep in position, the vehicle is nearing the gate. Holly, are you in position?"

"Yes, sir," Holly replied swiftly, "I'm waiting for the truck to arrive, sir."

"Good, contact in a few seconds," Leon said as he watched the truck slow to a top at the gate and Holly to exchange a conversation with someone in Ruxian before it slowly pulled up to the entrance and stopped.

"Lieutenant Cynthia Lawson," Leon spoke firmly, "I am Commander Leonardo Bramble of the Light Squadron, you have arrived at the base, please step out." He could hear Holly translating it into a different language for the driver's sake behind him.

The back door opened and a woman stepped out of the vehicle after making a soft clicking noise with her tongue, a silent signal to her dog. "Lower your weapon Commander," the women said as she moved out of the way of the car door, "and tell your sniper to stand down," she added as she took off her sunglasses and perched them on the top of her head. The woman's blue eyes were vibrant and dangerous.

Leon made sure to keep his tone in a commander typical style, "Sniper stand down, lower your weapons soldiers." His squad did as he asked, "ma'am, please bring out your dog as well."

Cynthia waited till the weapons were lowered before she agreed, "Lila, heel." A golden retriever looking dog jumped out of the car and stood at Cynthia's feet, it's exotic blue eyes were focused and it seemed to be sniffing for scents and adjusting to its surroundings. "Mia," Cynthia said to the dog and the dog obeyed, sitting down at her feet. Lila had a mini bulletproof vest that covered the dog's torso, a black collar was around its neck, the vest had small pouches along the animal's flanks, and Cynthia had a decently long leash dangling around her neck. Cynthia pulled a decently sized pack out of the car before she shut the door and thanked the driver in Ruxian who pulled away and out the front gate.

"Tell us about your dog Lieutenant," Leon instructed as he began to led the way deeper into the base, "and please leash it."

"Her, Cynthia corrected, "and don't worry, she won't go anywhere unless I say so or let her explore."

Leon simply nodded and gestured for his squad to follow as Cynthia followed him and began to tell his team about her partner.

"My partner is named Lila, she's trained for looking for mines, explosives, drugs, and injured personnel. She can also track scents, tell me if someone is armed and how many weapons they have on them, and attack on command. She can also do random tricks if you ask her too while in the dorms or where ever we go when off duty." Lila was silently trotting at her heels, her tail swishing softly as she trotted alongside her handler.

Leon nodded stiffly, "Can you demonstrate the whole armed thing?"

Cynthia shrugged, "sure, on who?"

Leon pointed to Brendon, "him."

Cynthia nodded and brushed one hand against her dog's head, "Vika," she spoke to Lila and subtly pointed to Brendon, "Yuro?"

Lila looked at Brendon, her black nose flaring slightly as the dog breathed in the scents. Then she pawed at the ground with her left front paw three times with varying lengths of time and twice with her left with a direction, left, then up.

"He's armed with a rifle, and two smaller guns along with two knives, one at his left thigh and the other at his left shoulder," Cynthia replied before she continued walking.

Leon blinked and looked at Brendon who looked mystified but nodded, "that's correct, sir."

Leon nodded, "alright, how?"

"Lila can smell the gunpowder on a gun that's ever been fired and the metal of a knife," Cynthia shrugged, "using that she can pinpoint where the scent comes from. Guns smell like gunpowder, brass, and metal, knives typically smell like steel or silver."

Leon nodded slowly, "ah." Suddenly he stopped as Lila abruptly growled and bared her teeth.

Cynthia froze as well, her right hand going toward a knife at her waist, "what Lila?"

Lila lifted her tail, making it stick straight up as Cynthia grasped the dog's vest around the collar.

"You have a problem," Cynthia said quietly, her voice hushed, "someone inside isn't a member of the Justice."  
Leon narrowed his eyes, "can you track him or her?"

Cynthia nodded, "Ragiaru," she said to Lila before she let go of the vest and ducked her head, keeping her head down. She then clicked her tongue and Lila sprang, the dog silently moving at a half run, her tail still straight up. Cynthia silently followed, her footsteps soft and barely audible on the hardwood flooring.

Leon followed behind them, his surprise growing. This was indeed a test, Brad had instructed to have them tested before put out onto the field. Even though he was dying to return to his squad's haven, where he could properly greet Cynthia and Lila.

Lila lowered herself to the ground next to a corner, her blue eyes fixated in front of her.

Cynthia stood above her, making sure to stay in a position where someone wouldn't be able to see them. "Uka," she spoke a moment later as she stepped back, "test complete correct?" She asked as she watched a man walk past them, definitely one of the natives.

* * *

 _ **Puzzle Pieces of Bree And Jay**_

 _ **(Fight Or Flight World)**_

Bree's amber eyes held tears but she refused to let Jay see her cry. The twenty-one-year-old bobbed her head and stuffed her hands into her mechanics jumpsuit pockets, her chosen career inside the freedom group. "Okay," she murmured, "I understand." Her throat burned, feeling terrible and confused, not sure what she had done to make Jay do this to her, "friends?" She asked quietly and reluctantly pulled one hand from her pocket before she held it out for him to shake, her voice taking on a slightly distressed hoarse tone.

"Sure," Jay grunted curtly and grasped her extended hand in a handshake, "I'm sorry," he mumbled, "I don't want to hurt you."

Bree shook the tears from her eyes and looked up at him, no doubt the rims of her eyes were turning red from how badly she wanted to cry, but she hoped he wouldn't notice. "It's fine," she said, her voice still a little hoarse, the only give away to her broken heart, "I'll get over it." She smiled at him, forcing a cheerful and happy smile, "I'll see you at Cynthia and Leon's tomorrow right?"

Jay nodded, "yeah if Cynthia's not too nauseous."

Bree beamed at him, forcing a happy laid back expression despite how she wanted to curl up in her tinker shop and bawl till it didn't hurt anymore and she repaired the pieces of her heart. "Say hi to your older brother for me, cause I won't see him or Cynthia till then, I've got some fighter tests and it'll take a while."

Jay nodded, his blue eyes were a little upset as well, but he didn't seem to be able to see how badly the brunette was taking this. "I will." He turned and started to walk away before he turned back around and looked at her, noticing how the sun was beginning to set and how she was softly kicking the backpack at her feet. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice more of a whisper now, "I'm really sorry for hurting you like this."

Bree shrugged, "it's fine, I… I knew it was coming," she admitted quietly, "you like the new cadet Hadara," she shrugged her shoulders at Jay's surprised expression, "I'm more observant than people give me credit for," she laughed, trying her hardest to sound happy and normal. She stuffed her hands deeper into her pockets, feeling them tremble and shake, one of the drawbacks of when her emotions got the best of her. "I was hoping it would happen tomorrow or later," she admitted, "but that didn't happen." She looked down at the ground and toed the backpack at her feet. "Because I-I wanted to show you something."

Jay hesitantly walked back over to her, "what is it?"

Bree's hands shook as she knelt down and pulled a large flat device from the backpack and set it on the ground. "Its… It's a holographic screen," she murmured and turned it on, "it can display messages, and i-it's yours." She picked up the backpack and started walking away, turning her back to him before she could see the message she had designed to be briefly on the screen before it would flicker and leave him with one of the most advanced computers in the world.

 _I know you like the new cadet Hadara Mason, but I wanted to say somehow I was learning to fall in love with you. I hope you like the computer, this thing can do almost anything computer wise._

 _~Friends? Breanna Grayas, Technological Genius, and Flight Engineer._

:( :( :(

"J-Jay?" Bree's voice was soft and frightened, which made Jay concerned even though he was currently out on a date with Hadara.

"Bree? What's wrong?" Jay asked, furrowing his eyebrows and turning away from the bowling laned so he could hear her better. "Where are you?"

"My dorm room on base," Bree said, fear was heavy in her voice, "I think someone's following me," she said in a whisper, "I saw the dot of a laser sight earlier…"

Jay ran one hand through his hair, great, his friend had gone insane. "Bree, are you serious?" He groaned, "this isn't one of those times where you tell me about the people you think are following you."

"I swear it's true!" Bree hissed, "Jay you have to listen to me!"

"I have to go Bree, make it quick." Jay snapped, getting irritated.

"N-nevermind! You don't believe me!" Bree's voice was small and scared, "I'm going to send you some files to your computer just in case okay?"

"Fine," Jay grunted, Hadara was looking at him in confusion now, "look, you're fine, send all the files you want I don't care."

"They're encrypted," Bree said, her voice was still soft and quiet then Jay heard the crack of a sniper bullet, shattering glass, a clatter like Bree dropped the phone and a scream.

"Bree!" Jay jolted into a standing position as he heard more gunfire although he heard the sound of Bree's EG Electrical Gun between shots. "What's going on!"

Then he heard footsteps that weren't Bree's and a choking sound like someone was trying to strangle someone and Bree's strangled voice.

"Let me go!" She gasped, "get off!"

He snatched Hadara's phone and called Holly who picked up right away. "Get down to Bree's dorm room! The gunfire is from a shooter aimed at her!"

"Cynthia! Leon!" Holly barked, "Get down to Bree's dorm room!"

Jay paced worriedly as he heard the fight go on before a few moments later he heard someone scrambling for the phone and Bree's voice was barely understandable, it sounded like she had blood in her mouth from something.

"'Ay! It's As't'n!" Bree spluttered, it sounded like she was bleeding from her mouth in general, "it' As't'n!"

The blue-eyed man's face lost all color when he heard the sound of two very loud gunshots one after the other and Bree's blood-curdling scream of pain along with a thump.

:(

"Move!" Jay shoved people out of the way, running through the halls with his girlfriend Hadara on his tail. His blue eyes were panicked and worried, if he had listened to Bree this wouldn't have happened! "Get out of the way darn it!" He could hear Hadara's voice as she quietly apologized to them all, ever the gentle one. He didn't care about the people surrounding Bree's dorm room he just shoved through them all and stormed through the rope meant to keep people out. Jay's mouth went dry, Bree had been taken from the room already, but the scene itself was horrible. The window was shattered in tiny pieces of glass, her computers were smashed and destroyed, and there was blood all over the floor and part of the walls. The good thing though was that Bree had got her assailant, Ashton Turner lay on the floor with a pool of blood around his stomach, the second gunshot had indeed been Bree's backup and only lethal weapon, a small and deadly pistol.

Hadara gently guided him away from the scene and Jay numbly followed as she led the way down the hall to the medical area where Bree was.

"Jay!" Holly looked breathless as she rushed over to them, "She's going to live," she said quickly, "she got shot in the back-"

"What's the drawback?" Jay asked as Cynthia and Leon arrived as well.

"Bree's paralyzed," Cynthia said softly, the pregnant pilot had blood on her arms like she had been helping Bree, "The bullet tore through most of her spinal cord and shattered two of her vertebrae."

Jay stared at them, "I could've stopped this," he whispered, "I could've saved her…"

 _ **It Will Never Be the Same Again**_

" _Skylar no!" Cynthia's shout was a scream as the black haired teen raced toward where the debris was about to fall onto Skylar._

" _Mom no!" Jay shot toward his mother but Bree seized him around the waist, pulling him back with a yell of her own._

" _Jay you can't!"_

 _Cynthia was struggling to pull Skylar away from the creaking ceiling and snapping wood, her blue eyes panicked and worried. "Come on!"_

" _Cynthia go!" Skylar coughed, blood bubbling at her lips, "go!" she rasped and shoved Cynthia back just as the last beam broke._

 _Cynthia stumbled backward before she lunged, "Skylar!" With a vicious crash, the ceiling caved in on top of Skylar and Cynthia screamed, her left arm was caught in the debris._

 _Holly was frozen, staring in shock at the pile of debris that had caved in on her mother._

 _Meanwhile, Bree struggled to contain Jay. "Let me go, Breanna!" Jay howled, struggling against his friend's grasp._

" _You can't save her Jay! You know that!" Bree shot back, struggling to hold him back and keep him from undigging his mother. By pushing him behind her and digging her heels into the ground, preventing him from running off._

 _Jay struggled harder and he managed to grab the pistol holstered to his friend's thigh, "Let me go!" he shouted, fumbling slightly with the pistol._

" _Jay stop it!" Bree struggled to stop him, "Don't do something-" She was cut off by the sound of a gun and all color from her face draining. "Stupid," she finished in a raspy tone before her bright amber eyes rolled back and she fell face first to the floor, blood quickly soaking the back of her shirt and pooling around her._

" _I hate you Breanna!" Jay sobbed as he threw down the gun and raced toward the pile, pulling harshly on a large chunk of rubble, causing Cynthia to scream and thrash as he pulled the rubble and caused pain to flood her arm._

 _Blood trickled from Bree's mouth as she laid there on the floor in a half-conscious state, her lower back and legs numb and unfeeling. Jay had shot her, Bree would never be the same again._

:) :) :)

"Bree! Cynthia! Holly!" Bracken's voice woke all three women, "it's time to wake up! You three have a simulation in one hour!"

Holly got up from her green-themed bed, her green eyes sharp and alert, "Roger Bracken," she responded to him, alerting him that she and the other two were awake and alert now.

Bree however just laid there in her bed, her amber eyes open and staring at the ceiling, the amber depths showed nothing in relations to her mood besides a permanent impassiveness that hadn't wavered in a year and a half.

Cynthia on the other hand groaned but sat up, her left arm dangling uselessly at her side, her fingers curled mindlessly into a half fist. "StarClan, would it kill them to let us sleep in every once in a while?" She asked as she stretched her right arm over her head while her right arm just twitched and remained in its position.

Bree sat up and pushed the blankets off before she silently vanished into the bathroom. She wasn't called Breeze for no reason, over the past year and a half she had adopted a silent movement style, she made no noise on her own, ever.

Holly sighed and ran one hand through her black hair before she walked over to a desk and tossed a piece of technology to Cynthia along with a sling. "Let's get going we should eat before the simulation."

Cynthia snorted, "it's more like a test." She said bluntly as she took both the long device and the sling.

As Holly gathered the gear they would need and Bree was changing, Cynthia was working with the technology. The piece of technology was a special exoskeleton sleeve like thing for her right arm that allowed her to use it properly. The device was weird due to the fact that Cynthia had had to get a few surgeries done on her arm, shoulder, and the base of her neck that allowed the device to essentially plug into her shoulder and nerve system. Cynthia clasped all of the parts together onto her arm before she made a face at the pair of cords she had to plug in. "StarClan," she groaned as she finished the setup besides the cords, "I hate this thing."

"I don't blame you," Holly sighed as she put the gear the three of them would need on Cynthia's bed, "I wouldn't like having to plug something into my skin either."

"At Least you can take it off," Bree's quiet voice alerted the two women of her reappearance in a black long sleeve shirt, pants, combat boots, and black leather jacket with a tiny wind symbol on the front, her personal insignia. "I can't take the one off in my spine."

Holly looked briefly thoughtful even as guilt flickered across her green eyes, "true… still, I'm just glad I don't have either of those."

Cynthia yanked down the sleeve to the short sleeve shirt she was wearing, no visible traces of the sleeve's plug in at the base of her neck besides the tiny amount of silver poking out above the neckline of the shirt to the left. "Mine hurts though," she sighed, "my arm hurts while it's on and I get a massive migraine."

Bree nodded, "I know. I get pins and needles in my legs at night." After Jay had shot her after Skylar's death, she had to get a surgery done to repair her spine, which mean she had to have an experimental technology inputted to keep her in the field.

Cynthia looked at her left arm which was just a millimeter thicker and was now completely silver with the insignia of a tiny blue blade at the shoulder. "It does look cool though."

Holly smiled and even Bree cracked a tiny smile at Holly's comment, "Leon's words?"

Cynthia smiled sheepishly, Leon was both Holly's older brother -their combat teacher who was only a year older than Bree and Holly, Cynthia's age- and Cynthia's secret boyfriend, even if she and Leon never actually said the particular titles. "How'd you know?"

Holly sniggered, "because he's a pain in the butt and because he says everything about that thing is cool."

"Leon's also been prodding and poking it since you got it a year ago." Bree pointed out, her voice still flat and unresponsive.  
Cynthia nodded slowly as Holly went into the bathroom, "true…" she trailed off as Holly left before she looked Bree in the eye, studying her withdrawn friend, "you doing okay today?" She asked quietly.

Bree shrugged, "sorta. I had the dream again, but I'm fine." Both women knew what dream she was referring to, the dream of the memory of Skylar's death, that even never left either of them, for different reasons. Cynthia lost the ability to naturally move her arm, and Bree lost her trust in nearly everyone, her ability to walk -which was quickly rectified- and her ability to show what she was feeling. Bree was numb to the world now, and Cynthia knew it.

Cynthia gave her an empathic look, Cynthia was the same way although not as strongly as Bree, she had a healthy and thriving relationship to help teach her how the world needed to see what she felt at times. "Just focus on Bracken's promise alright? We'll be free from everything for a few weeks, just the three of us without any responsibilities and anyone's expectations."

Bree shrugged, "yeah but Jay's coming with us." That in of itself explained why she wasn't excited to go. After 'the incident' she had lost all of her trust in Jay and had made it her mission to stay out of his life as much as possible, outside the field missions, classes, and simulations, she melted into the background like a shadow in regards to him, never allowing herself to get close enough to him for him to touch no less melt the ice walls she had built up over her heart over the past year and a half. She couldn't trust him anymore, so she did her best to keep herself in the background, even if deep down hidden behind the broken heart of the brunette who had once been the most excitable and loving person around, was the strong feelings she harbored for him, which had made his betrayal in her eyes even worse.

Cynthia sighed, "that's true, he is coming with us." Her striking sapphire blue gaze drifted to the door, her nicknamed 'sixth sense' kicking in as someone probably walked past the door. "But Holly and I'll help you keep away from him if you'd like."

Bree shook her head as she perched on the bed beside Cynthia, the only sound of her movements was a very faint rustling of the blankets as she settled her weight, "no, you and Holly need to enjoy yourselves too."

"I want to make sure you enjoy yourself too Bree," Cynthia told her friend as she handed her her taser gloves, a pair of gloves that had the capabilities of sending a powerful shock through someone strong enough that it could potentially stop their heart. "I can enjoy myself whenever I'm with Leon," she leaned over toward her in a show of concern, "you can't do that. So you deserve some time to relax and get out of your maximum security prison of a shell." she joked slightly at the end.

Bree gave a very light snort of amusement, as close to a laugh as she could get. "Alright, "I'll try to enjoy myself too when we're at Bracken's cabin." Then the traces of a smirk crossed her lightly freckled face. "Oh, and do you mean you enjoy yourself like when you sneak into Leon's classroom?"

Cynthia blushed faintly, "I have no idea what you're talking about." She said with an air of innocence.

Bree's smirk became a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, "Really? What about the time when I went into the classroom to ask Leon a question about a maneuver that I couldn't do well-"

Cynthia blushed harder, "yes!" She squawked, quickly cutting Bree off in a hurry, "I enjoy myself when I'm with Leon okay! Did you have to mention that particular incident? Great StarClan that was embarrassing!" She complained and leaned back into her original position.

Bree shrugged, her expression melting back to impassive, although Cynthia could tell she was feeling a tiny bit amused. "You think it was embarrassing for you? Talk to the one who had to witness her squadmate snogging their freakin teacher," she replied flatly.

Cynthia blushed harder at the British and American slang, "Excuse me, I'm the one who was doing the actual kissing! And if you recall I'm also the one who jerked backward at the sound of your voice and fell off a desk."

Bree gave another light snort of amusement, "okay that was funny, you looked like a startled rabbit, with a heat flushed face and a bright blush."

Cynthia huffed, "can we stop talking about this? This is so embarrassing…" she moaned, slumping her shoulders in emphasis.

"What's embarrassing?" Holly asked curiously as she entered the room and saw Cynthia's fading blush.

"Just the time I caught Cynthia kissing Leon in his classroom," Bree shrugged flatly, "it was odd."

Cynthia covered her face with her hands, "can we please stop talking about it!" Her voice had already raised an octave.

Holly smirked, "no way, I haven't heard about this particular incident it seems."

Cynthia jumped to her feet and bolted for the bathroom, slamming the door in the process.

Holly laughed, it was always fun teasing Cynthia about her and Leon's secret relationship.


	121. Valentines Special numero 1

_**~Silver-Rose Writes~**_

 _thanks ^_^_

* * *

 _Valentines Day Special #1_

 _ **Cinderblaze**_

 _Your Eyes… They're Bluer Than The Mid Summer Sky_

"Blue," Leon blurted when he managed to pull his gaze away from the new girl's eyes, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

The new girl tilted her head slightly to one side as she gazed at the popular blonde through pretty blue eyes, "what?"

"Your eyes," Leon said, trying to smooth over his blurting out the first word that had come to mind, "they're blue."

The new girl blinked and tensed before she smiled slightly despite that she didn't want to. Changing sports teams and schools hadn't been her idea, and she still wasn't sure about it. "I know they are," she said, her tone as confident as ever but held a hint of confusion. "What about it?"

Leon toed at the grass of the soccer field, feeling heat go to his face, "they're pretty," he said a little shyly before regaining some confidence and looking at her with a semi dazzling smile, "you're beautiful, you know that?"

The new girl's lips quirked into a genuine smile, displaying her white teeth in the process, "I do now, thank you Leon."  
Leon smiled even as their coach blew the whistle to begin the practice game, "you're welcome, Cynthia right?"  
Cynthia smiled at him and stretched out a hand for him to shake, "yeah, Cynthia Lawson, I'm apparently called the new girl as well."  
"I don't know, I think I like Cynthia better," Leon smiled and shook her hand, "doesn't it mean strong and beautiful?" He smiled a little sheepishly, "cause that's what I see in you."  
Cynthia laughed, "such a charmer, I'm not sure, I've never looked my name up before so I have no idea."

Leon grinned, "come on Cyndy," he tested the name out, it felt fitting as the syllables rolled off of his tongue, "show me what you can do Newbie."  
"Out here on the field?" Cynthia said before she gained a slightly mischevious smirk, "alright, Oh Great One, eat my dust." She then spun on her heel and raced off down the soccer field, her black ponytail flying behind her in the process.

A grin spread across Leon's face and chased after her, running toward the new girl with a grin on his face.

* * *

 _ **BriarFeather**_

 _My Family of Rascals_

 _Bree - 22_

 _Jay - 21_

Jay blinked and gave her a confused look, "you stayed here in this room for three days?" He echoed in confusion, staring at the brunette sprawled on her bed with a technology-related magazine because she was bored at the current moment.

"Pretty much," Bree shrugged, her amber eyes moving from left to right as she read different articles at her fast reading speed. "You've been gone for what," she glanced down at her watch before looking back at the article she was reading about current plans for hoverboards, which she had already done. Not that the rest of the world knew though. "Three days and something hours?"

Jay put down his mission pack on his bed and began to unload it, "so? It's not the first time I've left for a few days, we are technically spies." He pointed out, his tone held no gruffness or any signs of his curt nature, he didn't have enough energy to do it especially when he was inside his, Bree, Holly, and Finli's flat.

"And it's not the first time I haven't left the flat for a few days and actually went to work at the base," Bree replied right after him, a trait she had developed after knowing him for long enough she could practically read his mind at this point. "This is just the first time my cat could actually tell you that I've been here for that long."

Lion, who had been sitting near the door washing one of his golden paws while his highly advanced collar hung around the Toyger's neck blinked softly, paused mid-lick at Bree's slightly annoyed tone before giving an indignant meow, " _what? He needed to find out at some point in time!"_ Lion leaped out of the way with a startled meow as the genius simply threw a stuffed animal and narrowly missed nailing the male cat in the face.

Blissie, who had been snoozing on Bree's bed, gave a sleepy bark like she wanted to go get the stuffed animal but wouldn't.

Jay thought about it for a minute as he pulled stuff from his pack, "how often do you do that?" He asked before trailing off at the sound of scratching against hardwood flooring and he groaned, leaning over to peer under the bed at his border collie who was knawing absently on a stick, leaving stick shavings all over the floor which would no undoubtedly annoy Bree when the dog would eat them all and vomit them back up later. "Stick!" He reached toward the dog, attempting to snag a few fingers around part of his leash, "are you trying to get Bree mad at you?"

Bree jolted into an upright position, "is he chewing on a stick in here again?!"

Jay grimaced, "thanks a lot you useless mutt," he growled and tried again, trying to get ahold of his dog's collar.

Stick continued to happily chew on his stick, short tail wagging happily as he kept chewing on the smooth stick.

"You know, he's perfectly well behaved when he's left here with me," Bree huffed as the brunette went down on her stomach to shimmy underneath the bed and pull the dog out since Jay couldn't do it anymore after the whole strength building classes his brother and father had forced him to take. The skinny teen had finally filled out somewhat, he was still a little lanky, but he had muscle now, which is what had made him a field agent finally.

"I'm sure he is," Jay sighed and ran one hand through his gray-speckled black hair, "he's just a snot for everyone but you."

"Then why is he your dog again?" Bree's voice was muffled as she pushed herself beneath the bed next to Jay to her waist, reaching for Stick's collar as the dog scrabbled away from her and deeper under the bed. "Oh come on!"

Jay heard Lion the cat give a hearty purr as he trotted over to his owner and brushed up against her bare calves, tickling her on purpose.

Bree gave a squeal of laughter and moments later swatted at the cat, attempting to grab his collar and pull him away from her, "Lion! Cut it out!"

Lion nimbly dodged her hand and shoved his wet nose against the back of her left knee.

There was a loud thunk like the genius had whacked her rock hard head against the bed frame with a squeal of laughter. "Ow! Lion stop it!" She whined and tried to swat at the proud cat, "I'll let Stick puke on you instead!"

The cat seemed to think about it before he nimbly trotted away from her, holding his fluffy golden tail proudly in the process.

Jay gave a snort and covered it with a wheezy cough, oh how he had missed his little family of rascals. Although now he was tempted to tickle Bree as well, after all, he hadn't had that opportunity in a while, ever since they had gotten engaged really. Plus it was really tempting because the brunette was wearing shorts, and she was really ticklish behind her knees.

Bree wriggled further under the bed, "come here Stick!" More scratching signaled that he had refused. "Jay, we're going to have to replace these floorboards, Stick's practically shredded them-!" She stopped abruptly in surprise as Jay pulled her out from under the bed and took advantage of when she rolled over onto her stomach so she could sit up. Jay's fingers brushed against the brunette's skin, making her dissolve into laughter and scramble to get away from him, giggling and trying to push him away.

But Jay was grinning, and he wasn't going to be deterred. Not even when seven minutes later he had to pause to let her breathe with how she was starting to go from red to purple from laughing too hard and being unable to get that much air into her lungs. Once her face had returned to semi-normal he grinned a rather light-hearted smile and tickled her beneath her chin, making her start laughing again although not as much as before. Jay smiled at her from his position kneeling next to her with her head now mostly in his lap. "Hello Firefly," he said as he leaned over, "it's been a while hasn't it since the last time I tickled you?"

Bree smiled back at him, "Does just now count?" She asked, breathlessly and working on slowing down her breathing.

Jay shook his head, "nope," he leaned over completely and kissed the tip of her nose, "do you even remember?"

Bree shook her head sheepishly, "not really…"

Jay laughed and shook his head, his blue eyes twinkling slightly. "That's okay, it doesn't really matter does it?"

Bree grinned her amber eyes twinkling gently, "nope," and pulled him down into an upside down kiss.

* * *

 **IvyBreeze**

 _Don't You Dare Braxton! You Mean Everything To ME!_

She had to, after everything that had happened that night she couldn't let him escape her grasp.

 _Pain tore through Ivory's face and she struggled hard against her bonds, howling and kicking at whoever was doing it to her, forever blinding her on one side.  
_ " _IVORY!" She could faintly hear Braxton yelling her name over her own cries, "LEAVE HER ALONE! SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!"  
The pain remained even after the blade was taken away from her face but Ivory managed to stop crying out despite the pain wracking her body and the blood she could now taste on her tongue from the blood from the injury streaming down her face, making her skin prickle.  
_" _Then do as we say Braxton!" The voice snarled, it belonged to Trakton, Atol's father and Braxton's surrogate grandfather. "Who else was working with you and where are they?!"_

 _Braxton didn't reply and Ivory coughed, spitting blood through her lips as Trakton yanked her head up to examine the wound that would scar and was beginning to swell at the edges. "Not too bad, look at me girl," he growled and on instinct Ivory forced her other eye open to look blurrily at him, having a hard time focusing on him. Trakton's lips curled into a malignant grin, "perfect. What do you think son?" He turned his amber eyes on his son who had been leaning against a wall hiding his disgust and guilt at being unable to get Ivory out of there. "Now everyone will know who caught her."  
Atol gave a grin that matched his father's even though beneath the surface he was even more guilty. "Perfect, everyone will know it's from us father…"_

Ivory's footsteps disrupted the sound of the peace from pounding rain against the city's roads, sidewalks and front lawns, by the large splashes of water that flew into the air with each time her bare feet slapped against the rough asphalt of the road. Diana's jacket rippled in the wind created by her from it's position draped over her shoulders. Her raspy breathing ruined the undisturbed nightly air, slicing through it like a knife with each and every heavy breath and gasp for air, but she didn't stop. Her body was complaining at her every movement, her bones ached, her muscles screamed for her to stop, her lungs begged the blonde to stop and let them recover from the near drowning but she ignored it all. Blood mixed with the rain soaking her clothing and the harsh raindrops forced its way through the thick layer of blood that covered one half of her face and slipped into the thick cut that had blinded her on one side and made her irritated flesh sting even more. She had to get to Braxton, she couldn't let him lead some of Trakton's men to their group nor could she lose him. Braxton was the only nonfamily related person that meant something to her, and he meant the world to the emotionally scarred young adult.

" _Ivory!" Ivory heard footsteps and her sister's voice through the dizziness raging through her skull…_

 _ **(Argh, I ran out of time! I'll definitely expand off of this one later though, I really like the concept!)**_


	122. Surrogate

_**~Silver-Rose Writes~**_

 _The Briarfeather one is really cute isn't it? I'm working on a Briarfeather centered chapter right now actually!_

 _~ **Delena's Teddy~**_

 _Thanks! The ending piece (The Ivybreeze piece) was pretty cool, wasn't it? I'm glad you enjoyed it!_

 ** _~Featherflight 123~_**

 _I have no idea where the inspiration for the injections came from, maybe from Cynthia's past in Fighting For Love And Hope? I don't really know :P Jacob's really a random character, I have no idea where he came from either :P_

 _Thanks! I'm struggling with time so the chapters are getting a little sparse, hopefully, their content levels haven't dropped!_

* * *

 **Upcoming Chapters (No Particular Order Or Time Frame)**

 _Broken Justice_

 _Bree's lost faith in humanity after an even that shattered her heart, she can't trust anyone anymore. However, can she finally learn to forgive the man who took her ability to walk away from her?_

 _I Have to Reject Her? It'll Kill her! (Wild)_

 _I Can't Do That To Her Dad REWRITE. This is the beginning of Cynthia and Leon's partnership after all of the work I've been doing inside the world. There's a new language, Cynthia's given a mark, and this chapter shows exactly how much Cynthia loves her partner._

 _Family Vacations, Cynthia's Worst Enemy (Wild)_

 _Soon after Cynthia and Leon's partnership begins Leon goes on a family vacation, leaving his partner for two weeks. She would be fine right?_

 _Boring Office Work: My Life Didn't Start The Way I Wanted, But I WILL Change the World_

 _Cynthia's background with Ashton in Boring Office Work. Cynthia's late teenage years are easily the worst years of her life, she experiences things that even an adult shouldn't experience. However, Cynthia also learns that she's capable of anything and that somewhere in her life she could change something in the world._

 _How Holly? I... I Can't Do This Again..._

 _Pretending Sequel. Cynthia and Leon are in big trouble, Hadara's parents have been under the impression that they are engaged and living together with a wedding roughly a year away. Add a past failed relationship and trust issues that Holy StarClan they have their hands full._

 _Cinderle_ _af_ _(Wilds)_

 _Cynthia's partner is Leon, but at the same time, she's currently head over heels for someone who has already rejected her multiple times. There's only so much a heartbroken wild can take, and this one's reaching her breaking point. Can Holly change her mind before Cynthia's wild kills her(Cynthia)?_

 _Hadara Lost Jay? W-Where Is He?!_

 _Last piece of the Fight Or Flight World. The mission has gone south, leaving Jay captured and Bree coming apart at the seams when she finds out that her husband is captured and could possibly be dead. After getting Cynthia and Leon back a month ago, Bree just wants her Blue-Jay back home with her and their daughter. How far will the genius capable of anything go to bring him home?_

 _Father Listen to us!_

 _Surrogate sequel. Hardly a month after the whole surrogate fiasco Cynthia vanishes, leaving Vandala fading fast with the absence of her musical nature magic, and Holly highly concerned for her vanished friend's health. Can the three Bramble children convince their father that Leon's better off with Cynthia before Vandala falls to pieces and Cynthia's never found again?_

 **My Other Projects (Outside of the site)**

 _Writing and publishing a Book called Dark Secrets (Part 1 of the Secrets Solution Series)_

 _Writing and publishing a new version of Fighting For Love and Hope_

 _Making a comic_

 _Building an online store for stuff for my characters_

Etc.

* * *

 _ **Okay, reading a random story at midnight produced this mess, and holy StarClan this pulls on my heartstrings! It pulls on them so badly! Anyway, here's a story to help make sure that I'm not dead on this site :P (I'm actually just working on some larger projects lately) and that I have a few upcoming chapters that I'm excited about coming out! I'm rewriting the 3rd piece of the Wilds World and it's looking really good so far! Plus I'm making a language for part of it so it takes a lot of time :P Anyways, enjoy everyone! :D**_

* * *

 _Surrogate_

 _Cynthia - 19_

 _Leon - 21_

 _Holly - 20_

 _Jay - 23_

 _Bree - 24_

 _Hannah - 21_

Cynthia's blue eyes were partially drooping, and the young black-haired young adult seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep, but she had her eyes completely open, and she was as alert as she could get at the current moment. She didn't want to miss anything, not while she had only a few hours with the baby she had carried as a heavily weighted favor for one of the people she was closest to in the world. Even though he wasn't technically hers, the gentle-hearted young adult still felt like he was, and the looming end to her time with him was slowly squeezing her heart to pieces. The small infant squirmed in her arms, squinting up at her while softly sucking on the pacifier she was gently pressing one of her forefingers against the back of, helping the newborn with what he was struggling to do. The baby himself had golden blonde hair from his father Leon, and blue eyes from Hannah, even though Cynthia could almost argue that they were dark enough to pass off as a variation of her own darker blue eyes.

But it was a silly argument, born from the seemingly endless amount of feelings she had for the blonde who was her best friend's older brother. "You're very handsome little one," she said quietly, her voice slightly rough from not speaking besides the earlier cursing she was done while giving birth to the surrogate boy currently cuddled in her arms. "Handsome like your father," her blue gaze roamed over the baby's face, instinctively picking out features that were Leon's and silently wondering how he had mostly Leon's appearance and hardly anything from Hannah, his mother.

She didn't know what Hannah and Leon had decided to call him yet. Actually, she hadn't seen either of them since she had zoned way out earlier when she had the newborn resting on her chest squalling and letting everyone know that he was healthy and strong, and even then that was hardly more than a few moments through a window. "Leon will be proud," she mused quietly, moving her fingers away from the pacifier to ghost over his freckled cheeks and along his nose. "To have such a strong boy as his firstborn son with Hannah." Saying the phrase sent a knife stabbing at her heart, but she ignored it, she knew that Leon wasn't married to Hannah because of love.

His father had changed abruptly who Leon was going to be married to little over a year ago from herself, Cynthia Lawson, a nonroyal pureblood Vandalian to Hannah Henderson, a royal half-blood Ruxian. A decision that turned Leon's world upside down, completely smashed Cynthia's heart, and made Holly just about have a fit about it. Leon had been "courting" Cynthia for years before his father had made that decision. Sometimes Leon had serenaded her, other times he had given her a bunch of sweet gifts and trinkets that one of the inventors made special for her, and most of all he had brought her toward the world of romance which she had been completely against for years with a good reason as to why. But now Cynthia was forced to forget the tender moments throughout their teenage years and force herself to pretend that she thought of him nothing besides a friend. And it hurt even more now than ever. Nine months ago she had agreed to be a surrogate for their first born child since they needed to have the baby soon and Hannah wasn't having any luck with it. And so Cynthia, partially blinded with a want to help Leon settle into the reality they were now living in, had agreed right away.

Cynthia sniffled and rubbed her nose slightly with a loose fist, feeling like she was going to cry yet refusing to. "I wonder what they're going to name you," she mused softly to the baby, trying to push her mind away from the past and toward the present. "Something strong and worthy of your handsome little face," she smiled slightly and softly bobbed the newborn on the nose, making him sneeze in the process. "Or maybe something more soft-hearted and teddybear-like?" Her fingertips gently stroked the baby's soft golden, and slightly damp, locks. He had a lot of hair for a newborn baby, something that really reminded her of Leon and his semi-long messy golden blonde hair. Which was something she still wondered about sometimes, if it was still as soft as she remembered, or if it had grown rougher like the occasional stubble he had used to have early morning and late at night back when they were 'together' and courting.

"Are you calling my new son a teddy bear?" Leon's voice startled Cynthia, she hadn't heard the door open to reveal the blonde and his wife.

Cynthia couldn't help but look at him for longer than necessary, her mind instinctively linking the surrogate child in her arms as hers and Leon's something that made her heart ache even more. However, she quickly controlled her expression to lose to the soft longing filled one she had adopted for a few seconds and responded to his teasing. "Why yes I did," she shrugged as they approached her and the baby, "he seems to be on the sweeter side if you ask me."

"Ah, well I'll trust your judgment since you're the only one who's been around him for less than an hour," Leon teased as he leaned over to the edge of the bed to pull down the edge of the baby's blanket so that he could see his face better. Leon's face melted into a loving fatherly one, "he's beautiful Hannah," he told his wife with a smile, pretending not to notice the way that Cynthia swallowed hard at the sentence and squeezed her eyes closed for a brief moment. "Absolutely perfect." He looked at Cynthia, noticing the pain buried deep in her blue eyes at the whole situation. "Thank you so much, Cynthia," he thanked her sincerely, "we couldn't have done this without your help."

"No problem!" Cynthia's voice was shaking slightly now, and she lifted the baby toward Hannah who had an expression like she wasn't sure what to do. "Do you want to hold your son Hannah? I'm sure everyone will want to meet him."

"I thought you were going to come with us," Hannah admitted softly, "you did all the work after all."

Cynthia shook her head, feeling tears nipping at the corners of her eyes now, "nah, my legs are super shaky anyway, I haven't really recovered my energy yet. I do request that I get to have him for just a little more when you get back." Her voice wavered and trembled, "it, it's hard giving him up after carrying him and caring for him so long."

Hannah nodded and carefully took the baby from her before glancing at her husband, "I'll take him out to meet everyone, you talk to Cynthia for a little while." She looked over at Cynthia and smiled gently at her, "Thank you, Cynthia, I can't repay you."

Cynthia forced a bright smile, "I'm glad to help," she replied, "it's my pleasure to help you guys."

Leon waited till Hannah left before he pulled over a visitors chair and sat in it, resting his chin on his hands with his elbows resting on the hospital bed. He watched her, amber eyes looking softly at her as she sniffled and rubbed vainly at her eyes, struggling to keep from crying and getting completely emotional on him.

Eventually, Cynthia broke the silence, letting her hands drop into her half sitting up lap and giving a small hiccup. "I… I want him to be ours," she whispered softly into the air, looking at him through red-rimmed and tear-stained blue eyes, "you have no idea how much I want him to be ours, Leon."

"I know," Leon said simply before expanding on his response, "I remember what you said to me when you were halfway through the pregnancy, Cynthia."

Cynthia winced, feeling like he had just pushed the existing knife deeper into her heart at the mention of her slip up when carrying the baby. "I didn't mean to say that," she mumbled, feeling like she was going to cry again. Cursed after pregnancy hormones, it totally screwed with her mood and emotions. "I hadn't wanted to make you uncomfortable."

Leon sighed and rested his cheek on his hands instead of his chin, "you didn't make me uncomfortable, and Hannah was already warned that you may get a little emotional over what we used to have together."

Cynthia laughed dryly, "a little? Anytime you weren't around I was pretty much alternating between crying, feeling like my heart was breaking over and over again, and wishing that I could go back in time and say no."

Leon's eyebrows furrowed, "say no?" He already assumed what she was going to say but he wanted to make sure.

Cynthia swallowed hard, "I don't regret being able to help you," she reassured him, "but I still wished that I had said no, simply out of self-preservation." She breathed a shuddery breath, "doing this is like living a nightmare. I was pregnant, carrying you and Hannah's son for Hannah when I wanted to be the mother instead." Her voice was thick with emotion, "it was like you telling me after three years of being courted by you, being in a long-term relationship with you, and falling in love with you, that you weren't going to ever propose to me all over again. I had to watch and live through carrying your child but knowing that I wasn't the mother."

"It's hard for me too you know," Leon said quietly, "I still don't love Hannah like I loved you," he hastened to finish as she breathed a shuddery breath at the past tense and struggled not to cry, "and I had to watch the woman I still love force herself to pretend that she wasn't falling apart at the seams because she still loves me and yet she agreed to be a surrogate for me and my wife because she still loves me." He looked softly at her, "I know how badly this hurt you Cyn."

Cynthia started crying at hearing the nickname that she hadn't heard in over a year and ducked her head, biting her tongue to stop the crying as she heard the door open once again.

"Leon we have to leave," Hannah's voice was brisk and slightly worried as she entered the room once again, "I'm sorry Cynthia, but we have to take Lionel with us, Brad's calling us, he wants us in Ruxburg as soon as possible."

Cynthia felt like someone had just completely torn her already wounded heart out and stepped on it. They were brutally taking her away from the newborn she had carried for nine months. Hannah was taking him away without letting her hold the boy that she felt a deep mother's love connection with for the full two hours after the birth she was promised before the whole thing started. They were severing that connection with her, completely. Cynthia's expression crumpled and she completely hung her head, feeling deadened and grieving almost. After everything she had done they weren't going to let her completely give away the baby when she felt ready, they were yanking him away from her. She stayed there, her head hanging, hands in her lap, partially hunched forward.

Leon's expression turned concerned, "Cynthia?" He stood up and reached over to touch her shoulder, "hey, we don't have to leave before you get your time-"

"Leon Brad says we have to go now," Hannah said with worry in her tone, "he's practically demanding us to come."

"We can't just leave," Leon shot back, amber eyes flashing, "Hannah Cynthia gave birth to Lionel! Yes he's our son but she deserves to be able to say goodbye to the baby she brought into the world and the baby that she has carried for nine months!"

"I know," Hannah responded, looking anxious, "but this is Brad! He's not going to be happy if we're late!"

Holly came into the room on the phone and frowning, "dad, Cynthia needs time, it's not fair… what if you lost one of us?! That's what it's like for her right now!" She looked stressed as well, their father was a very demanding person at times. "I don't care that you want to see the new baby! Cynthia deserves the amount of time she was promised to have with the baby before she doesn't get to see him again seeing how you keep Leon from Vandala!"

Cynthia didn't respond, mentally curling up into a ball and shielding herself from the rest of the world.

Leon glanced at Cynthia again, amber eyes distressed and worried about her, "Cynthia, I have to go, are you okay?"

No response from the surrogate mother.

Holly growled and angrily ended the call before looking at her best friend with softening and worried green eyes, "Leon, she's already grieving for her loss," she said softly and approached her friend, sitting up on the bed next to her and gathering the younger woman into her arms. "She can't hear you anymore." She gently rocked from side to side, trying to make Cynthia feel better about being abruptly torn from the baby she had given birth to and carried for more than half a year.

Leon frowned, "okay, "let's go Hannah," he said gruffly and as Hannah left he gently pressed a small kiss on the top of Cynthia's head, gently pressed a small object into her left hand and spoke softly, hoping she would at least hear that particular sentence, "I wish Lionel was ours as well My Sunshine, I wish every day that you were at my side instead of her, Cyn." He then followed Hannah, regaining an impassive and uncaring appearance.


	123. I Can't Reject Her! It'll Kill Her!

**_~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~_**

 _Maybe because that chapter was sad? The surrogate chapter was incredibly sad :(_

 ** _~HollystormDragoness~_**

 _The sequel is heartbreaking and good, it's a mixture of many things! :D Ah, I was a little confuzzled :D_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _I haven't decided what the object is, although I'm thinking that it's a locket for the promise ring she already has :D_

 _Wow, that's a crazy coincidence :P_

 ** _~Silver-Rose Writes~_**

 _It was sad :(_

 ** _~Delena's Teddy ~_**

 _Thank you for the compliment on my writing! :D_

 ** _~Blue Tulips 1995~_**

 _I'm glad! :D_

* * *

 ** _I apologize for any spelling errors, I didn't have time to proof read it..._**

* * *

 _I Can't Reject Her! It'll Kill Her_

 _I Can't Do That To Her Dad, It's Not Her Fault_

 _REWRITE_

 _Cynthia, Leon - 15 (Leon just turned 15 a week ago)_

 _Holly and Jay - 16_

 _Bree - 16 ½_

Leon distantly heard a backpack being dropped off at the front door of the house, of who's was Cynthia and her family's, along with someone taking their shoes off and assumed it was Cynthia or one of his siblings, not giving it a second thought. He was typically the first one back from school anyway and often times set up a video game that Cynthia could join in on or if either of his siblings were in the mood to join in as well. He knew it was Cynthia the moment she stepped into his peripherals, "hey, you want to play? I'm at the wild guardian and I've almost got him down to critical," he explained, his fingers mashing the buttons of the controller with skill and speed. Of which allowed him to make his character stab the wild guardian with its large sword blade and avoid being smashed. Cynthia didn't reply and Leon looked up at her for a few moments, trying to get a read on what his close friend and crush was feeling before he looked back at the screen when his character cried out in pain from getting clawed with a deadly attack and his health dropped dangerously. "You okay?" He asked as she sat down on the couch next to him, right next to him, her thigh brushing his, with his attention still on the tv screen. "You're acting a little strange," he admitted as she moved closer, curling her thinner arms around his upper arm and resting her chin on the top of his upper arm.

Cynthia nestled her nose against the fabric of Leon's shirt sleeve and took a deep breath, breathing in the male wild's scent and letting it wash over her heightened senses. "Mhmm," the teenager murmured, blue eyes half closed with her body language relaxed and her feline ears tilted back in a relaxed state. "I'm okay."

Leon glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye before the game called his attention again. "Are you sure? You feel like you have a fever, you're making me hot by just being there."

Cynthia rubbed her head and feline ears against his shirt in a slightly drowsy fashion, "I just want someone to cuddle with me while I take a nap," she mumbled in a jumbled mix of English and the wild's language; pressing her head against his sleeve with her nose flaring just a hair, almost like a cat or dog, as she breathed in more of his scent.

Leon's eyebrows furrowed slightly but he managed to reach over and pull the release for foot piece of his section to pop out and recline his, and Cynthia's, part of the couch further back into a more comfortable lying down position. He kept it high enough that he could see the t.v screen with no problem but low enough that it wouldn't hurt his back and or Cynthia's ribs and knee. That fight with Tyler last week had left the female wild with bruised ribs which were still a little tender and healing. "Sure I guess, maybe you'll feel better after taking a nap?" He suggested with a tone like he hoped she would return to normal by that point in time.

Cynthia scooted closer to him, laying on her side with one knee drawn up, one arm resting on Leon's chest, and her nose buried in his shirt sleeve and shoulder. "Mhmm," she responded, the noise was highly drowsy and sleepy, which was proved by the way she half closed her eyes and loosely grasped a handful of his shirt.

Leon glanced over at her, worry pinching his eyebrows together. He had no idea what was wrong with her. She was acting incredibly strange; her body heat was much higher than normal, he was surprised she wasn't sweating; she wasn't really talking in English, it was half English and half wilds language, and she was oddly affectionate. Which was even more of an odd thing when she mainly didn't like touching people. Other than when she was flipped of course, then she was more goofy, relaxed and liked affection from different people.

Cynthia made a soft noise in her sleep, cuddling closer to Leon and giving a faint oddly sounding and feeling purr.

:) :) :) :)

Leon jumped startled when he felt Cynthia, who he had completely forgotten about with how she had been asleep for at least an hour, sat up and heard her mumble something not in English as she did so. He had been playing Sword Fighters for the past hour and a half, going toward a boss fight and had been putting up with Paige and Haliah all teasing him about how Cynthia was asleep partially on him.

" _I'm bored,"_ The female wild mumbled and rubbed at her eyes with a loosely closed fist.

"Do you want to play with me?" Leon offered her a controller.

Cynthia shook her head with a dismissive noise, " _no, I don't want to."_ She rumbled and stood up, bright-eyed and completely alert.

Leon rolled his eyes as she disappeared and focused back on his game. At Least until ten minutes later where he froze, feeling Cynthia's warm breath against his neck and the weight of her arm around his shoulders. "Er, weren't you going to do something?" He asked curiously, looking at her.  
Cynthia had a very odd look on her face, she looked like she was trying to place what she was going to be doing. " _Uh_ _huh_ ," she shrugged, her breath tickling his skin. Abruptly she moved away and Leon breathed a sigh of relief before he yelped as she abruptly moved around the couch and sat in his lap, her blue eyes fixed unwaveringly on the blonde's face.

Leon tried to look around her, "Cyndy, I'm playing remember!" He groaned as his character gained more and more damage, "I'm so close to a high score!"

Cynthia tilted her head slightly and leaned partway forward, her wild silently giving her directions.

Leon heard the tell tale sound of his character dying a few minutes later and groaned, throwing his controlled down onto the couch in frustration and looking at the odd acting female wild sitting in his lap. "What do you want from me?!" He asked in exasperation, "I don't have anything!"

Cynthia's expression waived at the faint anger on his face and she rumbled a few words, " _I didn't mean to make you upset,"_ she rumbled ashamed and hung her head, looking upset that she had bothered him and made him angry.

Leon's amber eyes softened and he felt his wild soften his emotions at the female's shame. He gently looped his arms around her waist, resting one his hand against her back and the other looping easily around her thin waist. "I shouldn't have gotten angry," he smiled gently at her, feeling a little guilty at making her ashamed when she clearly didn't mean to get in his way. "It's just a game. What did you want Sunshine?" He asked, calling her by the playful nickname he had given her back when they were younger and when she had painted her first real masterpiece art wise that was a large sunrise spilling over a grassy field.

Cynthia purred, leaning closer and looping her arms around his neck, one hand resting near his spine and the other arm was curled around the base of his head. " _I wanted a kiss,"_ the wild purred, giving Leon the shock of his life so far, " _Cause I love my partner,"_ she brushed his nose with hers and rested her forehead against his, a soft purr rumbling through the gentle hearted wild's body.

Leon stared at her with round eyes, having not expected her to say that. He knew that it was likely her wild speaking since she had called him her partner, but he still felt like his heart was melting at her soft affectionate actions and the soft feline rumble of her words. "I-I'm your partner?" He asked in a hushed voice, his amber eyes turning gentle and surprised.

Cynthia rumbled a response, " _Yes,"_ she rumbled, " _You've always been my partner."_ Her azure blue eyes twinkled softly, " _and you always will be."_

Leon acted impulsively, lifting one of his arms to placed his hand at the back of her neck before he leaned forward, pulling her closer, and kissed her, feeling both wild's and his own pride mingling with the love his wild had and the massive crush he had on her mingle all together.

Cynthia responded eagerly, scooting closer and responding eagerly to the kiss, finally having gotten what she had wanted.

:) :) :)

Cynthia let out all of the air in her lungs at Leon's movement, the male wild's canine teeth had lightly touched the skin of one side of her neck. Her skin tingled at the sensation and she sat still in his lap, unable to breathe from both the sensation and emotion causing her to feel like she was over the moon. " _Are you?..."_ she asked him in a loud purr, the tone of the sound was surprised, giddy, and over all loving and affectionate, a tone Leon picked up on.

" _You're my mate,"_ Leon rumbled, " _nobody else's."_

Cynthia's azure blue eyes glittered happily, " _so you're marking me?"_ She and her wild wanted him to so badly, if he did it meant that he wanted them to be mates as well beyond his words and that the whole thing wasn't a dream. Her partner hadn't rejected her, he wanted the partnership too, and beyond that he wanted her to be his mate above everything.

Leon's affirmative rumble gave her hardly more than a few seconds to purr loudly before Leon's teeth grazed softly against her neck as he started working on the mark. Cynthia slumped forward against Leon's chest, her head rolling to one side on his shoulder as the female wild fell into a half unconscious state. Her blue eyes were glazed and mostly closed, unable to feel Leon's teeth tickling her skin as he lightly marked out the spot and design of her mark.

Leon examined his work five minutes later, sunset eyes twinkling softly as he gazed proudly at the intricate design on his partner's neck. Like a feline would lick a wound to clean it, Leon dragged the lower part of his semi rough tongue over the mark, his saliva giving the mark the shades of tinted color it would end up being for the rest of Cynthia's life if she wasn't rejected at some point and changing from a clear normal color to a pale and slightly foamy blue around the design, a chemical change that signaled the success of the mark's creation.

Cynthia stirred at the odd feeling as well, regaining consciousness now that her wild was aware that she wasn't in any searing pain anymore. She made a soft purring noise as she lifted her head and looked at him blurrily, her blue eyes foggy from the half conscious and paralyzed status.

Leon smiled at her, sunset eyes twinkling slightly, " _you awake?"_ he rumbled and nuzzled his nose against her feline ears, " _I finished it."_

Cynthia's purr increased in volume and she put her head back down, slowly waking up properly and returning to her earlier status. " _I want to see it,"_ she purred, " _I want to see what it looks like."_

" _Wake up completely first,"_ Leon rumbled and held her close to his body, snuggling his partner, " _then we can find a mirror and wash off the extra pigment."_

Cynthia purred even louder and lifted her head again, feeling more awake than before. " _Yuliana,"_ **[I love you]** she purred in a language neither of them had heard each other speak before, snuggling close to him and rubbing her feline ears against his neck and jaw.

Leon's jaw slackened at the articulated purr, and he stared for a second before he held her even closer and purred himself, making both of them vibrate from the strength of his rumbling purr, " _You just spoke Wivono to me!"_ He purred loudly, " _I didn't know you could speak in it already!"_

Cynthia's purr combined with his and she felt Leon's joy and pride, " _I didn't either!"_ She then managed to perfectly pronounce another phrase, looking at him with a serous and loving expression, " _Yiia xiania, niayui xiai ckanisani."_ **[I'm only yours, you are my only partner.]**

Leon's purr got even louder and his sunset colored eyes focused on hers, " _and you are my only as well."_

Cynthia leaned forward and kissed him sweetly, the female wild felt like she was over the moon. Everything was right in the world, this was the best day of her life so far.

:)

Cynthia turned on the bathroom faucet and tested the water to make sure it was warm before she cupped her hands and put them under it. She put her hands under the tap before bringing it up to her neck and letting the water trickle gently down her neck, washing off the now mostly dried blue pigmented saliva and revealing the full design of her mark of a bonded partnership.

Leon smiled at her as a few minutes later Cynthia twisted her neck slightly, looking through the mirror and at the mark Leon had given her. " _I think it's beautiful,"_ Leon rumbled, his arms looped around her waist. He was holding her to his body, feeling like all was right with the world now that he had his partner snuggled in his arms, he had marked her as his mate, and the partnership was finally activated. He looked proudly at the design on Cynthia's neck, " _It makes you even more beautiful than you already are."_

Cynthia purred, gazing at her new mark, blue eyes glittering brightly. It was throbbing softly since it was practically an engraving on her skin, but that would fade over the next week. Cynthia's mark was an abstract silloette of a lion head nuzzling a cheetah head with darker blue lining of the swirling lines throughout the two animals' heads and a lighter shade for the filled in shape itself. The mark itself was losing the red color from the irritation of her skin from the process of Leon making the mark, and it was gaining very blue tints, the natural colorations of her felt a little giddy, her partner had called her his mate, he had marked her, and she had spoken her first two phrases to him in a special part of the wilds language. " _Your right, it is beautiful,"_ she purred, " _it's perfect."_

Leon purred with her and smiled feeling excited and energetic now. " _Are you ready for something else?"_

Cynthia looked at him curiously, " _What else?"_ Her blue eyes twinkled, " _partner stuff?"_ She asked hopefully, giving him blue kitten eyes, widening and rounding her eyes while pleading with him.

Leon pressed a light kiss to her new mark and felt her light flinch at the touch against her sensitive skin. " _Sorry, I forgot that it's still tender,"_ he apologized, " _but yes, partner stuff."_

Cynthia purred loudly, completely ignoring the pain in her neck.

:) :) :) :) :)

Holly blinked and looked up from her book, she had just felt something from Leon through her and her brothers' sibling bond, and it was a really odd emotion. Paying closer attention to the bond her green eyes widened, what in the world was her brother doing that was producing that kind of thing from his wild?! She vaguely remembered Leah warning her and Cynthia a few days ago about how Cynthia was old enough to start going into heat every month since her wild was that way, and shot to her feet. She knocked over a chair in the process but she didn't bother to fix it nor tell Finli, her study buddy, where she was going as she shot to her feet and sprinted out of the door of the local library, fumbling for her brother's number. She managed to call Leon as she raced down the street, running as fast as she could. She thanked Cynthia's running lessons and how it helped her run even faster.

Leon did pick up, but he sounded thoroughly annoyed. " _What Holly?"_ he snapped in a low growl and Holly could hear Cynthia's frustrated rumbling in the background.

Holly quickly switched to the wild's language, " _Leon, where are you?"_

" _Cyn's house, partner stuff."_ Leon growled, " _of which you just interrupted."_

" _I'm sorry,"_ Holly apologized despite the alarm bells ringing in her mind at Leon's use of the words 'partner stuff' which likely meant he and Cynthia were or had already solidified their non active partnership. " _But I need you to distance yourself from Cindy, she's not thinking straight right now-"_

" _So?"_ Leon growled, " _I don't care, she's happy right now. That's what I care about."_

:)

Holly found the pair of them in the living room of Cynthia's family's house, random blankets were thrown everywhere, and currently the two wilds were purring with laughter, tangled together in two of the blankets, Leon was shirtless, propped up on his elbows over Cynthia grinning a wild grin with his hands placed beneath her head to cushion her head.

Cynthia had her arms looped around the blonde's neck, her forehead resting against his with her eyes closed. Holly could see the her tank-top and her bare feet poking out from the messy blanket, her toes curled up happily. Cynthia's hair was also loose, spread out around her head like a wavy fan. She appeared slightly drowsy, like her energy was drained from something or other that had happened less than ten minutes ago. Yet she seemed to be almost vibrating, other then her purr, from how happy she was at the current moment.

Holly hesitated, she didn't want to make the pair unhappy, they looked like they were enjoying themselves, and like both of them were over the moon kind of happy. So she tried to speak to them first, " _Leon? What're you and Cynthia doing? She's in heat Leon."_

Leon growled, reluctantly slid his hands from beneath Cynthia's head, moved to be sitting next to her and looked over at Holly, his sunset colored eyes highly annoyed, " _Can you just leave us alone, you're getting really annoying. I know she's in heat,"_ he looked at the wild who was now half sitting up, leaning back on her arms, and he gave her a soft affectionate smile, " _I want to make her happy…"_

Holly winced slightly at her brother's snappish growl and her heart stung at ruining their moment, but responded anyway effectively ruining the moment and the mood. " _I'm trying to protect you from our father,"_ she told him in a rumbling bear whine, trying to get her point across, " _Paige already called Bracken Leon; he and Brad are going to be coming over here any minute to separate you two."_

Leon's muscles visibly tensed, the lean but defined muscles of his shoulders tensing up to go along with his scowl of worry and annoyance.

Cynthia followed suit, sitting up straight and the new partnership stared at eachother intensely, silently communicating with each other.

Holly looked a little nervous, she didn't want her father to ruin her brother and her best friend's partnership, but she didn't have time to get them out of there. Her blood turned to ice at the sound of two doors opening from two different directions.

:( :( :(

Cynthia stared at her father and Brad, jaw slackening before her azure blue eyes turned determined and confident, " _No!"_ She snarled at the pair of adults, " _You can't keep me from my partner!"_

Leon's dreary face gained a big grin at seeing his partner, as scared as she may be, stand up to Brad and Bracken.

Cynthia was feeling increasingly overheated, and her mind was getting foggier for most of her surroundings, she could focus easily on her partner, but everything else besides him and what Brad and Bracken were saying was fuzzy and easily forgotten. Cynthia looked at her father, blue eyes roundening slightly as she tried to make him see, " _dad please understand!"_ She whimpered, struggling to focus on him and not her currently shirtless partner who was grinning at her, " _I need him!"_ she whimpered, " _It hurts when you do this to me, taking him away from me and not letting our partnership take its course!"_

Bracken's amber eyes were conflicted, he could see Brad's point, but at the same time he didn't want to make his daughter's life harder and potentially terrible if Brad actually had Leon reject her. But before he could say anything Brad pointed out something that he hadn't noticed yet.

"Bracken," Brad said in a semi patient tone, "Cynthia's in heat. Don't let her take advantage of you because she's feeling a constant need for her partner's presence and more."

Bracken blinked and studied his daughter's expression. He then noticed what Brad was talking about, Cynthia's pupils were dilated slightly more than usual, her skin was slightly flushed from being overheated for long periods of time, her feline wild ears were tilted back slightly in a constant relaxed status, and she had a very distracted look in her blue eyes. "Cynthia," he spoke softly to his daughter, "the separation would only be until you come out of heat, it won't be forever."

Cynthia looked hurt that her father wasn't defending her and she snarled, baring her teeth as he reached over to touch her shoulder, her blood abruptly turning to ice. " _You don't understand!"_ She snarled fiercely at her father, blue eyes smoldering with anger and hurt, why didn't anybody understand! " _It hurts being away from my partner!"_ She growled at her father and Brad, " _it hurts both physically and mentally!"_ She whimpered softly, " _he's my mate daddy,"_ she whimpered quietly, " _the separation hurts me."_

Bracken sighed softly and reluctantly grasped his daughter's upper arm, "you're too young Cynthia, it's not possible for him to be your mate yet." He started leading her out of the room, "and you need space to think straight, you're not thinking straight."

Cynthia whimpered and tugged against her father's grip, looking at her partner with upset bue eyes, " _dad please…"_

"No Cynthia," Bracken said, walking faster, the words tugging on his heartstrings, "you need to clear your mind."

" _I can't!"_ Cynthia wailed, getting hysterical as her father pulled her further and further away from her partner, " _and I don't need to clear my mind!"_

Bracken felt his daughter's upset emotions like a stormcloud, he could feel the palpulatable amounts of frustration, hurt, panic, and confusion that his daughter was feeling at the current moment. Yet he didn't do anything, trying to protect his baby girl while she couldn't do it by herself. "You can come back later Cynthia once your mind is clear and your heat is fading." He tried to be stern but he couldn't while his daughter felt this way.

Cynthia turned to her partner, seeking his help while her blue eyes glistened with hurt and frustrated tears, " _Nisia niaiwa xi jiaua Lioji!"_ **[you told me you wanted it too Lioji!]**

Leon was startled hear Cynthia speak in Wivano when she directed her plead toward him.

Everyone was surprised to hear her speak in that version of the Wild's language, it was rare for someone outside of the partnership itself to hear one of the wilds speak in that particular version, it was held close to a partnership, an important piece of the pair of partners' communication. Wivono as he would say, or as Cynthia would say, Wivana, because she was a female, was the romance and bonded part of the wild language, it was special, very very special. And nobody had expected Cynthia to speak in it. At all.

:(

Leon's amber eyes widened and his jaw slackened, Cynthia was speaking in Wivano to him again! He felt his wild swell slightly with pride now that he heard it outside of her earlier dazed and giddy status. If she was speaking to him in that language it meant that she had have meant what she said earlier before Bracken and his father had arrived and that she was only his, no more competition!

Then Leon felt his father's burning gaze on him and his mouth went dry. His father, Brad had heard Cynthia speak to him, Leon, and he was completely against them beginning their partnership now. _But I already did start it,_ he thought desperately as Cynthia struggled get her father to release her wrist. His amber eyes strayed to the edge of what he could see of the mark he had given her, the blue tinted skin was mostly hidden by her loose black hair. _We already activated the bond, I've already given her a mark, she's already speaking to me in Wivono… our partnership is already active! If I reject her now it'll ruin her!_ He was jerked from his thoughts by his father's voice.  
"What're you… Bracken, have you checked Cynthia's neck for a mark?" Brad asked, his voice actually going hoarse as he connected the pieces.

"They didn't get that far," Bracken furrowed his eyebrows before immense worry sparked in his eyes, "did they?"

"Leon's been staring off into space looking at her neck," Brad said gruffly, his amber eyes highly annoyed as he turned to his son, "Leon, what did you do?"

Leon cringed at his father's no nonsense tone, "um…" he couldn't find the words.

Cynthia's hiss of pain drew both father and son's attention to her when the wild abruptly snarled at her father when he lifted her black hair away from her neck and his fingers brushed against the slightly raw skin. Cynthia wrinkled her nose, bared her teeth like a feline and flattened her feline ears to her skull. " _Don't touch my neck!"_ She snarled, a dangerous growl rumbling through her throat.

Brad growled, got up, and moved the rest of Cynthia's black hair away from her neck.

Cynthia actually howled at Brad's rough movements and pained tears gathered in the blue eyed wild's already tear ridden blue eyes. " _Please don't!"_ she whimpered, cringing away from Brad's touch and anyone else's for that matter, " _it hurts when people touch it!"_

Leon jumped to his feet with the intent to go over there to protect his partner, but his father gave him a deadly glare and the blonde stayed in his spot unable to leave it because of his father's alpha rank, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Dad, it's tender," he told his dad and tried to convince him to leave her alone while he couldn't go help his new partner, "she almost didn't let me touch it earlier because it was throbbing and I'm her partner-"

Brad cut him off before he could say the last word, "I know it hurts Leon," he snapped, "Holly go get rubbing alcohol and a cloth."

Leon and Holly paled, that was too far.

"You can't do that dad!"

"You're not erasing her mark!" Leon roared, breaking Brad's control over him and looking like he was ready to kill at this point. "That mark is hers and hers alone! You can't get rid of it-"

Cynthia gave a wild version of a scream of pain, a very loud and pitched howl as Brad ignored his children and rubbed his sleeve a tad harshly against the intricate shape on the side of her neck.

Bracken sharply pulled his daughter away from Brad and to him, as he knelt down, at the sound and how Cynthia started pulling on his arms and curling up into a ball to try and protect herself. "That's enough!" The soft hearted wild snarled at Brad, holding his daughter close to him as Cynthia trembled, her body wracked with pain from Brad's actions, and whimpered in fear.

" _Lio… hakisi!"_ **[Lio… help me!]** Cynthia's tear filled blue gaze focused on Leon as she spoke to him again, still speaking in Wivano, " _Nia yaiu niaiwa yui!"_ **[You promised you wanted me!]**

Leon hesitated once again, if he gave him his father would be beyond furious, and if he rejected her he would probably never see her again. He glanced at his father, noticing the piercing look he was giving him, " _Cyn I can't…"_

" _Waiua niaka nia?"_ **[Why can't you?]** Cynthia whimpered, looking at him through scared and vulnerable blue eyes, " _N-Niamajia yui!"_ **[Y-you marked me!]** The wild fumbled with her words, struggling to speak now with the overwhelming feeling that she was about to be rejected. " _X-xijua yachi yui iani kasiani"_ **[Th-that means you w-want me as a mate,]** her whimper grew softer and more scared and vulnerable, " _Riaui?..."_ Her whimper grew even more quiet as she mentioned what he had told her when he had marked her. " _Xijya waiua niasia yuiwuia nia majiayui…"_ **[Right?... That's what you told me when you marked me...]**

Leon's heart broke at the immense fear displayed on her face, but he couldn't do anything, if he agreed his father would hurt her more and try to get rid of her mark and he didn't want her to be in more pain like that. " _Please don't ask me this right now,"_ he rumbled, pleading with her, " _I can't answer this Cyn,"_ he pleaded with her, his amber eyes begging her to wait for another day.

The female's jaw slackened and she stared at him, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. " _W-Waiua? N-Nia niaka sykiaja?"_ **[w-what? Y-you can't a-answer?]** More tears threatened to fall as she whimpered, " _Niamujias inasinakc yui?"_ **[you're g-going to reject me?]**

Leon vigorously shook his head, " _No! I just can't answer right now!"_

Bracken frowned, looking at his daughter in worry. He didn't want her getting into a mating partnership this young for many reasons, but now he was worrying that she was going to rejected and a rejection would ruin his baby girl beyond any kind of repair he could provide for her.

"Leon," Brad snapped, the police officer was running out of patience, he was tired, cranky, and honestly didn't want to sit her while his son dragged out the process. "Finish it already."

Leon flinched and he looked at Cynthia, looking at her vulnerable and small appearance and how she was looking up at him, borderline terror of rejection showing on her face. He had to, he couldn't let his father mess with her mark and hurt her. " _I…"_

"Leon!" Holly gasped, her green eyes fixed on him showing high amounts of shock.

" _Lio?"_ **[Lio?]** Cynthia whimpered confused at his hesitation., staring at him terrified that she was about to lose her only chance at having a partner, companion to share the rest of her life with, and most of all, a family of her own. " _Yuliania!"_ **[I love you!]** She keened, trying to convince him to not reject her. The female wild scrambled to her feet and rushed over to Leon kneeling on the floor and hugging him around the waist, pressing her feline ears against his abdomen. " _Yuliania! Yuliania! Yuliania! Nia jaisa jiayui!"_ **[I love you! I love you! I love you! You mean everything to me!]** the wild half keened half sobbed, squeezing her eyes shut and trying so hard to keep him from rejecting her. " _Niaxi guina chisajia yui armia!"_ **[You're the guardian of my heart!]**

Leon froze, staring at her at the last phrase, it echoed in his head. He was the guardian of Cynthia's heart. Oh StarClan… That was huge, her speaking to him in Wivano was nothing compared to this. Being the guardian of a wild heart meant that the guardian was literally everything to them, it meant that not only did he have her wild's heart, as shown by the whole partnership thing, he had Cynthia's personal heart, the kind, gentle, and loving spitfire of a heart that was his best friend's. Cynthia was in love with him, not just her wild, but she herself was in love with him. In love enough that she trusted him with the one thing she wouldn't give to anyone. For StarClan's sake he couldn't remember the last time he had heard one of the girls say that Cynthia had a crush other than him! " _Cyndy…"_ He cooed softly, his amber eyes were sad now, glinting with remorse for his upcoming actions.

Cynthia sobbed, pushing her ears firmer against his stomach, " _Yui niaka seraii xiji nia inasinkakc yui"_ **[I won't make it if you reject me!]** her tears was dripping down onto Leon's socked feet, but he didn't notice, " _yuliania! Yui aiwa jiacua yania nusia yaui"_ **[I love you! I want to be at your side forever!]** she was sobbing harder now, thank StarClan she wasn't speaking English, otherwise it would've been a mess of slurred sounds and words. " _Yui aiwa nia jiacua thiasi yuwuia yui waiusa sa xisiausi jiadiu aikua yunia lijuasa jia suasakias Lio!"_ **I want you to be there when I wake up in morning ever after we get out of highschool Lio!]**

Leon felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as well, feeling emotional at the things she was saying. The next sentence almost broke his resolve. Cynthia treasured having a family of her own one day like it was her only wish in the entire world, and it was something she was super passionate about, babysitting when she had free time, watching over her siblings, and on occasion the female wild went with one of her parents and looked after some of the orphan wilds, teaching them the way of life as a wild. Her next sentence involved one of the things that Cynthia had never mentioned to him but he knew about.

Cynthia gave a heaving sob and pushed her face into his shirt, " _yui aiwa jia haisia kcanisura jinusia nia!"_ [ **I want to have a family with you!]** she blubbered in a half wail, " _yui aiwa jiakia nia hiaius yuna soin oa dausia, zijayui aiwa jiakia nicua jia yuna sondias xaiadiu!"_ **[I want to see you holding our son or daughter, and I want to see you be a father to our kids one day!]** The female wild pushed her face further into his shirt, struggling to stop crying as she waited for him to decide, unable to completely stop crying with how scared and frightened she was.

Leon looked down at her, regret glinting in his eyes as he knelt down in front of her, tears beginning to surface in her amber eyes, " _I'm so sorry,"_ he whispered to her as he took her face in his now shaking hands, and opened his mouth again. The first phrases he spoke to her in Wivano was likely going to be the last sentences she was ever going to hear in that tender and loving language. " _Yiu soceuo Cyliani, Yiu soceuo..."_ **[I'm so sorry Cyliani("My Beautiful Love"), I'm so sorry…]**

Cynthia looked at him, her sapphire blue eyes scared, and full of tears as it clicked in her mind what was going on. She gave a heaving breath like she was stifling at sob, closed her eyes and pushed her head against his, resting her forehead against his with tears beginning to trickle down to her cheeks and down her nose to land on Leon's face who's own tears threatened to break free. " _Yuliana..."_ **[I love you…]** she murmured in Wivano, her tone shaking during the sentence, " _Yuliansa mias..."_ **[I love you so much...]** she breathed, quietly breathing in her partner's special cinnamon and mint scent for the last time. " _Yuwia yaui liania..."_ **[I'll always love you…]** She promised with another suppressed sob, trying to keep it together for one last moment where she could tell her partner goodbye before he left her completely.

Leon squeezed his eyes shut momentarily against the tears pressing against his eyes and tenderly held Cynthia's face, his hands gently cupping her face in a tender grasp, his left thumb gently stroking her skin, feeling the soft texture of her skin beneath his rougher skinned hands. " _Nuo du liunuo,"_ **[I do love you,]** he told her softly in Wivano while opening his eyes and gazing softly at Cynthia's freckled face, " _Nuo yoxo mius ciuo pursoni yuo hoisu jiokion, zija nuyo pusoinu Svioni fluki zija juiso."_ **[You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen, and you are perfect Svioni("Forever My Sweetheart") flaws and all.]**

Cynthia was trembling now, the female wild could only hold herself together for so long before she fell apart and before Leon said the actual words. She quietly took one of his hands from her face and pressed it to the marked spot of her neck before leaning back slightly and opening her eyes to look at him. Her voice trembled, but she still spoke anyway, " _Yi-Yiia yaui nias,"_ **[I-I'm always yours,]** she said in a trembling voice, " _Na m-mairua waiua, Yiia nias."_ **[no m-matter what, I'm yours.]**

Leon looked at her, he didn't doubt that he looked more than upset to everyone else, and gently curled his finger tips around the back of her neck before gently pulling her into a kiss. This one was a little clumsy since neither of their wilds had the strength to guide them in how to do it this time, but he didn't care. He wanted Cynthia to know that respite that he was rejecting her, he loved her and that she was very loved by her partner. He knew that despite all of the reassurances it would still feel like she was dying every day, but he wanted to try. The kiss itself was cut short by Brad beginning to pace in irritation, but Leon didn't mind as he pulled back looked at Cynthia who still had her eyes closed, clinging to the feeling of the kiss like it was her lifeline. Actually it probably was. " _I want you to know that you are loved,"_ he spoke softly to her in the wild's language before letting her go and scooting a few steps back. " _Are you ready?"_

Cynthia nodded, taking a deep breath and looking at him, her blue eyes were already starting to take on an emotionally deadened look, " _Yes,"_ she gazed at the floor near them, her cheek facing Leon, " _I'm sorry for whatever I did wrong,"_ she murmured in a trembling rumbled before Leon steeled himself up for the actual rejection.

Leon looked at her and murmured, " _Yiu soceuo..."_ **[I'm so sorry…]** before he reluctantly slapped her, making Cynthia's head snap to one side before he spoke in a deeper and louder tone, " _I am not your partner, Cynthia Casi Lawson."_

Cynthia trembled in response to the words and she ducked her head, gripping her knees and leaning forward slightly, trembling as tear droplets started dripping down onto her jeans. " _I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"_ the wild sobbed, starting to fall apart at hearing the words, " _please don't finish it!"_ she practically begged Leon, unable to help herself with the terror reflooding her veins and the pain she and her wild was suddenly put under, " _I'm sorry! I'll do anything!"_ She sobbed looking at him, " _please!"_

Leon forced himself to not respond to her desperate words nor look at her and finished the rejection, his voice shaking in multiple places. " _I don't want you. I-I don't want you as my mate."_

Cynthia gasped and one of her hands flew up to the marked area of her neck which was throbbing horribly and beginning to burn, " _it hurts!"_ She gasped out in a wail and before Leon's eyes the fully conscious female wild slumped to the floor, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and it stained the carpet and Cynthia's hand red from the mark at her neck suddenly swelling with blood at each of the carved designs. Her blue eyes were slightly cracked open, but her eye color had change to an icy blue a sign of her wild being in distress and that the wild's distress was surfacing in the form of Cynthia bleeding from the corner of her mouth and strangely bleeding at the mark Leon had given her.

Leon fell to his knees and extended one of his arms to touch her but Brad caught his wrist, preventing him from touching his partner while the process of the rejection solidified.

Bracken knelt next to his daughter, his amber eyes distressed as he put one hand on his daughter's back as she seized up and gave a agonizing moan, her blue eyes still a very bright icy blue color.

Leon watched, a few tears trickling down the athlete's face as he watched his new partner go through something irreversible and something that would honestly make her feel like she was dying every day from how much pain she was suffering under.

A few moments later Cynthia's body went slack, the visible part of her irises faded to azure, her muscles went lax, and she didn't move, not breathing for a heart wrenching period of time. But she did eventually breathe in a shuddery breath and cough before partially opening her eyes to gaze at Leon.

Leon's heart clenched, the pain in his rejected partner's eyes was already tearing him apart, her usually vibrant azure or sapphire blue eyes were now dulled, lost most of the color vibrance and had gained an agonized touch, like it hurt just to open her eyes. The vibrantly blue tinted skin of her mark was fading lightening to her normal skin colored until it lightened more into a semi white looking scar, the design clear and crisp but uncolored due to the rejection.

Cynthia's eyes quickly shut however and she moaned another agonizing moan of pain before finally passing out, giving the female wild peace in the blackness of being completely unconscious.

* * *

 _ **Ugh, life is a pain -_- My health is having issues (apparently I'm a mystery cause medical people can't figure out some of the things that are wrong with me) and I'm busy in general. But I enjoy writing these, so here's a new chapter! And this one has a language I've designed as well! Dang I've been in the mood for wilds chapters lately I've noticed :P**_


	124. Boring Office Work Prequel

**_~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~_**

 _I am! Cynthia will be with Leon at some point in that story! I just need time to write the two other pieces :D_

 _The language is a blending of Japanese written in English (similar vowel sounds) and my own creativity ^_^_

 _Better is a term that I probably won't get for a while -_- but thanks for your support!_

 ** _~Silver-Rose Writes~_**

 _thanks! It was sad, wasn't it?_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _thank you :D_

 _the language is a blend of Japanese English characters (similar vowel sounds to the Japanese language) and whatever else my mind comes up with :P_

 _Oh no :( (although I have to admit that that is a little funny sounding :P )_

 ** _~Blue Tulips 1995~_**

 _I'm glad you liked it!_

* * *

 ** _I have to admit, I'm not super happy with this chapter... while it's good, I feel like it doesn't give the story that follows it much justice which is terribly disappointing on my part :( but who knows, maybe I'll rewrite it one day and make it better! Anyway, this chapter isn't one of my best work (in my opinion) but I hope you all enjoy it!_**

* * *

 _My life Didn't Start Out How I wanted… But I WILL Change The World_

 _Cynthia and Ashton's Background For Boring Office Work_

"No!" Cynthia snapped at her mother, blue eyes gleaming furiously, "I'm not dropping all of my sports just because you want me too! I'm handling all of the expenses on my own and you don't have to do anything!"

"It's distracting you from your schoolwork!" Sarah replied cooly, irritated at her daughter's stubborn refusal to drop a few things and free up her schedule.

Cynthia rolled her eyes, "one 'b' out of eight a's isn't going to kill my GPA or anything for StarClan's sake! And I'm sorry about it but it's not at all sports related! Hello, are you blind?!" She exclaimed gesturing frustratedly, "I'm sometimes busy with my college classes too mom! And I don't know about you, but I think they are more important seeing how I can get a degree with them!"

Miles glanced at his sister and then at his mother, it wasn't uncommon for his mother to get into an argument with his favorite sister who was the middle child and hated being told what to do, usually he would just wait it out, but the preteen had a soccer practice starting in ten minutes and he knew Cynthia needed to go to the library to finish an essay she had to write. "Hey, mom?"

"If you flunk high school then you can't go to college, Cynthia!"

Cynthia spluttered indignantly, usually, she had a near perfect GPA, but she was still adjusting to having both high school and college classes, a part-time job, and a chemistry degree course she had just started last month.

Miles got to his feet and grabbed his bag, "Mom! Cindy's taking me to my soccer practice! Come on Cindy!" He grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her out the front door toward her car.

"We will finish this when you get back Cynthia!" Sarah called to her youngest daughter

"I have other things to do!" Cynthia snapped back before she got into her car with a short roll of her blue eyes and buckled in before starting the vehicle. She then started reversing out of the driveway, her temper quietly simmering beneath the surface.

"I'm sorry, she wants you to drop all of your sports." Miles said quietly from his position buckled in the backseat on the passenger side, "you don't deserve it."

"Well with a pair of twin sisters older than me that got full ride scholarships to their colleges she's decided she has to have a daughter who has a perfect high school GPA and all that other bullocks." Cynthia shrugged, driving towards Miles' practice and hiding how upset she really was.

"You going to the library?"

"Yeah, Holly's meeting me at the library across from the soccer field," Cynthia told her younger brother easily, "So when you're finished with practice can you walk over to the library? Or do you have your phone with you?"

"I'll walk over, Mom has my phone," Miles replied disappointedly, "I didn't score last game and she's had it since."

"You should've told me." Cynthia sighed, glancing at her brother through the rearview mirror, "I'll give you my spare. If your team goes somewhere after practice let me know and I'll pick you up afterward." She said as they slowed to a stop next to the field, she pressed a small button on the roof near her rearview mirror and a compartment for sunglasses popped open, revealing her spare phone.

"I'll never understand how mom hasn't found out that you have that." Miles shook his head slightly and caught the small smartphone when she tossed it to him.

"Oh she knows I have it," Cynthia shrugged, "but she can't take it away seeing how I bought it and I'm the one paying for its usage."

"Genius." Miles grinned, "total genius."

"Eh, Holly gave me the idea." Cynthia smirked and watched her brother climb out of the small car, "have fun at soccer practice, kick a few goals for me will you?"

"Of course!" Miles smiled before he slung his bag over his shoulder, shut the door, and jogged into the field while his sister headed towards the library.

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Cynthia dropped her bookbag on top of the library table with a small thump, the book bag was crammed with all of her textbooks, notebooks, and other supplies that made she feel like she was constantly carrying a fifty-pound weight on her back.

Holly jumped at the noise and jerked her head up to look up at the source before she relaxed at the sight of her best friend. "Jeez, Cindy, trying to give me a heart attack?" She joked before she turned serious after Cynthia just directed a half-hearted glare towards her. "What happened now?" She asked, watching her unpack some of her supplies.

Cynthia snorted and rolled her eyes as she pulled a few books, notebooks, a pencil, dark blue clickable pen, her light blue laptop, and a thick binder from her bag. "You mean besides the fact that she wants me to quit every sports team I'm on? Nothing really."

Holly knew who the 'she' was referring to, she knew about Sarah's perfectionist behavior that clashed with her stubborn and scatterbrained daughter. "What? What happened now?" Their relationship really hadn't changed much from when they were kids and before Cynthia moved to England for ten years when Holly was six, and it was apparent that they still trusted each other a whole lot.

"I got a b plus in my health class _ **(It's required where I live ^-^)**_ because I wasn't there that one day due to a college class conflict and she completely freaked out." Cynthia snorted, sitting down across from Holly and opening both the binder and one of the textbooks, "seriously, she got the report card and looked at for barely a second, before she yelled for me to come see her despite the fact that I was the one who handed it to her and literally two feet away from her."

"Ouch," Holly winced, while she was extremely intelligent and was in nearly every AP and honors class available at their school, nobody was taking more classes than her friend, what they were doing right now was extremely rare, usually Cynthia was at work, at afternoon college classes, or busy with her chemistry course, leaving her with barely any free time, something she didn't particularly seem to mind. "Well she can't go any more extreme can she?"

"Nope," Cynthia replied distractedly as she started to work on her massive pile of homework and other things to do, "unless she decides to emancipate me, which wouldn't be so much of a bad thing."

"You could always come live with me and Jay if she does," Holly smiled, getting back to work on her math.

"True, so there's nothing else she can do to make it worse than she already has." Cynthia decided before going silent, buckling down on her school work and focusing on it. Little did she know that something more extreme was coming soon, something that would change her life forever and leave many scars, both visible and not visible to the human eye.

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"Cynthia, meet Ashton," Sarah smiled at her daughter as she introduced the boy who was three years older than her daughter, "he's new in town."

Cynthia studied the boy for a moment before she smiled kindly and extended her hand for him to shake, "hi, I'm Cynthia."

"I'm Ashton," the boy smiled back and shook her hand. He was taller than her, the top of her head barely reached his nose, he had messy light brown hair with random darker areas, icy blue eyes, a tall stature, broad shoulders, and a strong build like a football player. He was dressed in black jeans, a gray t-shirt, a red plaid long sleeve rolled up to the elbows, and black converse. "You're very pretty," he complimented and Cynthia blinked in surprise.

"Oh, uh... Thanks?" Cynthia blinked, unsure how she was as he said pretty, she wasn't wearing anything special, just denim skinny jeans, a navy tank top under an azure half sleeve shirt, converse of many blue shades, and a midnight blue active jacket tied around her waist with a black backpack slung over one shoulder, she had just gotten back from finishing yet another essay at the library.

Ashton smiled at her, "just speaking the truth."

"Right…" Cynthia said and released the handshake, his grip had been too firm and she wasn't so sure about this guy.

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Cynthia tucked her phone into her pocket, having just told Holly that she couldn't meet her at the library because she was busy and couldn't come. Lying to her friend stunk, but she didn't want to tell Holly about the boy her parents had arranged for her to meet.

"What's wrong?" Ashton asked her, looking over at her through curious and concerned blue eyes, loosely grasping one of her wrists as an attempt to get her attention focused on him.

Cynthia shrugged, using her free hand to tuck her bangs behind one ear and kept walking, "Nothing, just telling a friend I'm busy at the current moment." She replied as they continued to walk through the park, an activity suggested by Ashton himself.

"Thanks for coming with me," Ashton smiled a lopsided grin at her, "Isn't this nice?"

"Yeah," Cynthia replied with an attempt at being nice to him. ' _This is ridiculous, I like having friends and all, but I don't have enough time to split it between all of my friends, Bree, Jay, Holly, and now Ashton. I have too much stuff to do...'_ She mentally groaned, ' _Why do my parents have to set me up with a guy I don't even know? How come I have to deal with this while my sisters don't?'_

"How's your brother? He's a pretty funny guy." Ashton inquired, curious about her younger sibling while looking at her, a funny feeling in his gut making him a little nervous.

"He's okay," Cynthia replied with a small laugh, "missed kicking the soccer ball yesterday and landed in a faceful of mud, but he recovered afterward, although he complains that he can't smell anything besides the mud." Ashton laughed at her words, completely amused by her brother's actions.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

' _Oh no,'_ Cynthia groaned as Ashton got closer to her, ' _why didn't I see it earlier? He's got a crush on me!'_ "Um, Ashton, I don't like people getting that close to my face," she said weakly, "I'm a little claustrophobic." Which was true, she did happen to be claustrophobic at close quarters and really didn't like people close to her face.

"Oh, sorry," Ashton said with a little disappointment, stepping out of her personal space, blue eyes a little sad.

"It's okay," Cynthia smiled, ' _I don't want him to have a crush on me! I really don't! Oh StarClan, this sucks!'_

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

' _I'm late for the course! Crap!'_ Cynthia panicked and missed what Ashton had said. She started when Ashton grabbed her wrists, forcing her to look at him.

"You didn't answer my question," Ashton said, his blue eyes curious, "how come?"

"Because I'm running late for something and you aren't letting me go to it," Cynthia replied coolly before flinching in pain as he flicked her in the nose. "Ow! What the heck was that for?!" She snapped at him and got flicked again. They struggled for a while, Cynthia snapping at him and Ashton replying by flicking her, finally, after ten minutes Cynthia was silent and didn't dare say anything, looking down at her feet, the tip of her nose red like she had a cold, the color from the repetitive physical replies.

"Why didn't you answer my question?" Ashton repeated his earlier question, blue eyes glinting with violence but still curious.

"I'm sorry," Cynthia replied quietly, not daring to say anything else, the pain still tingling through her nose was a good reminder of not to bother him.

"It's okay," Ashton smiled and let her go, "Come on, let's get you home." He slung one arm around her shoulders, gripping the opposite shoulder with a grip tight enough to make her arm briefly tingle with pain, a reminder of not to rebel against him.

' _I hate you, Sarah.'_ Cynthia thought, tears pricking the corners of her sapphire blue eyes, ' _It's your fault for making me meet him.'_

:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Cynthia let her attention stray as she was forced to walk through the park with Ashton once again, an event that happened at least once a week. She ignored the pain in her left wrist, the one that Ashton had a firm grip on. She hated Ashton, he repeatedly hurt her and she loathed him, but she hated her mother even more, enough that she didn't talk to her, either she gave her the cold shoulder or they were arguing about something or other. Despite all of the time she spent with Ashton, she still kept her perfect GPA in school and was still passing the chemistry course with flying colors, but it was a severe struggle, one that she knew eventually she was going to lose. She barely got any sleep, studying all night, plus she forced herself to choke down some kind of caffeine to keep her brain working well enough that she wasn't going to pass out in the middle of class, and she hated caffeine with a passion.

"Cynthia?" Cynthia jumped and quickly reigned in her straying attention to Ashton as he squeezed her upper arms to get her attention, "were you listening?"

Biting her tongue, Cynthia bit back a retort that would no doubt get her in massive amounts of trouble before replying, "Yeah, I'm listening," she forced a smile, as fear flashed across her blue eyes, _don't think I'm lying, please don't think I'm lying!_ She flinched slightly when Ashton tightened his grip in response to her not so timid tone and waited for his reaction, stiffening her body and preparing for the worst. She really didn't want to be hiding another bruise from her brother, which was why she was wearing a long sleeve shirt, to hide the faint bruising around her wrists that made typing an absolute pain in the wrist. Literally.

Ashton studied her for a few heart-stopping moments before he loosened his grip and smiled, his icy blue eyes softening a little as he brushed his fingers over one of her cheeks, "you look tired."

Cynthia forced herself to nod bleakly and lean into his touch despite how much she wanted to flee and get back to her drowning workload of school, work, and the chemistry course. _Can this get any worse?_ She wondered, and oh how much worse it was going to get.

:( :( :(

Anger flashed across Cynthia's senses, the anger had been building up for months now, and finally, she snapped. "I don't have feelings for you Ashton! Leave me alone!" She spat and yanked her wrists from his grip, blue eyes flashing with vivid anger and frustration.

Ashton's blue eyes flashed and he quickly put Cynthia in a stranglehold, "what did you say?!"

Cynthia struggled against his hold, her blue eyes furious and angry, it was her choice who she had feelings for, he couldn't force her to love him! "I don't have feelings for you!" she gasped out, her anger fueling the words.

Ashton glared at her and tightened his grip, "what Cynthia?"

Cynthia just narrowed her eyes and struggled, flailing her legs in hope of kicking something to alert her family of what was going on as her vision slightly blurred. A few minutes later as black spots swam across her vision and her hearing became impaired, she felt her foot connect with the small table in her bedroom, knocking it over with a vicious crash. She felt relief flood her body as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. _Thank StarClan!_

"Cindy?" Paige popped her head into the room wondering what the crash had been.

"Help...me…" Cynthia croaked, her blue eyes glazed and scared.

"Oh, my StarClan!" Paige gasped and Ashton dropped Cynthia like she burned him, his eyes were wide with surprise, clearly, he hadn't expected to see Cynthia's older sister. "Mom! Dad!"

Cynthia barely heard Paige screaming her parents' names through her loud and wracking coughs, her nose nearly touching the ground with how hard she was coughing. Her vision also blurred and how the room spun around her and caused her arms to wobble unsteadily.

"Cindy, can you hear me? Are you alright?!"

Cynthia could vaguely feel her Paige's hand on her chin as she tilted her head up to try and see if Cynthia was focused on her, but Paige's voice sounded like it was under water. When Cynthia felt Ashton put one hand comfortingly on her back her dazed blue eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the floor.

:( :( :(

Cynthia trembled, the only sounds in the darkroom were her and Ashton's breathing, Ashton's was much softer and deeper when compared to her own half horrified, half frightened, loud and heaving breaths. Her body hurt like it was on fire. She could taste blood from her bleeding lip which was from when she bit her lip earlier, and her chest felt like it was constricting even more with each breath. _I want to fall asleep and hope this entire day was just a nightmar_ e, she thought as she squeezed her blue eyes shut. _But I know it's not, I don't even have to pinch myself to know this isn't a nightmare, dreams don't hurt that much._ Tears pricked at her closed blue eyes. _StarClan, I'm a horrible person._ She wanted to vomit but didn't dare get up or move in case it set off Ashton, she didn't want a repeat of earlier, even though she knew it was going to happen again… eventually.

:( :( :(

Cynthia jerked awake at someone calling her name, she stared wide-eyed at the person who had called her name in the first place, her mind was groggy and that prevented her from really recognizing the person in front of her at first.  
"Cindy, are okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," Holly said quietly, "your skin's all pale and your eyes are pretty wide."

Cynthia took a few seconds to regain her bearings and relax. She was at the library with Holly, not anywhere near Ashton, Holly wouldn't do anything to hurt her on purpose. "Sorry, I must've dozed off," she mumbled and ran one hand through her black hair, noticing that she didn't have it up in a ponytail at the moment, "you startled me, I thought you were someone else."

Holly put down her pencil and looked at her friend, worry in her green eyes, "someone else who makes you white as a sheet?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes, attempting to blow the whole thing off as just being startled, "no, I was asleep and you scared me half to death."

Holly gave her an unconvinced look, "who in the world scares you that badly?"

Cynthia gave a snort and racked her brain, trying to come up with someone who scared her and that Holly knew about. "My mom at the moment," she snorted, "she's beginning to scare me with her ramblings about successful kids and what other crap she says all the time."

Holly seemed to have bought it as her eyes filled with amusement, "that seems about right, your mom is kinda crazy."

"You don't know the half of it," Cynthia snorted, trying to keep the bitterness from her voice, "she's going insane."

"Well I have to get going to the office," Holly said and she swung her bag up over her shoulder, "you should go home and get some sleep, I'll let Clark know that you can't come in for work today-"

"I can work," Cynthia hastily scooped up her supplies and threw it into her backpack. She had been studying for an exam, the last exam before she could graduate from intern to chemist in the special law firm that Holly had gotten her an internship at partway through her senior year. "I'll just get something caffeinated, I'll stay awake I swear." She promised and zipped up the bag. Caffeine had become something that she grudgingly had to live with having way more often than she'd like to have. She'd gotten used to drinking caffeinated soda and the occasional coffee, which she still thought was disgusting, not to mention how she had gotten used to the constant lack of sleep she suffered under. It just happened that today was a Friday and that she hadn't gotten any extra sleep over the weekend since she had been forced to stay at Ashton's place throughout the many days of the weekend. So she hadn't caught up on her sleep like she did when she crashed at Ivory's house on most weekends while the blonde played movies constantly in her living room and acted like a normal and not scared person while Atol fixed up one of the bedrooms in the back and Braxton studied for his tests.

Holly looked at her for a moment, studying her friend's attitude before she nodded. "Alright, let's go then, together."

:) :( :) :( :) :(

Cynthia leaned heavily on the bathroom counter, her blue eyes dulled from exhaustion and glittering with pain. She felt light-headed, her ears were buzzing and her vision was blurring. _What's happening to me?_ She wondered and took a few deep breaths, trying to orientate herself and not pass out. _It's not like anything was different tonight… maybe I'm just tired._ She mulled over the possibility that perhaps she was just exhausted, which was highly likely. _Or it could be from the gash on my leg._ She glanced down at the tile floor beneath her where she had a worrisome trail of blood wherever she had gone into the house after Ashton had cut the back of her leg open that evening. _I hope I'm just tired._

:(

"Hey Sarah, is Cindy available?" Holly asked as she tucked the phone into the crook of her neck and continued packing up her laptop and other work supplies.

"She's not here at the moment, she should be at Ashton's apartment if you want to visit her or something.

"Okay, thanks!" Holly hung up, tossed the phone into her bag, and left her office, green eyes rather cheerful.

:(

Holly knocked on the apartment's door, hoping that Cynthia was there and that she was at the right one.

"Coming!"

Cynthia's voice made Holly breathe out a sigh of relief, she was in the right place.

Cynthia opened the door and Holly's green eyes widened as she took in her friend's appearance, Cynthia looked muddled, exhausted, and out of it. "Are you okay?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Eh," Cynthia shrugged lopsidedly as she partially propped herself up against the doorway, her injured leg hiding out of Holly's view.

Holly tentatively asked a question she never thought she'd ask Cynthia. "Are you… drunk?" as far as Holly knew, Cynthia didn't drink, the blue-eyed girl hated anything that had alcohol in it.

Cynthia looked at Holly, her blue gaze still confused, but now faint amusement filled the blue depths. "Really? Do I sound drunk to you?" She struggled to roll her eyes and managed to succeed. "I'm not drunk, although I would rather that than my current situation."

Holly looked relieved, "that's a relief, for a moment there I thought you were lying about hating alcohol."

Cynthia screwed up her face in disgust, "ew, that stuff is just gross. No way in the world would I drink that gunk again."

Holly opened her mouth to continue their banter when she froze, noticing flecks of red staining her friend's denim capris, lower leg, and white socks. "Cindy, is that blood?"

Cynthia looked down at her shorts and for the first time, she noticed that blood was also on her clothing. "That? It's just kool-aid." She shrugged, pulling an easy excuse, "I was helping a friend earlier and she knocked the pitcher to the floor which is why my clothes are flecked with red."

"Don't lie to me, I know that's blood, Cynthia!" Holly retorted, "that's definitely blood!"

Cynthia flinched, "fine, it's blood, happy now?" She grunted, still not moving to let Holly in, she was getting paler by the minute and Holly was starting to worry.

"Are you alright? Why're you bleeding?" Holly asked her friend worriedly.

"I'm fine, it's not fresh blood," Cynthia grumbled and shifted her position a small amount.

Holly blanched as she caught sight of Cynthia's injured leg and the blood coating her skin and clothes. "That is!" She pointed to her friend's injured leg before she gasped, catching sight of the blood trail that Cynthia had leading toward the door. "Of my StarClan! Cynthia, you're not okay!"

Cynthia grimaced before she moved and let Holly into the apartment, "I'm fine, you're overreacting."

Holly's green eyes widened and she stared at the blood all over the floor, luckily all of the flooring was hardwood and tile. "You call losing that much blood okay?!"

"Yes, I call it okay!" Cynthia snapped back her friend, narrowing her eyes in an attempt to focus better on her friend as her vision distorted for a few moments. "I'm fine…" she lurched forward and crashed to the ground, lying sprawled on her stomach, finally passing out from blood loss.

"Cindy!"

:(

Cynthia opened her eyes feeling rather lethargic and exhausted. When her eyes slid open she scrambled backward with a shout of surprise which was muffled as Ashton slapped a hand over her mouth. She stared at him, fear glittering in her blue eyes as she realized where they were, a hospital, a place Ashton had told her specifically to not go to. She whimpered in fear and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for him to hit her or vow to hurt her later.

"You let yourself get taken to a hospital," Ashton said coolly, his voice irritated and annoyed.

Cynthia didn't speak, she remained quiet and she braced herself for Ashton's attack, in case he may attack her.

Ashton looked at her, his blue eyes highly annoyed, "tell me why."

Cynthia flinched and spoke quietly, "I passed out, I… I couldn't stop her."

Ashton nodded slowly, "We will talk about this later."

Cynthia flinched, she knew that tone by now, if meant he was going to hit her or something along those lines later. "I understand," she whispered as the door creaked open.

Ashton nodded and stood up as Holly slipped into the room, "g'night sweetheart," he said as he pressed a kiss to Cynthia's forehead.

"G'night," Cynthia mumbled and forced a small smile at him before he left and she relaxed. "Hey Holly," She said quietly, "don't you have to go to work?"

Holly shook her head, "No, I got the day off," she sat down in the visitor's chair, "we need to talk," she said grimly.

"I know," Cynthia said as she hauled her body into a sitting up position and pulled the IV from her arm with a small flinch, she needed to get out of the hospital fast, before Ashton had a fit," but I need to get out of here."

"Cynthia, you just passed out from blood loss!" Holly retorted, "you can't just get up and leave."

Cynthia narrowed her eyes at her, "if it's a question about my safety you better believe I can." She sluggishly swung her legs over the edge of the bed, wincing slightly as her injured leg protested at the movement.

"Your safety?" Holly echoed, "a hospital is a pretty safe environment Cindy, what in the world are you talking about?"

"Not while he's here," Cynthia replied as she tentatively put her feet on the floor, flinching at the tile's freezing temperature, before she carefully tested her weight to make sure she wasn't going to face plant into the tile. "The faster I leave the hospital the safer I will be."

"Okay," Holly agreed with her, "where do you want to go?" She asked, her green eyes flashing with worry and determination.

The door slid open and a familiar blonde poked her head into the room, "come on, we'll go to my house, well it's Atol's, but whatever."

Cynthia looked a little nervous, unsure if she wanted to risk it.

"You owe me an explanation," Ivory pointed out, the sixteen-year-old slipped into the room the rest of the way. She was in sweatpants and one of her boyfriend's hoodies. Her service dog, for the paranoia and mental issues that stemmed from her childhood, Duke was trotting at her heels. "And I had to drag Braxton out of his bed to get over here."

"Ivory, Ashton is not someone I want to trifle with, he's already royally ticked off that I'm here in a hospital…" Cynthia trailed off at the look in her friends' eyes.

"Cynthia," Ivory sighed, "I've been through some of it myself, remember? Plus at my house we have two teens who are trained in different fighting styles, Atol's a freaking martial arts instructor, and we have Duke." She patted the top of her German Shepherd's head, "he'll attack too if I tell him to."

"Fine," Cynthia deflated, "but we have to hide me if Ashton sees me I'm in huge trouble."

Ivory cracked a grin, "I'll go get Braxton's other hoodie."

"I have jeans in my bag too," Holly added, "I was supposed to be picking you up remember?"

Cynthia nodded, her blue eyes glimmered with how thankful she was for her two best friends. "Okay, let's go."

:) :( :) :( :) :(

Cynthia's jaw dropped and the eighteen-year-old stared blankly at the man in front of her who had just proposed to her and was now waiting for her answer. Her mind felt numb, she couldn't say no, not with her parents here. They would have a fit if she didn't agree to the wedding, well, her mother would at least, her dad wouldn't mind but her mother would.

Holly nudged her slightly from her position standing next to her, having walked in the door with her before Ashton had proposed to the young adult. "Come on Cindy," she urged her gently, trying to break her friend's number status for her to give Ashton an answer. "What's the answer?" Her green eyes glinted with worry, apprehension, and fear for her friend's situation.

Cynthia gave a slightly choked noise as she tried to answer, but no audible words came out.

Ashton looked confused like he didn't understand what she was saying and what the answer was going to be. "What?"

Cynthia felt her parents' gaze on her, her mother's gaze making her skin tingle under her sharp and expecting gaze.

Holly nudged her again, pushing her to try and say no. "Come on Cindy," she murmured, "he's waiting."

Cynthia's blue eyes glazed slightly with what her friend could see as tears and she gave up trying to fight against her parents' wishes, even if it eventually killed her. "Yes," she said in as much of a stunned and shocked tone that she could muster and managed to pull off a decent smile. "I'd be happy to." She had never been lying more.

:(

Cynthia's breathing was soft, and surprisingly even as she gazed upward at the ceiling, her blue eyes making patterns in the dimpled ceiling above her. She felt rather numb at the moment, but it didn't hurt anymore, the situation didn't hurt her anymore, she had learned to live with it now. While sometimes it still twinged here and there, the barriers she had begun to build protected her from the brunt of the pain her situation gave her. At this point in time she could only try and live with what she was already going through, she couldn't do anything else. She couldn't really get anyone's help besides Holly and Ivory and even then they couldn't really do anything against her situation anyway.

Cynthia took a deeper breath, listening to it as she did so. She would have to push through everything Ashton did to her to eventually live her life how she actually wanted it one day. And that hope was the one thing keeping her going through everything she was currently going through. _I will survive,_ she vowed silently as she rolled over onto her side and let her tired eyes close, _and one day I will make a difference in this messed up world._

:( :( :( :( :(

"You three better tell me what's going on," Jay said as he took a seat at the table in a private doctor's room and dropped a manila folder onto the table. His blue eyes flashed and he spun the file around toward Cynthia before opening it to the first page, his blue eyes fixed on her with a slightly narrowed status. "And why in the wide world my childhood friend who I know has very high moral standards, is four months pregnant at less than nineteen-years-old."

Cynthia's jaw slackened and she stared at the open folder in front of her, her blue eyes widening as she took in the information on the page.

"Ask us later Jay," Ivory told her cousin briskly from her spot near the door, "now is not a good time." Her point was emphasized by Cynthia leaning forward on her arms and burying her head in her hands.

Cynthia trembled softly, fighting the urge to break down _again._ Although the earlier ones she could chalk up to her apparently heightened hormones. Now she just wanted to sob and cry. She wanted to believe that what was currently happening was a dream...

"What? What's the result?" Holly asked from her position pacing near one of the walls with Ivory standing next to her.

"It's positive," Jay sighed and spun around on the spinny chair to face her while running one hand through his black hair, "I had her take multiple standard tests and a blood test and all five came up as positive."

Holly's green eyes widened and her voice dropped to a tone hushed from surprise, "I was right? StarClan! I wanted to be wrong!"

"You and me both," Cynthia murmured, blinking semi-rapidly to keep from crying again in front of her best friends and Jay.

Jay sighed and leaned back in his chair, "I haven't seen a more positive result since Leah started making me study this…" Abruptly he stood up and scooped up the folder before he pointed a finger at Cynthia who had lifted her head from her hands. "Don't go anywhere." He then vanished outside of the room.

The three girls stared at each other in confusion, Cynthia's tears fading from the force of her curiosity.

"...since that first case, Leah," Jay came back with Leah, pushing a portable machine that Cynthia vaguely recognized as some kind of ultrasound machine

"Alright well let's test your theory," Leah said with a slight smile before she turned to Cynthia, "Cynthia please lay on your back on the examination bed please."

Cynthia did as she was told, highly confused and not completely understanding what they were going to do. The freezing temperature of the clear gel against the skin of her stomach made her gasp and sent a shiver up her spine before Leah turned on the machine.

After a few minutes Leah chuckled softly looking at the readout, "Jay's right, you've got twins Cynthia, two very healthy looking twins at the current moment."

Cynthia's face abruptly drained of color and she felt faint twins? Oh boy...

:'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Cynthia's blue eyes briefly flashed before she shoved all of the stuff off of the table, crumpling up the guest list, and menu and chucking it across the room in the process. Right away everyone started complaining and getting upset at her, but shut up when she slammed her hands down onto the table and stood up, blue eyes flashing with anger, "Shut up!" She snarled in fury, "Shut up and listen to me!" Everyone was silent, Holly and Bree were here to make sure she didn't hurt herself trying to get them all to listen. "Would a happy bride," She spat out the last word, "Do this?! Would she ignore everything you're doing and let you do what you want?! Even let you choose who the bridesmaid and everything is?!" She snarled, her expression full of fury, "No! She wouldn't! So why am I?!" She caught everyone's gazes and took in the encouraging looks from her friends, "because I never wanted this!" She snarled and a lot of people gasped in shock, staring at her, "I never wanted to be married to Ashton! I hate him!"

"Darling," Her mother spoke, "Of course you don't hate him, you're just upset-"

"Shut up! You have no idea what he's done to me!" Cynthia snarled at her mother, tears gathering in her furious blue eyes, "You told me yourself I was lying! I wouldn't lie about being abused mother!" She snarled and ignored everyone's gasps, "I'm no liar!" She looked at everyone sitting at the table, her body shaking with fury, "Ashton had abused me for three years! Is that not enough?! Is it not enough that he's forced himself onto me from when I was sixteen?! Yeah," She snarled at everyone's shocked and horrified faces, "Ashton's been forcing himself onto me since that night when he claimed I had passed out! Where did I go afterward?! I woke up screaming to Ashton taking advantage of me!" She looked angrily at her mother, "Yet you don't believe me! You don't believe your own daughter!" She looked at everyone, the tears in her eyes threatening to break free, "I'm not marrying Ashton, not when he got me pregnant."

"How are we going to call it off without Ashton saying it was you who's lying?"

"We bring it to court." Cynthia said and looked over at Holly, "Holly's a lawyer."

Holly grinned a little sheepishly as everyone stared at her. Holly then went serious, "We can put a heavy fine on him along with a year or so in jail because Cindy was a minor. Anyway, she was just a minor so some of the charges aren't as strong, but we can get a heavy fine for both the abuse and... the other stuff." She avoided using the real word, knowing that her friend really didn't want to hear the official term for the reason she was now moody and gaining weight.

:( :( :( :( :(

"The jury has found Ashton Ligira guilty!"

The last word echoed in Cynthia's mind, the worry and fear that had been plaguing her since she had stepped into the courtroom vanished replaced with something close to giddiness, ' _he's guilty… he's guilty!'_ She locked eyes with Holly who gave a short nod as a way of confirming that she wasn't hearing things and that Ashton was indeed guilty. ' _I'm free…'_ Cynthia thought, watching Ashton get escorted out of the room, ' _I'm free! I can have my life back, I'm finally free!'_ Cynthia felt so happy and relieved she didn't pay attention to Ashton's last words that he shouted as he was taken away.

"I'll be back Cynthia!" He shouted, blue eyes furious and hurt. "I'll be back for my children!"

Holly, Bree, and Jay all exchanged glances, Cynthia was safe while Ashton was behind bars and while her unborn children needed her to survive, but their shield was bound to break, and when it did, everything was going to go to chaos.

:) :) :) :) :)

"No!" Cynthia didn't hear a cry from the second twin, the smaller one of the two and the girl.

She dimly heard the voice of the doctor beneath the exhaustion and dread weighing down on her, but it was crystal clear. Words she had never wanted to hear no matter what. "She's not going to make it through the night."

"No!" Her vision was blurred by tears and the young adult lunged into a sitting upright position, causing pain to ripple along her back and abdomen but she didn't care. Even though the twins were Ashton's she loved them as much as she would if their father was someone was different. It wrenched Cynthia's heart hearing that one of them wasn't going to make it. One of the two lives she had learned to love wasn't going to survive. The medical staff cared though apparently and Cynthia felt someone pin down one of her wrists before her arms buckled and she fell sideways landing on her side on the bed. She felt oddly drowsy and sedated a few moments later. Her now partially glazed blue gaze focused on her friend who had stayed with her throughout the entire thing, tears swimming in her half-closed blue eyes. "Do something," she slightly slurred, begging her friend to save her baby. "Do something!"

She felt Ivory's hand gently tuck the hair getting in her face behind her ear before the blonde gently ran one hand up and down her back in a soothing fashion and spoke. "I can't Cynthia," her voice was hushed, "I can't save her, I'm sorry…" Cynthia started to cry, blubbering and squeezing her eyes shut, feeling a mother's grief.

:(

Ivory heard the doctor's words and her stomach dropped before she quickly swung her head toward Cynthia, leaf green eyes wide and round with shock and horror. The next few minutes were a blur as she comforted Cynthia who had a sedative running through her system to keep her calm while the doctors set up a few things so that she could hold her weakest twin before the baby passed on, too small and ill to survive.

She watched with an aching heart roughly ten minutes later as Cynthia was gently lifted into a sitting position before one of the doctors handed her the small infant who was hardly four pounds. A size not too bad for twins but the baby wasn't a healthy pink color, she was very pale, and she hadn't moved more than a few twitches since Ivory has first seen her.

Cynthia held the infant cuddled to her chest, hunched over slightly in something close to a ball as if she could protect the sick newborn from the world and keep her alive and healthy. She was still crying, that hadn't changed much other than she was making less noise and was now trembling like a leaf. She was gently touching the twin's face a few times and gently holding one of her small hands with her eyes currently squeezed shut, unable to stop the tears sliding quickly down her face.

:(

Cynthia watched as slowly the girl cuddled in her arms lost her remaining color and grew still, struggling to breathe properly as the minutes flew by. She cradled her baby even as the doctors milled around her, marking the baby's death time and other things, not wanting them to take her away from her.

But it still happened, they gently pulled her arms apart and took the still form in her arms from her, leaving the new mother feeling numbed by grief and unable to think anymore. "Lixa," she croaked a few moments after the baby had passed on and had been taken from her, "her name's Lixa…"

Tears were in Holly's eyes, she had arrived only ten minutes before the infant had moved on. "That's a beautiful name Cynthia," she said in a slight whisper, her voice thick with sympathy for her best friend.

Cynthia looked over at them, her red-rimmed blue eyes making her seem extremely vulnerable and lonely, "her eyes were green," she croaked, "emerald green, like yours Holly."

Holly's face softened into a look of worry and concern and she walked over to her friend before sitting on the bed next to her, the newborn boy nestled in her arms sleeping peacefully. "She will always be remembered," she said quietly before offering the baby boy to the new mother, "do you want to hold him Cindy? He's your son."

Cynthia looked over at the other baby and sniffled before she pulled him into her arms, cuddling him close to her chest and looking at the baby himself. He looked nothing like his father, with faint freckles, a small nose, chubby cheeks and blonde hair like fuzz on the top of his head, he looked more like her than anyone else. The freckles were hers, so was the nose shape and the chubby cheeks -apparently she had had the same problem as a baby- but nothing really stated his father was Ashton, he didn't remind her of him at all. He looked so different from his sister, and Cynthia was silently grateful, she didn't want a forever reminder of the baby she had already lost. Cynthia blew out a shuddery breath and hesitantly smiled at the baby boy as he sneezed and opened his eyes to look at her. "Hi little one," the nineteen-year-old cooed softly and gently held one of his small fists, "you're perfect…" The baby giggled, multicolored eyes drooping closed. "You'll always know your sister," Cynthia murmured softly as she pressed a feather-light kiss to the baby's forehed, "and I love both of you so much…"

* * *

 _ **Sneak peek for the sequel to the actual story** _

_Leon blinked and straightened up, looking at the album in fixed interest. The picture wasn't weird, it looked like some of the other light hearted ones that Cynthia had kept from back before she had given birth to Flynx back when she was hardly nineteen. "What?" He wondered and narrowed his eyes, focusing hard on the picture and trying to wrap his head around the idea. The picture itself was kind of funny, Holly had obviously taken it and his sister had been giggling while taking it, partially covering Cynthia's face with ultrasound results. The odd thing was that she was holding two, and Flynx was Cynthia's only child. So had what happened? He flipped through another page or two and studied them as well, noticing the reoccuring pattern and feeling a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that Cynthia hadn't told him everything about Flynx. He froze when he reached another page and promptly just stared at it. The picture was taken probably by some medical personel, but that's not what he had frozen up at. He could see his sister holding Flynx, the blonde hair and particular freckle placement was identical, but he could also see Cynthia hunched over another infant in her arms, she had her forehead resting with a feather light touch on the baby's head, tears were dripping off of the beautiful young adult's face, and she looked like she was making some kind of heart-wrenching cry. He looked down at the caption, noticing how that particular page was well thumbed through. The caption said, 'The Worst Moment Of Her Life' with his sister's name scribbled under the caption. He jumped slightly when he felt Cynthia's arms slid around his shoulders so that her hands rested against his chest and heard her settle on the floor behind him, leaning against him and breathing deeply, clearly relaxed._

" _You've been sitting here for hours," Cynthia murmured into his shoulder, her black hair tickling the back of his neck, "what compels you to sit here and look through all of my boring pictures?"_

 _Leon smiled at her words but didn't respond, brushing his thumb over the picture he had been looking at moments earlier._

 _Cynthia didn't seem to mind and settled more comfortably behind him, leaning a little more on him and snuggling with him, something that she had just recently taken a liking to. After six months of being together, he had finally attempted to snuggle with her and just about gave her a heart attack. Yet she enjoyed it a lot more than he thought she would after that moment, and apparently, she found his smell sometimes intoxicating._

 _Leon hated to ruin the moment but he had to ask, he wouldn't be able to focus if he didn't ask it now. And it seemed that Cynthia picked up on that._

 _Cynthia lifted her head away from his shoulders and removed her arms before kneeling and looking over his shoulder, "what're you wondering about?" She asked, her gaze wandering around the pages of the album with a slight smile._

" _I… I don't want to pry," Leon said slowly, trying to phrase it so that it wouldn't hurt her that he was asking. He still wasn't completely sure where he could tread on questions about her past. She assured him she didn't mind him asking her questions, but he was always really nervous about upsetting her from talking about her past. "But I'm really curious about something I've noticed…"_

 _Cynthia moved to be sitting beside him, leaning against his side, "I have nothing to hide," she assured him with a smile, "what's on your mind, Leo?" She said as she leaned forward and upon one of her arms to give him a soft and short kiss, something she was much more comfortable with now._

 _Leon returned the kiss with a tense smile before he blew out a deep breath and asked her the question. "Flynx isn't a single isn't he?" He said, looking over at her with worry in his amber eyes, worried that it would make her shut down and annoyed at him. "He had a twin?"_

 _Cynthia's eyes turned distraught and she nodded a miserable nod, leaning away from him and pushing her fingers through her black hair. "Yes…" she swallowed hard and continued, feeling a lump growing in her throat. "Flynx had a twin named Lixa, she was a blonde with hair that could've matched yours," she swallowed again, her voice going softer and slightly clogged with emotion, "and green eyes that I only got to see open once." She closed her eyes, trying to keep herself together and not start crying at something that had happened such a long time ago yet still felt raw and like an open wound. "Lixa was born after Flynx at just under four pounds at nine-forty-two pm. She was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck a few times and was incredibly sick." She breathed a shuddery breath, the event forever preserved in her mind._

" _I was sedated for half an hour, unable to handle the idea of watching her die in my arms snuggled againt my chest until it really sunk in and I got to hold her. I held Lixa for hardly an hour and a half before she d… passed away," she changed the phrase aburptly, trying to save herself the pain. "She was sick from a defect that caused internal bleeding that nobody could do anything about. She was so ill and weak that she couldn't move by herself other than the small twitches as she tried and could hardly open her eyes. She only managed to open them once and that was after they had given her something to help with her draining energy and I was coaxing her to open them so I could see what color my beautiful daughter's eyes were." Cynthia bit her lip and turned her head away from him before she continued speaking. "Not very many people know that I had twins," she said quietly, "almost everyone thinks I only had Flynx, Lixa's a name honored by me, Jay, Holly, and Ivory. We're the only four who know about there being two and not just Flynx."_

 _Leon looked at her, amber eyes gentle and displaying that his belief in her being stronger than anyone in the world. "Thank you for telling me," he said in a hushed tone and gently tugged her to his chest, embracing her lovingly, "I know I say this a lot, but you really are the strongest person in the world."_

 _Cynthia laughed, her blue eyes were watery, however, emotional from recounting the story that still made her heart ache from losing a child so young. "I know that you think so."_

" _Mama?" Flynx came into the room, the three and a half-year-old held a small group of lilies in one hand and was dragging a photo album with his other hand, "I tought we ere doing fowers," his dirty blonde eyebrows furrowed together, "is somefing wong?"_

 _Cynthia smiled at her son and pulled away from Leon slightly, "we are, but we're going to have Leon join us this year."_

 _Flynx smiled brightly, "yay! Daddy helping!" He hurried over to his mother and dropped the album, from which spilled a few pencils and pieces of paper, before gently laying the lilies on the ground and flopping down in his mother's lap. "I wanna see Lixi!"_

 _Cynthia smiled and opened the photo album, letting Flynx and Leon look at the precious pictures of Lixa, her lost daughter._

 _Flynx's expression softened at the sight of his sister and he pressed his hands to the pages before practically giving the album a hug, "I wove you Lixi!" He exclaimed and giggled, "and mama woves you too!"_

 _Cynthia smiled gently at her son, "tell her what happened this year Flynx," she encouraged him._

 _Flynx sat back up and nodded, after giving his mother the lilies, "Mama found us a daddy!" He exclaimed happily, "he's really coowl and woves all of us!..."_

 _Leon watched as Cynthia carefully braided the lily stems together before gently weaving the lily flowers into the pages of the book itself..._

* * *

 ** _Yeah... I wish I had done more with this chapter, it didn't turn out how I wanted it to :( Granted i've been writing this since I finished Boring Office Work (about 50 chapters ago) so some of the scenes are really old... oh well! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! :D_**


	125. Fighting For Love And Hope Moment 14

_**~Snowcrystal of ThunderClan~**_

 _How did you enjoy the Hollyleaves Excerpts? I didn't include them here because I had a cover that I wanted to use :D_

 _Yeah, Cynthia's teenage years in that world were pretty bad :( but she's still an absolutely amazing character :D I think her past make Cynthia seem just a little more like a broken hero to be honest :)_

 ** _~Tulips 1995~_**

 _Glad you liked it! :D_

 ** _~Arabella 88~_**

 _Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!_

 ** _~briarfeather4fun~_**

 _There's a bunch of other Briarfeather featured chapters too! :D And I'm working on a new collection that is only Cinderblaze and Briarfeather focused! :D_

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 ** _Hey Guys! So I started another collection called "The Runner and the Loner, The Athlete and the Jock" that is completely Cinderblaze and Briarfeather inside a particular world is written in snippets and random moments! :D_**

 ** _Also, I created another "collection" that's actually an excerpt from this story, I kept them separate to allow a cover (it's a chibi drawing of Holly and Finli) so if you guys are wondering why I haven't updated this particular story yet have uploaded 4 other chapters for different stories that's why :P_**

 ** _I'm starting this little thingy that's hints toward a couple upcoming chapters and they will be located beneath the story part of chapter! :D_**

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 _Cynthia's Past_

 _(Fighting for love and hope Moment)_

Cynthia prowled her cage, her attention shifting between everything that moved and could be her next fight, Cynthia was protecting her home, the one place she was safe from the fighting she did. ' _When next fight?'_ She wondered, struggling to find some coherent words that she knew from hearing them over and over every day. Her home was her cage, a three foot wide by five foot long by five foot tall cage where she lived outside of the fighting arena with a dirt floor and its roof was covered by slowly rooting plywood, the cage held a small pile of dirty blankets, a pillow and random trinkets she had received from fights along with a few small knives designed for her use. Her cage wasn't elaborate like the older fighters who sometimes had flowers growing in their cages, her cage held the things she felt safe with, and to her, that's what mattered.

Someone got too close and Cynthia threw herself at the bars with all her strength and a growl and caused them rattle and shake violently. The person who got too close yelped and fell back onto his back, staring at her in utter terror. His expression meant nothing to Cynthia, it was just an expression that didn't say she didn't have to fight, it didn't quiet the growling that was vibrating her throat nor did it bring anything of any kind of nature that would benefit her, most expressions and people didn't.

"W-woah, sh-she's scary," Cynthia heard the man stammer as the head fighter Brian came over and helped him up, a devilish smirk on his face as he looked at the young and wild fighter.

"She's not scary," Brian smirked, walking over to Cynthia's cage and brushing his fingertips over the young child's cheek, "She's the perfect fighter."

Cynthia snapped at him and was disappointed to find nothing but air caught between her teeth, so she increased the volume of her growl, attempting to make him go away despite the fact that she knew he wouldn't, he never did.

"This one's exactly how we want the fighters to be, wild, animalistic, and frightening." Brian grinned, before harshing flicking Cynthia in the face when she attempted to bite him again.

Reeling backward Cynthia shook her head violently, attempting to make the pain in her nose go away, a pain-filled whine emerging from her throat in the process.

"Isn't she just a bit t-terrifying?" The cowardly man stammered, keeping a good few feet between him and the cage, his brown eyes locked on the dirty three-year-old girl who prowled the dirty cage, half hidden by the shadows. Her blue eyes almost glowed in the shadowed cage like a wild animal, her clothing was torn slightly from the fights and dirty from the dirt floor of her cage, her pants looked like someone had sawed them off below the knees, her shirt was splattered with blood and dirt, and the sleeves were also missing, revealing the small child's scarred and decently muscular arms, a small knife handle stuck out from the front pocket of her pants, the handle stained with dried blood. She was filthy in most aspects, blood was splattered on her face and hands, her knees were covered with the dried liquid, and none of it was her own.

"She's harmless." Another man's voice filtered through to her sensitive ears, his voice was deep and aggravating. "A puny child."

' _Puny… child? What is puny?'_ Cynthia wondered briefly as she snarled at them, blue eyes flashing with violent danger. ' _I'm no harmless!'_

"That child can kill a man twice your size Brutus." Brian drawled coolly, retreating a step from the cage to look at a burly man out of Cynthia's vision. "If she's as harmless as you think she is then why don't you stick your hand in there?"

"I will," The other man came into her vision, a tall man with broad shoulders, large muscles, and an overall burly build. "She's pathetic."

"Be my guest Brutus," Brian smirked, knowing exactly what the girl would do to the other man.

Brutus smirked and promptly stuck his hand and part of his arm into the girl's cage. A moment later he howled as Cynthia sunk her teeth into his hand and smashed her fists down on his arm, snapping the bones in his arm.

Cynthia snarled, her sharp teeth easily piercing his skin, she growled a loud warning growl, making the coward from earlier scramble backward and fall down once again. "You no touch home!" The young child snarled in the language the rest of them had been speaking in, pure Latin, the dying language.

"Get her off of me!" Brutus yelled, struggling against the child, "get her off!"

Brian smirked, "now she's not harmless is she?" He pulled out a small sealed sandwich bag of what looked like beef jerky and tossed it into the cage, "excellent, Cinder, eat."

Cynthia released Brutus and scampered over to the small bag, she rubbed her palms and fingers mostly clean on her torn jeans before she used the knife to open the bag and started cramming the jerky into her mouth, her back facing them, posture slouched.

Brian watched her, his eyes gleaming with blood list and approval, "Cinder is the perfect fighter, young, intelligent, and animal-like with a drive to attack anything that moves."

"What if she gets free?"

"There are measures for that kind of thing, but for now, she is our secret weapon."

:( :( :( :( :( :(

"Hi!" Ivory smiled at the slightly older girl, "wanna play?" The five-year-old girl asked Cynthia curiously, leaf green eyes curious.

Cynthia tilted her head slightly, not understanding the English the other girl was speaking. "What?" She asked in Latin, "I don't understand you, are you like me? Or are you my competitor?"

"She's good, she wants to play with you, not fight," Atol grunted, the sixteen-year-old boy speaking in fluent Latin, a language that Ivory was still learning to speak. He was carrying the small girl, making sure she wasn't going to be attacked by the cage fighter.

"Oh." Cynthia said, "She doesn't speak like us?"

"No, she does, but only a little bit," Atol grunted, before switching to English, "what do you want to play Ivy?"

"Tag!" Ivory smiled before she frowned and managed to say the word in Latin so Cynthia could understand. "Do you… know tag?"

"Tag?" Cynthia stumbled over the English word, struggling to communicate with what little English she knew, "Yes, I… uh, know tag." She vaguely knew the game, one of her competitors a few years ago had said they were going to play tag and started chasing her around the arena, so she guessed the game was a catch and chase game.

"Cool!" Ivory smiled and Atol put her down, "let's play!"

"Okay," Cynthia said and Atol unlocked her cage, the six-year-old girl carefully stepped out into the grassy indoor field inside of where her cage had been moved for the day. She squinted, her blue eyes had to adjust to the strong sunlight. "Who… start?"

"I do!" Ivory tapped Atol's leg and ran off, "tag!"

Cynthia watched the teenager chase after his surrogate daughter for a few moments before she smiled for the first time in four years and ran after them.

:) :) :) :) :) :)

Brad gaped as Sklyar finished breaking the lock on the door and pushed it open to reveal a horrible arena that has been obviously abandoned for at least a week. "Oh, my StarClan." He breathed, slowly walking into the arena, it was quite in the shadowed arena, unearthly silent. "Skylar look…" he whispered and pointed at the rows of dirty cages with blanket covered forms inside.

"They're…" Skylar, green eyes gleamed with horror and surprise, "dead? All of them?"

"This was a cage fighting arena," Brad breathed looking around at the many cages and the open skylights, the only source of light in the entire area. "A kids, cage fighting arena."

"Are there any survivors?" Skylar wondered, walking deeper into the dark and dreary place.

"I'm not seeing any," Brad raised his voice, "anyone in here?" He got a response right away.

A cage near a skylight rattled as someone or something threw them self at the bars, speaking in a snarled form of fluent Latin.

Brad and Skylar jumped, both of them took a few steps back at the sudden sound. "There's one left, come on, let's see if we can save her." He cautiously approached the rattling cage and the source of the sound. "Hey, we aren't going to hurt you-"

The girl inside snarled more Latin, a low animalistic growl accompanied the strange words. The girl moved into the sunlight of the skylight and Brad froze, the amount of violence and ferocity in the girl's eyes scared him, she wasn't at all like them, she was wild, dangerous, and probably deadly. She was wearing dirt and blood covered clothes, her face, hands, and bare feet gleamed with blood, and her black hair was splattered with the sticky liquid. Her left hand and wrist were tangled in barbed wire, fresh blood trickling down her arm from the injury.

"What is she saying?" Skylar asked Sarah over their comlink.

"She's saying to stay back and if you get any closer she will throw something at you," Sarah replied.

"Skylar give me that sedation bomb, we're going to need to sedate her to get her out of here," Brad said, and when he got the sedation bomb he activated it and threw it into the girls cage, a moment later the girl stopped growling and looked drowsily at them, her knees buckled and she dropped to her knees, her left arm being held up by the barbed wire around her hand.

:)

Leah blinked in shock at the six-year-old slung over Brad's shoulder as the two reemerged and went over to the escape vehicle, Brad's arm was currently broken. "What happened to your arm, Brad?"

"She struggled against the sedative," Brad replied as he placed the girl in the farthest back seat of the car, her arms were already bound and so were her ankles, "that's why we had to restrain her."

"How? She's six!"

"I don't know, all I know is that she is very strong."

"And in need of a meal, a bath, and something to drink," Skylar said, looking back at the girl who was lying unconscious in the back seat.

:)

Cynthia looked at Leah in sleepy confusion, she was still lightly sedated, the sedation enough to keep the violence in her subdued and to make her rather drowsy, not enough to put her to sleep. "Huh?" she asked in Latin, the language fluent, obviously she had an oversized vocabulary for someone her age. The sedation she was getting was from a breathing tube through her nose, giving her an airborne sedation and clean oxygen, something she hadn't had for a really long time judging by how fast and shallow her breaths were.

"Can you speak English?" Leah asked gently, in she was sitting on the floor in front of the small child, brown eyes warm and gentle. Cynthia had been brought in a few hours ago and it had taken a bit to get her cleaned up, find something she could stomach, and get her an IV for her dehydration and other issues.

"yes," Cynthia replied in English, the word a little mangled and pronounced slightly wrong with her thick accent, "I can speak English." She said, using the words Leah said to help her communicate with the English speaker.

"Do you remember your parents?" Leah asked, enunciating every word with care and watching the girl who was rather sleepy and tired.

"I don't know," Cynthia replied in a sleepy tone with a yawn that she abruptly stopped by snapping her mouth shut and wincing slightly as she bit her lip.

"Here, do you recognize the people in the picture?" Leah asked, putting a picture in a picture frame on the floor.

Cynthia studied the picture of the small picture, she picked up the picture and sharply put it back down on the floor a moment later, she tucked her hands beneath her as her blue eyes flashed with fear at her accidental cracking of the wood and the glass of the picture frame, "Sorry," she stumbled over the word, struggling to speak the strange language, "I remember." she managed to say a moment later.

Leah pressed her comlink, activating the device, "Sarah, Bracken, you may want to come see who Brad and Skylar found, she's waiting for you."

:) :) :) :)

"Cynthia!" Sarah gasped and stared at the six-year-old who was standing with Leah on the other side of the floor to ceiling window, "Bracken, it's Cynthia!" she pressed her hands to the window, her amber eyes fixated on her third daughter who had jumped and nearly fallen backward at Sarah's movements.

Cynthia stared at her mother from her position half crouched and sleepily rubbing one eye, her violent blue eyes rather drowsy from the light sedation she was still under and would be under for the next week while she adjusted to having normal people around her.

Bracken looped one arm around his wife's waist, his yellowish eyes were also locked on his young daughter who had been missing for the longest time, "it really is Cynthia!" He smiled.

Leah smiled at the two parents and she looked down at Cynthia, saying something that made the girl stand back up and look at her parents with wide eyes. Leah then nodded to Cylia who opened the door to the room with a warning. "Don't most too quickly, it may scare and startle her, you remember what I told you about her cage fighting?"

Sarah nodded, her eyes still on her daughter, happy and relieved tears pooling in her amber eyes.

Cylia then pulled open the door and Leah met them close to the doorway, Cynthia standing next to her.

:) :) :) :) :)

Cynthia's blue eyes watched Sarah and Bracken with something close to an impassive manner, which was odd to see on a eight-year-old girl. Cynthia wasn't happy here, she didn't like it. Everyone had been sure that Cynthia would recover from her cage fighting 'childhood' but honestly she really hadn't. The violence that made the girl's skin itch had never left her, and often times her temper had flared and she had violent outbursts where she was helpless to control the violence that she had learned to embrace since she was young. Cynthia's siblings were being taken to somewhere that her parents called "The Thunder Base," which meant Cynthia was going to be all on her own and by herself while her parents were taking them. Of course, she was supposed to be sleeping by the time they left, but with the chemicals in her body and the way she had grown up to her current age, her sleep patterns were terrible and often times she stayed up an entire night or thirty-six hours straight. _My family's leaving me._

:(

 _ **A/N Lazzzzzziiiineeesss I got lazy and this thing has been sitting here for months, so sorry about not writing about her time on the streets or with Leon, but I'm running out of inspiration for this thing :P**_

(Fifteen )

Leon could tell how dizzy and dazed his partner was feeling through the link at the current moment, not that he minded, sometimes it was fun when Cynthia was rather dizzy and not paying attention to the people around them. It meant he didn't have to be private with how their relationship was, an exciting mix of field partners, best friends, and slightly awkward romance, Cynthia was responsible for the awkwardness Leon had decided after he had kissed her for the first time.

Cynthia was the one who drew back first, she broke the kiss to breathe, but she stayed very close to Leon, probably hoping to continue once she could breathe properly. Her sapphire blue eyes were cracked a quarter of the way open, currently too relaxed to be her usual hypervigilant self.

Leon cracked an immature and cheeky grin while Cynthia remained inches away from him, intending to lean forward once she caught her breath. She was feeling rather dizzy and dazed from the kiss, "You've got chocolate on your breath," Leon grinned at the distinct smell of one of his partner's favorite things and Cynthia blushed, her face flushing a bright pink as she opened her blue eyes, embarrassment glittering in the violent blue pools.

"Shut up," Cynthia mumbled and leaned back slightly away from him, her arms still looped around Leon's neck. The fifteen-year-old's face was bright pink, enhancing the freckles scattered along her cheekbones and nose.

"Hmm…" Leon said sounding thoughtful as he pulled her closer by the waist and brushed her nose with his own, "I don't feel like it though."

Cynthia half closed her eyes and didn't say anything, still feeling rather dizzy from the previous kiss. Instead of replying, she leaned closer, her breath hitching just a hair.

Leon, of course, just had to ruin the opportunity by continuing his earlier cheekiness and embarrassing his partner some more. After giving her a very short kiss on the lips he spoke with a highly cheeky voice, "Aren't you feeling brave today?"

Cynthia fully opened her eyes in confusion and leaned back once more, "what'd you mean?"

Leon's amber eyes glinted with amusement and slight mischief as he spoke, loosening his hold on her waist so she could run off if she wanted to. "Didn't you say no kissing in the hallways?" He then pecked her lips and grinned as Cynthia hesitated for a few seconds, shook off the dizziness muddling her quick-witted brain, blushed harder so her face was a little red, and quickly removed her arms from around his neck.

Cynthia then promptly kicked him in the shins before she slipped out of his grip and stalked off, now thoroughly embarrassed by Leon's cheeky words about the kiss and his earlier comment.

Leon laughed and watched her leave, "I didn't say I didn't like it, Cyndy!" He laughed as he bent over and rubbed where she had kicked him, amber eyes glowing with laughter, "you're a really good kisser Cyn, I swear!"

Cynthia blushed even harder and moved slightly faster with her face a brilliant shade of magenta and her head ducked as she tried to avoid people's amused looks, confused stares, or laughter-filled glances at the black haired warrior.

Leon chuckled and straightened up before stretching his arms above his head and stepping away from the wall behind him, amber eyes rather smug, amused, and triumphant. He then noticed Ben looking at him funny and rolled his eyes, "what?" He asked the older teen, "never seen anyone kissing?"

Ben didn't say anything and just shook his head in slight amusement and disbelief as Leon started casually strolling down the hallway, lightly humming a tune under his breath.

 _Fireworks,_ Leon thought briefly to his partner through their link, _lots of fireworks between us, right Cyn?_

 _I hate you._ Cynthia responded to his open thoughts, the mental words were accompanied with a jab of annoyance at his subconscious.

Leon chuckled slightly, _I love you too Cyn._

 _Not talking to you anymore._

Leon could feel Cynthia's embarrassment flooding her subconscious and his grin widened slightly. _I'm sorry I embarrassed you,_ he said and nudged her subconscious lovingly, _I didn't mean to embarrass you that badly._

 _Yes, you did!_ Cynthia shot back, apparently forgetting her resolve to not talk to him, _you totally meant to!_

 _You're right, I did,_ Leon relented, _but only because you're extremely adorable when you're all blushing and flustered._

 _You're so mean to me!_ Cynthia huffed after a few moments of mental silence.

 _But I love you,_ Leon responded, _and I'm just teasing. I like kissing out in the hallways anyway._

 _Yeah, I noticed._ Cynthia grumbled irritably, _seeing how you keep doing it to me and I get all flustered cause we're breaking the rules, Leon!_

 _Guilty as charged,_ Leon's grin widened as he neared their flat room.

:) :) :) :)

Cynthia's eyes widened and she blinked at the ring that Leon was offering her, a lopsided smile on his slightly nervous face. She didn't really know what to say with him giving her the ring, what was she supposed to do with it?

Sensing her confusion through their link, Leon spoke, his voice rather squeaky from nerves, "it's," he cleared his throat and tried again. "It's a promise ring, we're way too young to get married, but I want you to know that I'm with you forever and every step of the way." He mumbled the end, his voice lowering in volume as his confidence withered away.

Cynthia looked at the ring some more before she narrowed her blue eyes slightly, half teasing her partner and half worried, "so… it won't do anything to me?"

Leon looked startled, "of course not, it's just a ring."

Cynthia scrutinized the ring, still not touching the silver band, a playful spark in her blue eyes that masked her worry and confusion. "Are you sure?"

"Can you just accept the ring already?" Leon groaned in exasperation and partially hung his head, his right arm still outstretched with the promise ring on his palm. "This is embarrassing!" he whined, "and the broken rubble on the ground hurts my knees!"

"Alright! Jeez," Cynthia muttered with a roll of her eyes before she grasped her partner's free hand and pulled him to his feet and awkwardly stood in front of him. Not quite sure which hand the ring was supposed to go on and eventually deciding to just let him figure it out for her.

Leon stumbled a little but he grasped his partner's left wrist and slid the promise ring onto her left ring finger, his amber eyes highly relieved. "That took you ages!" He complained with the maturity of a sixteen-year-old boy once Cynthia had retracted her arm from him and he slouched forward with his arms hanging down in front of him.

Cynthia breathed a heavy breath from her nose and turned away from him, mumbling partially under her breath. "Well excuse me, you immature boy who's tempting me to rethink accepting the ring." She started walking toward the rest of 'their team' silently studying the ring, not that Leon could see what she was doing with how her arms were folded huffily over her chest.

Leon blanched and stared at her back for a few moments before racing back over to his partner, "I didn't mean that! Please don't do that, that thing cost a small fortune!" He kept blabbering, his amber eyes wide as he pleaded with Cynthia to not reconsider her decision. "I'll let you have your chemical stuff out! I'll give you back your blanket! And your silver knuckles!" He blabbered, "and, and I won't complain when you jump on me to wake me up, or when you scare me! I won't tease you in regards to kissing," both of their faces went pink that that particular blabber, "and I'll be really nice-" Leon cut himself off as Cynthia started chuckling, clearly amused by his blabbering.

"Alright alright, I'll keep it," Cynthia chuckled with a small shake of her head, "I wasn't really going to give it back anyway."

Leon breathed a sigh of relief and tugged his partner close to him before gently kissing her temple, his action full of relief. "Thank StarClan."

Cynthia giggled and closed her left eye as he immaturely blew a rasberry on her left cheek.

:) :) :)

Cynthia's head lolled to one side as the medical team transferred her from the van to the base. It was a miracle Jay and Bree had managed to get her to be even semi conscious with how bad Cynthia's injuries were. People stared as the mobile stretcher was raced down the hallway, Jay running alongside it, Bree on the other side, and Holly herself running behind it with Leon at her heels.

"What happened?!"

"Oh, my Starclan!"

"Is she dead?!"

"What're we going to do without her?!"

"Poor Leon…"

Leon shook off the other people's words and ran faster so he could grasp Cynthia's hand as they ran along the hallway, "you'll be okay Cyn, you're going to be okay!" He told himself, unable to think about what he would do if he lost his partner.

:(

"Is she ever going to wake up?" Paige asked Jay softly from where she was standing near Cynthia's bed in the medical wing. It had been almost a week and a half since what had been dubbed the Shattered Incident, and Cynthia had been unconscious for practically the whole time.

"She woke up for a breif moment when it was just her and Leon a few days ago," Holly said softly, "but even then, she really only opened her eyes and turned her head toward him. Right Leon?"

Leon was sitting next to Cynthia's bed in a visiting chair that everyone joked about it being his chair. He had one of Cynthia's hands clasped in both of his, he was leaning on his elbows, and every once in a while he would brush his lips over her knuckles, as if it would help wake her up. "Yeah." he said quietly, his voice raspy from dissuse. He had hardly spoken this week, too worried about his partner to socialize. "She moved yesterday, she kissed my hair." he said quietly, "I had my head on her bed cause I was debating about napping and she moved."

Leon pressed Cynthia's hand against his cheek, wishing he could bring more life back into his partner.

"Well if she's moving then she has a high chance of waking up soon." Jay told them all, "as long as her body doesn't refuse the new technology when we perform the surgery to input the technology anyway." He grunted. His voice was laced with light exhaustion, him and Bree had been working on Cynthia nonstop since the moment she had been brought in, whither they were building a new interior for the female warrior's leg, keeping her safe from infection and sickness, and over all doing their best to make sure she wouldn't have any brain damage from the moments where she hadn't been breathing.

"When is that getting inputted anyway?" Haliah asked from where she was sitting in another visiting chair. "I mean, when's the surgery?"

Bree rubbed her exhausted amber eyes, she had been going between her workshop and the medical bay since Cynthia had been brought in, working as hard as possible to make an interior for Cynthia's mauled leg, reinforced metal plating for her fractured sternum -both from Sam's torture and Jay's attempt of CPR to keep her alive which was already in her body- and a small chip in her neck that would monitor her leg's health. "I'm finished with the technology needed for her leg, so that should be soon, however, we can't perform that surgery until we install the chip and the metal reinforcements around her sternum settle properly. Plus I have to do some small tests on the metal vertebrae in her neck to make sure nothing else is broken."

"So…" Paige asked, her hazel eyes hopeful.

"We're looking at a few days for the chip, and two weeks max for her leg surgery." Bree responded. "Sorry, I can't do anything faster."

Sudenly Leon straightened up, "did you see that?" He breathed, his amber eyes were fixed on his partner's face, like he had seen something.

"What?" Holly turned her attention on her brother, "what happened Leon?"

"She wrinkled her nose," Leon responded swiftly, his amber eyes still locked on her face, "I saw her squeeze her eyes farther shut and wrinkle her nose."

"That means she's in pain." Jay grunted, "Leah! Get a morphine drip for Cynthia, she's half conscious and in pain."

Leah did as he asked, quickly fetching a drip for Jay and giving it to him to set up.

Holly on the other hand rolled closer to the bed, turned on her Holowatch so it displayed Cynthia's heartrate, blood pressure, and the level of pain her nerves were sending around. "Leon's right, she's partially aware. In a lot of pain, but she is partially aware."

Leon squeezed Cynthia's hand a little tighter, "Cyn?" He asked softly, "can you hear me?"

Cynthia didn't react, she didn't even twitch. But her awareness levels rose a hair.

"Talk to her Leon," Bree urged him, "if we're lucky your voice will help wake her completely."

Cynthia groaned, "what did I do to have an elaphant squashing my leg?" The words were mumbled and half slurred, but everyone understood them.

Leon smiled a wide grin, "you're awake!"

"Eh," Cynthia mumbled as her blue eyes flickered open, "I'm not feeling that great." She mumbled as Leon adjusted the bed's setting so she was sitting up.

Paige rushed over, "Cindy! You had us terrified!"

Haliah joined her sister, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Cynthia seemed to be getting paler as the seconds rolled by, from stress or something lying under the surface they didn't know.

"Cindy?" Paige asked tentatively as she took a step back.

Haliah followed Paige's example as she noticed the woozy look on her younger sister's face. "Jay, what's-"

"Cyn, you okay?" Leon asked, his amber eyes concerned and worried.

Then Cynthia's blue eyes rolled back and closed, her head dropped so her chin was touching her chest, and her body went mostly limp, something was wrong.

"Cyn!"

"What's happening?!" Paige asked, her voice full of panic and worry as she noticed the blood bubbling at her sister's lips and the coughing Cynthia was starting to do.

"Cynthia!"

Then Cynthia abuprtly vomited up blood, staining her blankets, Leon's clothes, and some of the floor a crimson red.

"What the heck?!" Haliah yelped as Leon jumped to his feet, his shirt now stained with blood that Cynthia had thrown up.

"Uh, Jay…" Holly trailed off.

Jay cursed again, "Move out of the way Leon!" he barked as she vomited again, coughing as blood splattered the blankets.

"But-"

" No buts Leon! Bree, hand me a bowl, she may keep vomiting." Jay's voice was beginning to hold traces of stress and worry.

Leon did as he asked, he released Cynthia's hand and stepped back, his front stained with the blood Cynthia had thrown up.

"What's happening?!" Haliah asked, her voice full of panic and worry as she noticed the blood beginning to trickle down Cynthia's chin and the way the half conscious warrior seemed to be trying not to vomit.

Jay swore, "just shut up already! Everyone shut up!" He roared and glared furiously at them through his visor, "I can't focus with you guys all chattering in my ears!"

Everyone fell silent, watching in worry as Cynthia couldn't hold it in and vomited more blood, this time in a bowl, and Jay tried to calm down.

Bree then spoke, "Leah, get a new room set up for Cindy while Jay and I fix and find out what's going on." Her voice was calm and collected, as if she sensed that Jay needed her right now. With her medical training -something she had done as a co position alongside her sniper and technology- she knew exactly what she was doing. And she had dealt with Cynthia before, which definitely helped. "Amber, get us two sets of gloves, an oxygen mask, blood bag of Leon's blood, an IV with a measured sedative, new clothes for Cindy, a medication to make her vomit, a blood anylzer, and a vitals cuff. We need that stuff fast." She snatched the crutches from one wall and heaved her body so she was upright and level with Cynthia. "Jay, I think her body's rejecting the earlier blood transfusion, who gave her the previous one?"

"I don't know." Jay grunted irratably, "but clearly it's not the right one if she's throwing up the blood."

"I'll analyze it when Amber gets back," Bree said briskly as Cynthia dry heaved. Her eyes were still closed and she seemed to still be mostly unconscious. "You check her pulse, breathing, and sternum, I'll get the correct blood type she needs and check her leg."

Jay nodded and pulled a stethoscope from around his neck and put it against Cynthia's chest, listening for any creaking or cracking of her fractured sternum.

Bree's Holowatch opened up as she quickly scanned over Cynthia's leg using a special setting in her Holowatch. She examined the results while the others fidgeted and waited worriedly for them to tell them what was going on.

Holly then spoke, "Jay, Breanna," she spoke, using their full first names as a way of ordering them to tell her what was going on, "what exactly is going on here."

"Cynthia has a chemical compound in her body as you all know, but you don't know that she has extra blood vessels that give access to her stomach as a way to filter out her blood in large quantities in a short time," Bree responded quickly to her subdivision leader. "It's for whenever her blood is low of the compound or for some odd reason doesn't have it in its cells."

"Whenever Cynthia gets a blood transfusion," Jay spoke, his tone now gruff, "we give her a transfusion of her partner's blood because his is nearly identical to hers and his has a dormant version of the chemical compounds found inside her blood due to their link and his super strength power."

"So whenever someone forgets that and gives her a different transfusion of someone else's blood," Bree continued off of what Jay had said even as she finished up her tests with Cynthia's heavily braced leg, "all of the new blood literally gets dumped into her stomach because it's rejected so she then throws up all of it, meaning she needs a new transfusion and her brain freaks out because she's vomiting up blood."

"So she's not in danger from vomiting up the blood?" Holly asked for clarification that her friend wasn't going to die from vomiting up that much blood.

Bree shook her head as she took the items she had requested from Amber who had just come by. "No, Cynthia's not going to die from vomiting up that much blood, we just need to give her the correct transfusion to stop her from continuously throwing up. That's when it get's dangerous." She said as she used the crutches to get over to the head of the bed and set up both the IV and the blood bag.

"She'll be fine." Jay grunted as he gave something to Cynthia and she vomited one last time, apparently ridding her stomach from the last of the blood that was in there. "All of you go back to the flat, we'll let you know when we're finished."

* * *

 _ **And on that bloody note tada! Here's Cynthia's past form Fighting For Love And Hope! :P**_

 _ **Oh! Those of you who haven't noticed the updated intro (First chapter) will you look at it and let me know what you think? :D**_

* * *

 ** _Blame The Rain... And Seriah_**

Songfic

Singing Talent World

Listen to: "Blame the Rain" by He is We (Sung by Holly) for the basis and mood for the piece.

Finli's returned from his exchange student program and Holly's beyond excited since she and Finli are going on a double date with Cynthia and Leon! But every plan falls flat on its face once she finds out that Finli brought one of his childhood friends, named Seriah, back with him. Holly feels neglected and pushed away, so she struggles with the situation even as it get worse when Seriah claims she's Finli's girlfriend and ends up driving a temporary wedge between Leon and Cynthia.


	126. Drabbles (Apocalyptic, Her Own Bubble)

_Apocalyptic_

 _ **(Scene 1)**_

Leon's jaw dropped and the blonde stared for a few moments at the woman his age who had hit an infected harder than he had ever thought possible for someone her size. The woman had casually picked up a discarded pipe from the ground and swung it into an infected's skull a few moments earlier with a truckload of force despite her thin and particularly slim size, and Leon had never seen anything like it before.

The woman brushed her blood splattered black bangs from her face and looked at him, blue eyes sharp and piercing like a knife, as if she was analyzing him from head to toe. "Chemist here, Lesa _**[leader]**_ do you copy?" She continued a moment later, "I found him alright, bordering Shady Shores' boundaries. Seems to be unscathed, but Tinker and Cloud are going to have to take a look at him to make sure he isn't infected and if he is they're going to have to give him some Zirusa while I recover the rest of my stock of the cure." She stood there for a few seconds, completely unfazed by the rather bloodstained pipe she was holding in one hand and Leon's gawking gaze.

What were the chances that out of all the people to be rescued by in the world it just had to be a very beautiful woman, Leon really was cursed. He even knew this particular woman, or at least he used to. She was nicknamed 'The Chemist' by those stuck in the Ruxburgian Zone, known as one of the only noninfected scientists in the entire zone and worked alongside a survivor group on occasion otherwise she took things into her own hands. But Leon had known her before the outbreak, Cynthia Lawson, the woman whose mind was hardwired for chemicals and science with an immunity to almost every illness in the world created by herself. Not only that but he had known her as a good friend for a year and a half until he had completely screwed over their friendship and the scientist had disappeared off of the surface of the earth until he had heard about the convention going on about a group of scientists banding together and collaborating. It was rumored that the outbreak had started there before the scientists had been quarantined for sixteen days while the infection spread everywhere. Cynthia and two other scientists had been the only scientists to escape the scene alive, and they all had vanished until rumors of the nicknamed "Chemist, Inventor, and doctor" starting spreading like wildfire throughout the quarantined city zone.

"Affirmative, I'll bring him back to the Treehouse," Cynthia spoke into the earpiece she had in one ear, her blue eyes trailing around her surroundings and briefly looking Leon up and down in a slightly lazy fashion.

Oh, and did he mention that the scientist in front of him had a decent reputation of not getting along well with others? It was rare for her to work alongside anyone for longer than a few days at a time. _I'm glad she's alive,_ Leon quietly admitted to himself, _but I wish anyone else could've rescued me, I never wanted to meet her again in this kind of situation. Especially since Isa's sick and I need the Lightning's help in finding her._

"Come on," Cynthia gestured to Leon and dropped the pipe back onto the ground, "we're heading to the Treehouse, I have other work to do."

Another rumored codename, Leon had heard that 'the Treehouse' was really just the Lightning's base, located in an older building with thirteen floors half above ground half below ground, and had the only domed roof in a sixty-mile radius. Leon nodded and pushed himself to his feet, intending to follow her.

 _ **:)**_

 _ **(Scene 2)**_

"I have to," Cynthia murmured as she looked at the infected and partially turned Isa in the isolation unit, "she's important to one of our own."

Bree looked at her, her amber eyes tired, "Leonardo right?" The brunette then lightly shook her head in disbelief when Cynthia nodded slowly, "I can not believe you'd do this just for him. The guy literally cheated on you at one point and flat out screwed up your friendship with him." Bree sighed and looked at her, "you're going to risk your life just to force the cure into the woman Leon cheated on you with years ago Cynthia. What happens if you don't make it out of there? Then how are we going to produce the cure?"

Cynthia lightly touched Bree's shoulder, "you will," she responded with a shrug, "you've seen my research, you can do it if I don't make it out of that isolation tank alive. Just promise me that if I do turn you'll make sure Leon's not watching when either you or Jay finish me off okay?"

Bree sighed heavily, "I promise," the scientist sighed, "I'll make sure I'll end it for you if you do turn."

Cynthia's lips quirked into a slight smile, "you always have been the smart one out of you, Jay, and I."

 _:O_

Cynthia took a deep breath and picked up the device that would give Isa the cure before inserting the small vial that contained the cure in a concentrated form that would turn Isa back and expel the infection. Stripping off her jacket, shoes, and weapons the black haired scientist tucked a few other spare vials into her back pocket before stepping into the glass secondary area of the isolation area and nodded to Bree, giving a thumbs up to release Isa. Cynthia was taking a deadly risk, if she couldn't give Isa the cure and antidote fast enough Isa could easily attack her and kill her, leaving the rest of the survivor group without the tools to continue making the cure.

Leon watched nervously, his amber eyes fixed on both of the women in the isolation areas. He had no idea what was going to happen and could only hope for the best.  
Bree hesitantly pressed the button and the thick door retracted into the ceiling, leaving Cynthia vulnerable to Isa attacking her.  
And hardly a moment later the back of Cynthia's head smashed into the glass behind her hard enough that the scientist seemed to black out as Isa tackled her snarling in the typical infected fashion.

Leon's eyes widened, "no! Get her out of there!" He said and nobody moved, unable to help Cynthia without potentially killing them both and definitely Isa. Leon's amber eyes were fixated on Cynthia and Isa in a horrified fashion, staring as Cynthia slumped to the floor before regaining consciousness as Isa pounced on her. "StarClan no! I didn't want her to get hurt!" He said in a thick tone as Cynthia contorted, with a partial infected tearing into the side of her neck there was no way Cynthia was going to escape the experience unscathed. Cynthia was going to die trying to help him get Isa back. "Cynthia!" The blonde wailed as part of their view of the isolation area was obscured by a large amount of blood being splattered against the glass, "Cynthia!"

Bree and Jay remained motionless, both of them staring at the isolation area both like they were hoping for a miracle and they were both about to puke and were sick to their stomachs.

Leon was shaking, his amber eyes round with shock and horror, and Holly was standing next to him, her expression unreadable as per usual. "Isa killed her…" The blonde breathed in a thick voice, "Oh StarClan, Isa killed Cynthia…"

Then they saw something, Isa, perfectly normal, stumbled back into their view and collapsed passing out on the spot. There wasn't any sign of Cynthia though, Cynthia hadn't gotten up.

Leon wanted to cry, his selfish words had made Cynthia do this, she had gotten herself killed because of his stupid request and his idiocy of blowing up at her about how she should've saved Isa when she could have before Isa had turned…

Then Cynthia came into view near the exit of the isolation area as she stumbled over there, her shirt was drenched with her own blood and blood bubbled at her lips along with a blueish foam. She had the injector pressed against her wrist, the needle under the skin of her right wrist, and she seemed to have managed to inject herself with something or other. Cynthia's glassy blue eyes focused blurrily on Leon and she spoke two slurred words, "she's cured," before her eyes slid shut and the scientist fell. She attempted to keep herself upright by putting out her arms to catch herself, but it didn't work and the scientist's arms crumpled, sending her to the floor drenched in her own blood with traces of blue and pink foam on her shirt and lips.

Leon dropped everything and ran toward the isolation area, practically unable to hear anything with his tunnel focus as he slammed one hand on the release button and ran into the isolation area before he knelt down hard on the floor and tested for Cynthia's pulse and found one. He wanted to cry in relief, Cynthia was alive, Great StarClan she was alive. Blood was still spreading around Cynthia's neck though, tinted a pinkish color with green strands, traces of infected saliva mixing with her blood. But before his eyes, the green strands faded and vanished and the pinkish hue to the blood faded as well. The bleeding slowed dramatically, and Leon watched as blood stopped bubbling at Cynthia's lips and the blue foam disappeared. Leon gently lifted Cynthia up and held her to his body, holding the blood-soaked scientist close to him and rambling things into her blood sticky black hair while she remained unconscious and out cold.

:( :) :(

"Cynthia's clever," Jay admitted with a light shake of the head as he took his stethoscope and rested it around his neck, "she's going to be on the weaker side for a week while her neck heals properly and she recovers from losing that much blood. Her breathing stopped briefly earlier but I think it's from how much blood she had lost before the chemical mixture she had given herself kicked in," he told Leon, Bree, and Holly. "Quite frankly Cynthia's supposed to be dead. She lost easily a liter of blood."

"Then how is she alive?" Leon asked, "I'm not unhappy she survived but if she lost that much blood how did she make it?"

"Cynthia has some kind of advanced healing chemical slurry, it's experimental," Bree explained, "but it's supposed to increase the speed that blood cells are made so that no matter how long someone is bleeding and they have in their system they won't bleed out. It also creates oxygen and forces it into the lungs, forcing whoever had taken it to breathe and keep them alive. It hasn't been tested on by anyone but Cynthia, but I'm sure she knew something like this was going to happen and needed something to protect herself."

"That explains the massive amounts of blood in the isolation area."

* * *

 _ **I was bored last night and have just watched a gameplay of "Dying Light" so I made this :P It's short but it's a drabble and these are particularly easy to write!**_

 _ **I think I'm going to make another story that contains random drabbles from these worlds, it's gonna be called Warriors Human Short Stories Drabbles I think and I'm going to start uploading random daily drabbles, whatever I come up with involving all of the worlds featured here and more, there. I feel bad for not having a chapter uploaded per day because I want to have that, but I'm struggling with that with how my chapters are averaging 11 pages now and it's really difficult to find enough uninterrupted time for me to write a chapter start to finish without staying up till five in the morning. Not to mention I'm working on a book for my Senior Project (a story with a similar plot line to Flashes vs the Dark Blades) and the end of the school year is coming up. I'm sorry about the delay between chapters but I do think I'm going to make that drabble one, that will be fun and easier than writing these :D Not that I don't enjoy these cause I do, they just take a while :P**_

* * *

 **Drabble #2**

 _Stuck In Her Own Bubble_

 _People told Brittany her sister was crazy, it wasn't a hidden fact that most of the adults and kids around the neighborhood believed her sister was clinically insane and anti-people. But Brittany didn't think so, she thought her twin sister was perfect the way she was. Even though Bree rarely spoke a word to anyone, besides her two pets, often times acted like she didn't register other people around her, preferred to goof off in more childish ways than ways a typical teenager would, and hated sharing and working with other people, Brittany still believed in her. Sometimes she wondered if she was the only one who did, their mother babied Bree like she was fragile, their brother didn't know how to treat her, and their father tried to understand how to help her. But at the same time she knew she wasn't the only one, Cynthia and Holly, two of Bree's close friends, cared deeply about Brittany's goofy sister and she knew it. However, that didn't make beginning high school at a different school any easier. Especially when they all found out about how Bree was going to have another student practically shadowing her._

:)

"Brittany, we're here," Ben roughly shook his sister, amber eyes shining with excitement. Ben would have no issues settling into the new boarding school, which in of itself was a change of scenery for the group of siblings. "Come on you two, we've only got an hour till that assembly thing and I want to meet up with Tyler and Leon."

Brittany had to restrain from rolling her eyes at her brother's chatter, Tyler was a terrible influence on her brother, a chatterbox, loud mouth, and a guy with a relatively dirty mind. "We get it Ben, why don't you get your duffel out of the way of my feet," she lightly kicked the bag at her feet, "and we'll meet you in the dorm?"

Ben stuck his tongue out, scooped up his bag, and darted off, leaving his two sisters alone and allowing Brittany to relax.

Brittany turned toward her sister, taking a good look to help evaluate her mood before actually talking to her.

Bree was sitting in the back seat with her legs crossed and idly staring out one of the windows, her amber eyes unfocused as if lost in her own thoughts, which was a normal occurrence for her actually. Blissie, Bree's service chocolate lab was lying on the seat next to her with her head resting on Bree's leg, and Bree's cat Lion was curled up on the other seat, Bree's fingers gently stroking his thick golden tabby fur. Bree herself was wearing knee-length denim shorts, white tennis shoes, a pullover hoodie with a large sun on the front pockets over a light orange t-shirt, and she had Blissie's leash draped around her neck. She was leaning back in her seat, one hand stroking Lion's thick fur while she had the other tucked behind her neck so that she was leaning her head back against her arm, spaced out and thinking about something or other.

After debating about it for a moment Brittany addressed the dog instead of Bree, telling the dog what Bree needed to do so as not to disturb her sister's thought process. "Blissie, we gotta get going so that Skylar," she smiled kindly at her friends' mom who had driven them here, "can get going."

Blissie nodded, understanding Brittany's words from a device Bree had built that allowed her to understand long conversations of human speech. She nudged Bree's arm, reigning in the brunette's long gone thoughts just enough to make sure she was acknowledging the world around her.

Bree glanced over at the dog, then at her sister, and then Skylar before she actually moved and got up, standing up and pointing for Blissie to exit before her.

Blissie refused and Bree waited for a second before she got out of the car and stretched, lifting her arms above her head and walking forward, letting Blissie's leash slip from around her shoulders and neck to drop onto the ground.


	127. Drabbles 4

_**I kinda broke my ankle April 27th, and my computer hit me in the head in the car crash and broke so I had to get a new one :( And so I've been in a wheelchair since then with a healing broken ankle, a torn ligament in the other foot that still hasn't healed, bruising on that foot from top to bottom in one spot, and other misc bruising that's still healing :P Not to mention I had a concussion and my brain's been struggling to write at all :( But I hope this long chapter of random drabbles makes up for it! :D I don't know how much more I'll be writing and uploading though, but I'm going in for a surgery on my torn ligament foot on June 6th so I'll be nauseous and unable to write for a bit after that too -_- Plus I'm working on my to be published book as much as possible lately when I can write, so I'm also busy with that :D**_

* * *

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _I'm glad you get so involved in the story, it means my writing has improved! :D I'm working on the Boring Office Work Sequel, but it may be another year till it's done :P It's called Lost Lilies, A Tale of Cinders Bursting Into Flames (or at least for now :P)  
_ _Ps: There's no such thing as a late review! :D :P_

 _Yeah well, I got lazy and didn't want to write any more of it :P Seriah is a name that bounces back and forth :P She doesn't really have a set person :P_

 _ **~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~  
**_

 _I'm glad you liked it! I had been working on that chapter for a while :D_

 _Here is more! :D_

* * *

 _ **I'm pretty happy with all of these, tell me which one is you favorite though, I'm excited to hear which ones everyone liked the most! :D**_

* * *

 _ **Drabbles!**_

 _ **Holly And Bree's Love For Their Friend**_

 _ **(YouTube & Basketball, A Match Destined For Disaster, Or Is It? World)**_

 _Holly, Hadara - 26_

 _Jay - 27_

 _Bree - 25_

 _Cynthia, Leon - 25_

Holly's heart was twisted painfully as she went over to her friend who was quietly sitting at a table next to Hadara, a glass of water in front of her despite how Cynthia was already way out of it, her shoulders slumping in a way that was becoming familiar to Holly, her head was hanging slightly, her black hair was pulled into a messy ponytail no doubt by Hadara, and she wasn't speaking, instead staring down at the table in front of her and leaning sideways against Hadara to keep from falling over. Leon had really messed up this time. "Thank you Hadara," she thanked her friend once again, this was really happening way too often nowdays. "She slipped out under my nose once again," she slid into the bench around the table, sitting next to Cynthia and pulling one of her friend's arms around her shoulders. Cynthia had ended up here more often than Holly can count, sitting at the same table while her boyfriend was in Vylia with his basketball team, having flat-out insisted on going there and spending a few weeks of his own off time there instead of being home in Ruxburg with his cousins and girlfriend who's proposal he had turned down. Cynthia hadn't been back to her own place which was located in Vandala since he had left two weeks ago, having crashed at Holly or Bree's nearly every night and avoided Leon's apartment where she stayed while in Ruxburg like the plague.

"It's no problem," Hadara smiled gently at Holly before her smile turned sad, "I just wish it didn't happen this often."

Holly sighed and gave a weak smile back as she hauled her friend to her feet, Cynthia didn't complain, the YouTuber didn't bother to fight against Holly in her current status.

"I did get a few glasses of water with that stuff you gave me into her system," Hadara told her as she pulled Cynthia's other arm around her shoulders and helped Holly with her, "so she should be sober soon."  
Holly nodded and looked at her black haired friend who was barely pushing her feet across the floor, letting Holly and Hadara carry almost all of her weight. "Hey, you okay Cindy?" She asked her, hoping to get a coherent response.

Cynthia lifted her head slightly to look over at her, red-rimmed blue eyes welling with more tears like she just wanted to cry till Leon came back, if he ever did. "No," she mumbled in a half slur and in a rather rough and thick tone, "not okay."

Holly felt another sting in her heart at her best friend's current state, and it hurt even more when Cynthia pulled her arm from around Hadara's shoulders and rather sluggishly pointed at where her heart was and spoke.

"Here hurts," she slurred slightly and didn't resist Hadara taking her arm again, her blue eyes focused on her childhood friend.

Holly's heart squeezed and she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes, usually, Cynthia was so drunk she couldn't speak, but with that mix that Bre had made just for her Cynthia was sober enough to tell her exactly where and how much she was hurting. And it made Holly want to cry. "I know, I know it does Cindy."

Cynthia was quiet for a few more moments as Holly and Hadara pushed open the doors and the cool night air washed over the three of them, making the smallest of them, Holly, shiver slightly. She spoke when they were halfway to Holly's car, "Make it stop?" She asked it in a questioning tone like she thought Holly could fix this for her.

Holly swallowed thickly before she smiled at Cindy, "it will in a little bit Cia," she pulled out an old nickname, a nickname that she had made when they were young and innocent. "Maybe tomorrow we'll visit the Vandalan Sea?" The Vandalan Sea was a lake that matched the sea perfectly, and it was a lake located half in Ruxburg and half in Vandala, Cynthia and Holly's birth town.

Cynthia tilted her head slightly and hesitated before her face fell and she looked miserable, "No, don't like water."

Holly carefully pulled open the passenger seat door to her car after unlocking it with a chirp from her keys, "Okay, maybe we'll stay at Bree's house and you can beat me in a video game or two?"

"Bree sleeping," Cynthia slurred, her gentle heart coming out even more at the mention of her friend who was undoubtedly sleeping. Then the YouTuber looked at Holly, "I woke you?"

Holly lightly shook her head and smiled at her, feeling the lump in her throat growing, "Bree's working on a project I bet, and nope, I was reading a book. Do you want me to tell you about it?"

Cynthia nodded.

"Let me talk to Hadara really quick before we go." Holly and Hadara then carefully transferred Cynthia to the passenger seat of the car before she buckled her in and made sure it was tightened and Cynthia had a bucket at her feet before closing the door. "Thank you again," she smiled at her friend, "I'll handle the rest."

Hadara smiled back at her, both of their smiled tinged with sadness, "I'll come by tomorrow, which house?"

"Bree's," Holly told her, "my apartment's a mess and I'd rather not wake up Finli when he just got back from boot camp."

Hadara smiled at the mentioning of her cousin and gave Holly a comforting hug, "it'll turn out okay, even if Jay, Finli, Jackson, and Miles have to go hunt Leon down." She promised as she pulled back, "it's going to be okay."

Holly took a deep breath to calm herself and push away the emotions threatening to overwhelm her before she smiled at her friend, "I hope so, text Bree and Jay will you? I've got to tell Cynthia about my new book while I'm driving."

"Of course, I'll let them know," Hadara smiled and took a few steps toward the cafe, "I have to get back to work, I'll come by tomorrow afternoon and help try and find something fun for Cynthia to do."

Holly nodded and waved goodbye before jogging to the driverside door and pulling it open. She swiftly got in, buckled herself in, shut the door, and started up the car.

:( :( :( :(

Cynthia was almost asleep by the time they arrived at Bree and Jay's decently sized house, and Jay was sitting outside on the porch at the swing chair they had next to a glass coffee table.  
Holly shut off the car, unbuckled, and got out as Jay, her brother, poked his head into the house to tell Bree they had arrived. She then walked over to Cynthia's door and carefully pulled it open, making sure to support Cynthia and keep her from falling out of the car from her drowsy status.

"Bree's got the downstairs guest room ready," Jay told his sister in a gruff tone as he walked over and carefully lifted to tall woman onto his back and started toward the door in a decently steady gait. After carrying Cynthia for the past two weeks and getting back from boot camp due to him being a reservist before being called back when Bree had had the C-section done a month ago, the blue-eyed man was pretty strong and decently built now. He was still lanky, but he had filled out more, which had been Leon's favorite thing to tease him about.

"Great," Holly smiled and leaned up and ran one hand over her brother's still short hair, it wasn't buzzed on the sided and really short on the top anymore though, instead it was just really short and stuck up everywhere all the time. "Your hair is like spikes," She teased, trying to lighten the atmosphere and keep herself from brooding or crying from the stress and how badly she was feeling for her friend.

Jay seemed to sense that and responded to her teasing instead of saying nothing, "Bree likes it, she finds it hilarious."

"Oh, so your wife's opinion is more important than your sister's?" Holly teased as they reached the stairs toward the porch and front door.

Jay rolled his eyes, "I have to live with her, if she doesn't like it then I'm screwed. If you don't like it then I can keep it how it is just to annoy you."

Holly laughed, for the first time all night. "Wow Jay, and here we all thought you going off to boot camp had changed your attitude."

"It did, just not for you," Jay responded with a smirk as he made it up the stairs and pushed open the front door.

"That's for me only," Bree grinned, keeping up with their light-hearted teasing, "and that my friend is classified."

Holly's jaw actually dropped before she snorted in laughter, "how long have you been saving that for?"

Bree shrugged as Jay made his way toward the bedroom where Cynthia would be put for the night. "Since I joined the MNSTRA," she grinned cheekily. MSTA stood for Middren National Science and Technology Research Association, where Bree had recently started working, and where most of her projects there were indeed classified, and she openly loved it. "Jay, make sure she's sitting up," she told her husband as she started toward the kitchen, her mood going serious, "I'll bring over more of the sobering mix, it'll help with her hangover in the morning."

:( :( :( :(

Cynthia's blue eyes were drowsy as she looked at Holly and Bree as she spoke a few heart-wrenching words, "I feel like I'm dying," she mumbled to them in a half slur, Bree's mixture was clearly kicking in now. "He left me, said no."

Holly drew in a shuddery breath and both wanted to punch her cousin in the face and bawl, feeling incredibly worn out and heartbroken for her friend. Cynthia had been in a committed relationship with Leon for longer than a year and her doofus of a cousin had the nerve to blow up at her joking about getting married months ago and now he had actually run away from her when she had actually asked him, taking initiative and into her own hands and asking him to marry her instead of the other way around.

Bree took charge and sat down next to Cynthia on the bed, gently brushing her fingers through her hair like she would her own daughter. The amber-eyed brunette spoke softly to her, softly singing a familiar lullaby to all four of them, one that Skylar had sung to the pair of siblings and their friends as kids during sleepovers till they grew into teenagers. Even then, it was something all of them still remembered, and Jay and Bree were singing it to their daughter in the NICU when they were there. "Once in every lifetime, if you do believe… Man can move a mountain, change the course of history… How far, we've come.. Right here at home… Trust in the path you've chosen, become your destiny… It's in your heart, it's in your soul… Don't be scared, just believe… You know deep inside, that your time has come… Once in every lifetime, if you do believe… Man can move a mountain, change the course of history… How far, we've come.. Right here at home…"

 _ **:( :( :( :( :( :( :(**_

 _ **Meet Invis, World Renown Criminal… And Leon's Girlfriend**_

 _ **(Invisible In Plain Sight To Some, But Not All World)**_

 _Cynthia, Leon - 24_

 _Holly - 25_

For such a world renown thief Holly hadn't been expecting the thief and contract assassin to be wearing casual blue jeans, a tank-top, half sleeve denim jacket, and running shoes when she first met her in an interrogation room. Although since Leon was around for the meeting it shouldn't have surprised her. Her cousin had been in a relationship with one of the world's top thieves, and criminal basically, for over a year. Long enough that the blonde carried an engagement ring in his pocket, waiting for her to swipe it from him out of curiosity.

Cynthia, as Leon called her, was certainly incredibly hard to find, that was for sure. Granted she was more commonly known by her criminal name 'Invis' since she had a million fake names. However this particular thief was odd in many ways, she had a completely legal degree in chemical science and computer forensics, making her nearly impossible to find beyond her highly trained status and other skills; she didn't kill innocent people or law enforcement, instead she killed her target only and occasionally robbed power hungry rich guys blind before giving back everything except for the hard cash, part of their money in bank accounts and entertainment electronics; was very intelligent and patient, rumored to be able to sit in one spot for twenty-four hours before so much as twitching besides blinking; and had the most normal real appearance Holly had ever seen in her line of work.

Holly cleared her throat to get the thief's attention as she casually waltzed into the interrogation room in a completely relaxed manner, before she gestured to the chair across from her, "Please sit down."

As per usual the thief didn't completely listen to her and instead, she casually perched on one corner of the table, half facing Holly and half facing Leon.

"Leon, cuff her please," Holly sighed, feeling like she was already getting a headache from dealing with her for less than a minute. How in the world was she supposed to deal with her for the next week?

"She'll get out of the cuffs before you can blink Holly," Leon pointed out even as he walked over, pulling Cynthia's attention to him instead of Holly.

Cynthia held out her hands and rolled her eyes, "wow, congrats, you caught me," she snorted to Holly, "but aren't I supposed to be helping you with a different case? Your agency dropped my case _years_ ago."

Holly nodded and clasped her hands on the table as Leon carefully cuffed Cynthia's hands together, "yes, but we have some questions to confirm that you are indeed Invis and not an imposter since Leon's the only person who's actually seen you without disguises and doesn't have either their memory wiped or isn't breathing anymore."

Cynthia tilted her head slightly before she shrugged her thin shoulders, "alright, ask away." The thief seemed to be doing a remarkable job hiding her and Leon's relationship. It was widespread knowledge that Leon had been saved by Invis, but it was top secret that Leon was involved with her romantically.

Holly cleared her throat and opened the file in front of her before taking out a magnifying glass, "Fingerprints?"

Cynthia laughed and wiggled each of her fingers, "none, I don't technically have a fingerprint at all." She held out her arms so that Holly could bring the magnifying glass over one of her fingers, which Holly did and almost did a double take, what the thief said was true, her fingertips were completely smooth. "Lemon and pineapple juice with a few other chemicals and scraping up my fingers from an explosion or two," Cynthia explained with a snort.

Holly mentally gave herself a shake and lightly shook her head, "DNA?"

Cynthia snorted and leaned back in her chair, "when read by a DNA testing machine it changes every single time, doesn't match up to anything." She shrugged, "I have a chemical coursing through my blood that coats the cells in this fake DNA layer, which is scrambled every time I cut myself or start bleeding. Hence why a forensic scientist found multiple unexplained DNA types at the crime scene ten years ago."

Holly blinked, it looked like she was going to be surprised throughout this entire meeting. "Tongue?"

Cynthia flashed a bright smirk, "as blue and pink as usual," She opened her mouth and let them see her vividly blue-tinted tongue, which was a normal pink from the tip to about half way up, then was blue as if she had had blue kool-aid or a popsicle within the last five minutes. She shrugged at Holly's faintly shocked look, "chemical reaction to something I had been given as a kid, it stained half my tongue blue."

Holly blinked again and asked another question, "alright. Eyes?"

"They change color depending on the color of a special liquid I can drink," Cynthia snorted, "no contacts needed. However," She leaned casually on the table, "this is my natural eye color."

Holly raised an eyebrow, "Leon, bring over the liquid will you?"

Cynthia gave Leon a mock betrayed look despite the smile threatening to pull at her lips as he walked over and put down five tiny clear containers on the table. There was a clear one, pale blue, a deep green, a hazel one, and a chocolate brown one. "Pick a color," Cynthia drawled to Holly in a relaxed tone, "any one of the four colors in front of you."

Holly pushed the hazel container over in response.

Cynthia picked up the small container, took off the lid, tilted her head back and let a few drops of the liquid land on her tongue before pulling a face and shutting her eyes while screwing back on the lid of the container and putting it down. Moments later her eyes opened and she blinked a few times to readjust her vision before focusing on Holly, her eyes a soft and gentle shade of hazel, the perfect mix of green and brown.

Holly looked slightly unnerved and pushed the clear one toward Cynthia who repeated the earlier process and her eye color returned to normal.

* * *

 _ **New School, With Super Powers!**_

 _ **(Whispering Wisps of Power World)**_

Jay tugged on the collar of his collared polo shirt, a grimace fixed on his face, turning his expression rather irritated and annoyed. _I hate changing schools._ He grumbled to himself as he nearly fell over as a guy who was probably a year younger than him shot past at breakneck speed, literally. "Why did we let Leon convince us to go here again?" He grumpily asked his older sister. He then turned toward her and fixed his mostly blind, blue eyes on where he knew Holly stood due to the position of her mind and mental status. Which was overwhelmingly nervous and apprehensive. Jay let his mind expand and stay open to brush against other students' consciousnesses, it was his super ability, he was a **Mental Manipulator** , able to read minds, judge emotions, communicate mentally with other strong-willed people, move objects with his mind, and create what looks like holographic weapons and tools.

"I have no idea," Holly said, her tone nervous as she watched the other students interact and boast about their powers. "I really really don't, this place is strange." Holly was an **Intelectual Master** , she could visibly see calculations that she was mentally working on and interact with them; she could touch an object and know exactly what it was made from, what tools were used to make it, and anything that had touched it since it was made; she could also allow herself to visibly see a description of every object she's looking at if she chooses, and she will and never has lost a game where she's being competitive due to her calculation skills.

"What are you talking about?" Leon asked as he caught up to where his siblings were casually standing outside of the school building and threw his arms around his siblings' shoulders out of excitement. "This place is awesome! I mean it's a school specifically for people like us!" Leon was a **Physical Adaptor** , meaning he could adjust any part of his physical appearance to his liking, he could run fast, lift seven hundred pounds, smell anything up to a mile away, and had enough stamina to jog across the entire united states.

"People, who are brain dead from all of the times they hit their head you mean?" A voice said sarcastically from behind the three siblings, the person's voice was full of playful humor along with the sarcasm. The three Bramble kids spun around to see who had spoken, which turned out to be one of Holly and Leon's best friends, Cynthia Lawson. Cynthia was smirking from her earlier comment, but the smirk morphed into an excited grin as she took in the sight of her three close friends. Cynthia was a Physical Adapter like Leon,

Holly grinned before she threw her arms around the Cynthia. "Cindy! I didn't know you went here!" She smiled at her black haired friend.

Cynthia smiled and briefly hugged Holly back before she shrugged and tapped her left ear, "With my senses and speed there's no way I'd fit in a normal school Holly."

Something in Jay's mind clicked and he groaned, "that's why we're here."

Leon grinned at Jay and Holly, "yup." He pulled Cynthia to him by the waist and kissed her temple, "we're here because Cyn's here."

Cynthia rolled her eyes but smiled, "you three will love it here."

"I hope so." Holly sighed, and Jay just grunted.

 _Mental Manipulators_

 _(Bree and Jay)_

 **Mental Manipulators Culture**

 **:-: Girls are dominant to boys, if given an option between them, it is expected for the boy to put the girl first, unless they have a CMPL(See Special Terms Section)**

 **:-:**

 **Mental Manipulators Customs**

 **:-: To start a spar, the male (or younger participant) extends one arm with a closed fist like they're going to fistbump the opposing participant, the female (or older participant) then extend their opposing arm and grips the other participant directly below the elbow while looking their opponent in the eye. The other participant then follows suit. If the entire process goes well, the two participants locked arms should produce faint whisps of Mentasium (see below for description) of their respective mental energy color.**

 **:-: When two Mental Manipulators meet they do not make eye contact right away, for it can be seen as an attack on their consciousness. Instead they avoid looking each other in the eye until one gives the signal (a light shrug of the shoulders while looking directly at the other Mental Manipulator) that it's alright to look each other in the eye now and they trust that the other person isn't hostile. If there is a female then the female** **always** **gives the signal.**

 **Mental Manipulators special terms**

 **:-: Mentasium- Mentasim is the physical form of mental energy, it looks like a seamless hologram, partially transparent, bright colored, looks solid, and always gives of the specific color of the M.M who created it.**

 **:-: CMPL CMPL stands for Complete Mental and Physical Linkup. This is something that is similar to how Cynthia and Leon in Fighting For Love And Hope, they can communicate subconsciously with each other, they feel each other's emotions, moods, they share each other's hopes, goals, and dreams, and they understand each other's inner thoughts. Along with those features, they can share each other's physical abilities, like Bree can duplicate her vision and give Jay the ability to see.**

Jay felt another conscious brush against his and his head shot up to look around the hallway through his blurry and nearly useless vision, this consciousness was different, unusual even. Unlike most people who either didn't feel his consciousness brushing against theirs or didn't have an active energy that signaled another Mental Manipulator; this one had a very lively consciousness which could only mean one thing, there was another Mental Manipulator at this school.

The other Mental Manipulator retreated away from Jay and vanished. But Jay felt excitement spike through him, he had never met another Mental Manipulator before. He had been told that he could be one of the last ones, due to the special talents needed for a Mental Manipulator's active abilities. His ability required massive amounts of natural self-control, a nearly always clear mind, an incredible amount of intellect, and being strong-willed, which made it hard for the ability to surface when the super abilities surfaced when someone reached ten years old.

:)

Bree released a deep breath as she turned a corner of the hallway, excitement tingling in her feet as she limped _**(Yup, not paralyzed in this one)**_ toward her math class, _There's another mental manipulator around, I didn't think there was any left besides me and Brittany!_ A cheery smile spread across her lightly freckled face, _I'm not alone anymore!_

:)

Mr. Connor sighed, "Bree I'm sorry, but I don't think there's anyone compatible with your powers to spar with."

Bree shrugged, a bright smile on her face, clearly she wasn't fazed by the absence of mental abilities at the school. "That's okay! I don't mind! I've been the only Mental Manipulator for years!"

"Mental Manipulator?" Holly asked in a questioning voice, "Jay's a Mental Manipulator as well."

"Holly!" Jay hissed at his older sister, "I can speak up for myself!" He narrowed his blue eyes which were bright due to the fact that he could see with his powers active and waiting to be used.

"Really? Come over here Jay," Clark directed as he turned to face the mostly blind student. "What can you do exactly?"

Jay sighed and trudged over to the teacher, keeping his attention on Clark instead of Bree, a signal of respect, if he looked her in the eye it could easily be taken as an attack on her consciousness or a sign that he thought he was better than her. She would have to allow him to before he looked her in the eye. "Most of the everyday normal stuff for someone with my power. I can read minds, judge emotions, communicate mentally with other people, move objects, absorb physical light, sense distress from anywhere up to two miles away, teleport, and create Mentasium weapons and tools."

"Mentasium?"

"It's a mental energy converted into a physical form," Bree responded quickly as she studied Jay, safely avoiding his eyes as well, "it looks like a hologram essentially." Her voice was odd, it contained non of the cheer she was known for, rather she seemed calm, curious, and rather cautious. "Anything else?"

Jay glanced over at her before he fixed his gaze to the left of her head, focusing on the wall behind her, "no."

"Why aren't they looking each other in the eye?" Dove spoke aloud, her blue eyes were confused as she studied how the two Mental Manipulators completely avoided catching each other's eye.

"It's respectful," Bree responded and lightly shrugged her shoulders with her gaze directed at Jay. "When you have mental abilities and so does someone else, you never look them in the eye at first until they give permission. The easiest way to put someone like me out of commission and out cold for a few hours is via a mental attack, which has an easy path when you're looking them in the eye."

"And Bree's a girl," Jay added in a curt tone before he focused his blue eyes on her amber ones.

Bree smirked, "and I'm a girl. Well spotted."

Jay rolled his eyes and Holly giggled slightly while Leon grinned and chuckled under his breath.

Fin nudged Leon, "what does that have to do with anything?"

Leon smirked and nodded toward his brother, "Mental Manipulators hold girls in a higher standard than boys, if Jay had looked Bree in the eye without her permission she could've either slapped him, knocked him out, or given him a migraine the size of Godzilla. Just like how girl Physical Adaptors have to wait for a boy Physical Adaptor to start the conversation if a guy involved in the conversation."

Jay ignored Fin and half the class staring at him open-mouthed and instead focused on Bree. "What're your powers?"

Bree's amber eyes lit up with excitement, "I can communicate mentally with other people; move objects; create Mentasium weapons and tools; merge my consciousness with available technology; sense moods, emotions, and silent wants; and merge my mental abilities into my body."

Jay nodded, "cool powers."

Bree smiled, "yours are cool too, I wish I could teleport."

Jay shrugged casually, "meh, it's not something I can use a lot of."

* * *

 _ **Seers**_

 _ **(Seers, One Of Both Sides World)**_

Sometimes I dream, of people I've never seen, accidents that never should've happened, events gone wrong, or of situations I never should have experienced. I don't remember much of my childhood beyond small snippets and flashbacks, but I can be certain of one thing. I'm not supposed to be alive, I'm supposed to be dead. Of that I'm quite sure. The dark is where the monsters hide, demons and lost spirits tainted by Ziukas' touch, and the light is where I can have a sense of normalcy inside they abnormal situation. I'm a Seer of the Visionary class, a hibernating gene that came out in me for the first time in a century. I belong to a bloodline of researchers, scientists, and Seers whose abilities were long forgotten and were thought to have lost it's Seer's blood. I can tell you from experience that it hasn't. I've never asked if there are any other Seers, it's been a subject I've mostly forgotten about, but with the new transferring of facilities after my latest vision my curiosity is burning. Hello reader, my name is Hazel, and I am a girl who sees things no other person can ever see, and predict events that will happen in the future. This is my story.

 _:D_

 _Seers ~ Seers are humans with special abilities that usually pertain to their senses and or body with a few exceptions. There are seven classes and those are as follows._ _ **Visionary, Sonic, Aromatic, Connectional, Physique, Reckless, and Fighter.**_

 _ **Characters**_

 _Hazel ~ Visionary_

 _Fox ~ Reckless_

 _Cynthia ~ Sonic Connectional_

 _Leon ~ Physique_

 _Ivory ~ Fighter_

 _Braxton ~ Trainer_

 _Holly ~ researcher/scientist_

 _:P_

 _ **Visionary**_ _~ Visionary is the vision centered Seer Class, with visions and dreams of events, accidents, and people who they have never seen before. Visionary Seers are capable of predicting the future through futuristic visions and moments where they can sense that something life changing is about to happen. They can manipulate light into fake objects and can easily mess with what someone sees without it actually being there. They like all Seers can see, be possessed, and be attacked by Ziukas' Monsters._

 _ **Sonic**_ _~ Sonic is the sound and hearing centered Seer Class, with abnormally heightened hearing along with the ability to hear and translate for spirits and monsters among other things. Sonic Seers are able to adjust their hearing to expand in a searching radius of a hundred miles, and shrink to be deaf, they can hear whispers from the other side whenever they're near (within 6 yards of a spirit or monster, and they can also work as a connector between a normal person and a spirit, allowing a spirit to speak through them so they can actively hear them. They are the most susceptible to possession by monsters due to their large hearing span and it makes them vulnerable._

 _ **Aromatic**_ _~ Aromatic is the nose and scent center Seer Class, with the ability to literally sniff out monsters and spirits, and sense the position of other seers. Aromatic Seers are also keen to herbs and plants, able to tell by scent which plants can be used to heal and hurt and in what way._

 _ **Connectional**_ _~ Connectional is the only nonphysical related Seer Class besides Reckless, with it being rare in the first place. It's the bonding of a spirit (usually biologically related) to a normal person or seer of a different class. Connectional Seers have a spirit bonded with them, allowing them to periodically see the other side and find connections that only spirits can find. They can ask the bonded spirit to help and the spirit can move or destroy objects, relay memories from other people to the bonded seer, help judge someone's character, "possess" other people, and force them to tell the truth. Connectional Seers don't always get along with their bonded spirit and sometimes the spirit can try and abandon them, leaving them sick, bleeding from the nose, and constantly vulnerable to a monster's attack._

 _ **Physique**_ _~ Physique is not senses centered but rather physical traits in general centered, Seer Class with the ability to run forever and not get tired, not have to eat or drink for days at a time, and naturally have a fit build no matter what. Physique Seers are able to adjust how much their body needs to take in without suffering any consequences, they have nearly endless stamina, can lift almost anything, have thick nearly bulletproof skin, and have a near perfect self-image. They are incredibly confident and rarely speak badly about themselves. They are typically used as meat shields with how strong and resistant they are to injury._

 _ **Reckless**_ _~ Reckless is the other mental centered Seer Class with an "Act First, Ask Questions Later" mindset. Reckless Seers have mental abilities that allow them to protect others, they can create transparent shields, see patterns others don't sense, refrain from injury when acting recklessly, and immediately how someone's mind works._

 _ **Fighter**_ _~ Fighter is a rare, agility, flexibility, and being aware of oneself centered Seer Class with the ability to jump six feet into the air, instinctively fight in any fighting style, and never get injured when fighting. Fighter Seers are incredibly flexible and agile, seeming to be normal except weighing about thirty pounds despite the muscle and normal healthy appearance; they can use any object as a weapon; fight underwater and hold their breath for over half an hour; almost see a fight in slow motion and react accordingly; and fight twenty people at once without breaking a sweat. They are able to fight forever, fighting "recharges their batteries" and instead of losing energy they gain energy when fighting_

 _Translating_

Cynthia's blue eyes glazed and distanced, her eye color changing to icy blue, but she did speak, working as a way for the spirit to speak to the others. "I have been trapped here for many years," she said, her voice rather rough and raspy, "held her against my will and poked and prodded by the scientist's who's technology can somehow touch me."

Hazel looked sadly over at the wandering spirit who she could see was talking to her, opening its mouth and speaking with the words being heard through Cynthia's unique ability. "I understand," she said softly, "I've been a lab subject for many years myself."

:) :( :( :)

 _Lost Brother_

"Miles?" Cynthia's voice was weak and shaky as she looked wildly around the black monster goo covered walls, "Miles?!" The Sonic Connectional Seer was beginning to panic, she couldn't contact her bonded spirit, and the others could see how badly it was affecting her.

Hazel let her sword fall to the ground and out of her grasp, Cynthia lost her bonded brother? She narrowed her eyes, looking directly at Cynthia and focusing hard, trying to see if she could get a glimpse of the future and if Miles was there or not. Nothing happened, she couldn't get a glimpse due to how delicate the situation already was.

"Miles! Where are you?!" Cynthia stumbled to her feet, turning around and looking everywhere and listening carefully to try and find her brother's spirit. A moment later she put her hand to her nose, finding blood stain her fingers and begin to trickle down her already bloody face.

Hazel could only be helpless and watch as Leon managed to get to his feet with his bloodied up leg and limp over to Cynthia before he pulled his girl into his arms and let her cry and wail. _Miles is gone? Did the monsters kill him? I thought spirits couldn't die?_

"Miles!" Cynthia howled into the air before she shoved her face into Leon's shirt and kept wailing her brother's name, "Miles! Nooo!"

:( :( :( :(

 _Ivory, Thank You_

Hazel walked into the gym area of the facility and almost smiled, Ivory wouldn't pry, she wouldn't push her to talk about what was bothering her if she didn't want to tell her. Hazel set down her jacket and water bottle on a bench and watched Ivory, her gaze still slightly distant, still troubled by what she had seen in a vision after Fin's latest prank.

Ivory was standing in an instinctive boxing stance in front of a punching bag, her light blonde bangs partially sticking to her face and partially tucked behind one ear, wearing black and gray camo cargo shorts and a dark blue tank-top with her hands wrapped in leather strips half way down her lower arm. She had black earbuds in her ears, focused purely on the bag in front of her, something her Seer Class Made her do.

Hazel couldn't remember the last time she had seen Ivory actually sleep, and unlike Cynthia who had to get a shot of glucose to energize her every morning from her insomnia, Ivory just didn't seem to sleep. Although, as the brunette thought about it she supposed that it was because she could get more energy fighting and training than she could from a full night of sleep. Hazel watched Ivory throw a few sharp, accurate punches and found herself silently wishing she could fight that well, that would help her prevent Fin's stabbing, wouldn't it? Not only that but she hadn't seen Ivory be influenced by the monsters before, unlike each of the others including herself. Cynthia had locked herself in a freezer, the only way to kill her bonded spirit was to freeze both of them to death; Leon had snapped and nearly drank antifreeze, Fox had almost driven himself insane, and Hazel herself had nearly blinded herself. Ivory was practically the perfect Seer, and the oldest in the group.

"You seem to have something on your mind," Ivory's cool voice startled Hazel so bad that the brunette nearly collided with a nearby treadmill. The blonde had taken out her earbuds and hung them around her neck, now looking at Hazel with curiosity.

"Oh, yeah," Hazel admitted with a sigh and walked over to her before giving the punching bag a half-hearted punch, feeling the impact in her wrapped hand as she did so. "Doesn't everyone though? This place is falling apart, monsters are reigning free and the scientists can't contain them. I mean we already had to use Jay's special ability to save Holly and Braxton's lives."

"You mean binding them to a Seer Class?" Ivory asked, making sure she was following along as she kept the punching bag from swinging and staying out of Hazel's personal business, "We had to, Leon looked like he was going to start bawling like a baby when Cynthia told us Holly had been attacked and a monster had jammed a shard of glass into her chest. Not to mention that it gives them a fair fight, both of them have experience with Seers already, and they know how to act normal, so they can sneak us past security if need be to get out of here and locate the rift."

Hazel couldn't help but agree and slowly punched the punching bag a few more times, seeing the reason in the blonde's words. "How come you're so logical and calm?" She asked after a few moments, wishing she could be as unfazed by everything as Ivory was. "You're unfazed by all of this."

Ivory chuckled slightly, "I'm calm because I know that after enough training and practice we'll be able to kick Ziuka's sorry butt, close the rift, and learn to protect the humans and live our lives. I know we'll all be alright and that the relationships we make will be forever. That's why I'm so calm Hazel, I don't live with one foot in the future, I have both feet stuck firmly in the present and that's how I'm going to live for the rest of my fighting life." Her leaf green eyes turned a little soft, "have you ever thought that your glimpses of the future are what makes you so stressed and worried?"

Hazel blinked in surprise at the thought and mulled it over, thinking hard about it. She supposed that what Ivory said was true, she did get more stressed and worried about everything when she had a vision or a glimpse into the future. Maybe not when she saw glimpses of her friends happy and two of them being a couple or whatever, but she did worry a heck of a lot more after seeing something like she saw today.

"What did you see today?" Ivory asked in a gentle tone, "usually Braxton can't force you to train in here and yet here you are."  
Hazel hesitated, who wanted to hear about her ridiculous vision about Fin falling from the scaffolding at the unfinished relaxation center of the facility? It sounded like a scene from a horror movie and she didn't want to think about it.

Ivory seemed to since she didn't want to think about it, "how about we just train? I'll teach you some moves that you can use to help us all and defend yourself."

A grateful smile lit up Hazel's features and she nodded, the thoughts plaguing her about her vision vanishing at the idea of being able to defend herself better and protect her friends.

* * *

 _ **Heartfelt Confession, But Rejection Is The Only Thing In Store**_

 _ **(Cinderleaf Wilds World)**_

 _Holly -_

 _Cynthia, Leon -_

Holly stared at Cynthia as the wild pinned her against the wall, leaning over so that she was more Holly's height. "Cindy, what are you doing?" She asked in confusion staring at her as the wild lowered her head and gave a cat-like snuffle, the air from her nose tickling Holly's neck near her collarbone. "Okay," she said, emphasizing the first syllable, "I don't know what's wrong with you, but I've got things to do." Her face screwed up into an uncomfortable one as Cynthia stepped closer and one of her black cat ears brushed against Holly's ear and jaw, what was she supposed to do in this position?

Cynthia seemed to be deeply inhaling her scent, her arms placed next to both sides of Holly's head, her nose brushing against the paler girl's skin. Her muscles were relaxed, vastly different from the status she had seen her in earlier where she looked tenser than a boulder.

"Cyndy," Holly cautiously pushed her friend a little and used a nickname, trying to make her listen, "I have things to do and I don't have time to sit around…" Her voice fell flat when Cynthia, in response to her saying her nickname, lightly nipped at Holly's neck, a loud purr rumbling through the feline wild's body from head to toe.

" _Of course you do,"_ Cynthia purred and nuzzled Holly's neck like a cat, silently marking Holly using her own scent, it would turn away other wilds from getting too close and it would keep any of the males away from her, leaving the blue-eyed girl with nobody to compete against. " _You always have time for me,_ she rumbled softly, resting her forehead on Holly's shoulder.

Holly furrowed her eyebrows at the wild's absence of English, "er, what do you mean?"

" _You always have time for the people you love,"_ Cynthia purred, lowering her arms and looping them loosely around Holly's waist and tugging her to her in a gentle embrace. " _And I love you, so you have to have time for me,"_ Cynthia responded and lifted her head to look at her, blue eyes glittering softly in the dimmer dorm lights. Cynthia closed her eyes and purred, nudging her nose against Holly's, she looked like she wanted a kiss from her, like she was happy being this close to her, but she wanted a kiss. " _Right?"_

Holly's green eyes were huge as she stared at Cynthia with a slack jaw, what had her friend gotten into that drove her this insane?! "Cindy, what are you talking about and what in the wide world are you on?"

Cynthia's blue eyes opened and she looked confused, " _nothing, I'm not on anything, I just want a kiss from you,"_ she replied in a rumble laced with confusion, " _why'd you say that?"_

Holly gave her a weird look, "because you're acting like your crazy."

Cynthia frowned, " _I'm not crazy, I just want to get a kiss from the girl I'm in love with. Is that against the rules?"_

Holly blanched, "Cynthia, it's against social rules yeah! You're supposed to be with a guy!"

Cynthia looked hurt and took a step back releasing Holly's waist and letting her arms hang at her sides, " _What? Why? I don't like any of them! I like you!"_ She whined, hurt and confusion glinting in her blue eyes, " _I love you!"_ the wild exclaimed in a rumble, " _I want to be with you!"_

Holly shook her head, "Cyndy, you clearly don't know what you're saying-"

" _I love you!"_ Cynthia insisted, " _I love you Holly! I don't want a guy!"_

Holly pushed Cynthia back finally, although it made Cynthia stumble and nearly fall backward, "Cindy," she said stiffly, "I have things to do and I need to get to work on them."

Neither wild noticed Leon walking in and his expression immediately changed to worried and concerned.

Cynthia though wasn't leaving without getting what she wanted, the wild wanted a kiss from Holly really badly and she was going to get it. Hopefully. " _I just want a kiss!"_ Cynthia rumbled, her blue eyes a little more hurt, " _it'll only take a few seconds!"_

Holly slipped out of Cynthia's grip, "Cynthia no! I'm not kissing you, you need a guy, it's how the rules work. Plus you're clearly under the influence of something with how strange all of your actions are!"

Cynthia caught her wrist, her blue eyes now glinting faintly with tears, " _I don't like the rules!"_ she whimpered, " _I love you Holly-"_

"Cynthia stop it," Holly forced her to let go, "you're not in your right mind!"

Cynthia flinched like she had slapped her, " _I am! I know what I'm doing!"_

Holly narrowed her green eyes, "Cynthia I will not kiss you under any circumstances, you have a partner already and you need to end up with a guy." She pretended not to notice Cynthia's hurt expression at her sentence, "now I have things better to do than stand here and argue with you about how there is no way in StarClan I'm kissing you."

Cynthia's expression fell from the hurt expression to a kicked puppy expression and didn't say anything even as she stumbled back a few more steps, tears welled in her blue eyes and Holly continued, her next commented effectively ended their encounter.

"I don't feel the same way Cynthia, you're my friend and brother's partner, nothing more." Holly said stiffly, refusing to look at Cynthia's expression, fearing she would give her a look she wouldn't be able to handle. And when she glanced at her a few moments later when Cynthias didn't reply she had been right.

Cynthia was staring at her with an expression that broke her heart, Holly's words had clearly shaken the wild to her core. She looked like Holly had taken the wild's heart and soul and smashed it to shards, leaving her to fruitlessly pick up the pieces while cradling her bruised pride and wounded wild close to her shattered heart. Holly's throat closed up, Cynthia's expression told her that she had pulled the world out from under her feet and left her behind to find her way back while trying to find all of the shards of her now broken heart.

Cynthia blinked like she was refocusing and lifted one of her hands to touch her wet cheeks before she looked blankly at the wetness on her fingertips, not understanding why she was barely crying. She then looked back at Holly and spoke hoarsely, "b-but I love you," she stumbled over the English words, her wild brain was having issues communicating via non Wild's Language. "I love you Holly…" More tears welled in Cynthia's blue eyes, threatening to escape, "w-what did I do to d-deserve th-this?"

Holly couldn't speak, unable to say a word as she watched her friend fall apart in front of her.

Cynthia abruptly bared her teeth as her wild fought for control, wanting to hurt Holly for what she had just done to her, but Cynthia instead used her wild's anger to snarl at her, " _What Did I Do!"_ She roared in the wild's language, " _WHAT DID I DO WRONG!"_

Holly just stared at her, unable to find a reply to the falling apart wild.

Cynthia's entire body shook as she roared, expressing her hurt and anger in a dangerous mix, " _I DID NOTHING BUT LOVE YOU! AND STILL YOU REJECTED ME!"_

Holly watched as her brother swiftly ran over and yanked Cynthia back by the waist when she lunged forward, trying to push Holly against the wall to potentially scratch or punch her.

Cynthia struggled in Leon's grasp, roaring and raging like a wild animal, thrashing in his grip as he pulled her back and away from the person who had just smashed her heart. " _Let me go! She hurt me! She refused me again!"_ Cynthia's face was reddened, and Holly could see how badly she was crushed by Holly's words by the faint light blue swiftly pulsating vein in the right side of the wild's neck as she thrashed in Leon's grip, and strained all of her muscles in her attempts to get free and to roar her pain for the rest of the world to hear.

" _Cindy, calm down,"_ Leon grunted as he toppled over and promptly flattened her to the groundbyn accident before he pinned her arms and legs down, " _you have to calm down! We don't want anyone hurt!"_

" _Why?! She broke me!"_ Cynthia roared, struggling just as hard as before.

Leon's amber eyes softened as she struggled, noticing the tears threatening to escape her blue eyes and turn her into a blubbering mess from how badly Holly had hurt her. " _Sunshine,"_ he cooed softly to the roaring and thrashing wild, he gently brushed two of his fingers over one of her cheeks, " _just let it out, don't try and hide behind your anger, it'll only make you feel worse."_

Holly watched as Cynthia's leaned slightly into Leon's touch and stopped the roaring, her blue eyes now swimming with tears.

" _It's okay to cry,"_ Leon soothed, doing what he could to calm her down and get her to actually release her emotions instead of building up a wall around them. " _I'll be here to comfort you."_

Holly watched with a heavy heart as Cynthia took one look at Leon's face and burst into tears. She stopped struggling and simply flopped back against the floor as she started blubbering, sobbing heartbrokenly.

Leon pulled her gently into a sitting position and tucked her into his broad frame holding his partner to his body and listening to her bawl and blubber, unable to stop now.

Holly turned and started toward her room, the sound of Cynthia blubbering into her brother's chest ringing in her ears.

* * *

 _ **Finally, Our New Home**_

 _ **(Told in Hannah's view, but it's from Mothering Her Siblings World)**_

Hannah passed the main area and noticed imeaditely the black haired girl laying on a hastily placed recliner with it reclined fully and one arm thrown over her eyes with a blanket spread out over her. _Who's she?_ She wondered curiously and assumed it was one of the new residents of the new area of the multihouse, but she couldn't help but wonder who of the new group was going to the college and school parts in general. It was highly unlikely the girl on the recliner was, she looked rather sick, and her stomach was swelling a little oddly, abnormal for someone with her build and stature. Then a thought struck her and she couldn't help but smile, maybe there was a family moving in? She loved kids, they were amazing, and yet she hadn't seen any for a while, a little over a year since she had seen her younger brother. She was tempted to go over to the girl and ask her if she had brought a family with her, but the question was answered hardly a second later as the front door was pushed open.

"Miles, you and Sage take those to our area of the multihouse while I get your sister," A blonde man about nineteen close to twenty walked in through the door with a young boy asleep in one arm and a rather giddy looking five year old clinging to one of his pant legs. "I did set up the bed in one of the rooms so she should be able to sleep there without being woken up every time one of us bring things into here."

"On it," the fifteen year old boy behind him said, his arms loaded with a few boxes, "Sage has the blankets and pillows, do you want us to put those next to the bed so she can choose the one she wants?"

The blonde glanced at the apparently dozing girl on the recliner and furrowed his eyebrows in thought before his expression cleared and he shook his head, "no, she's woozy enough without having to try and find something, just put a few pillows on the bed and spread out the lion comforter."

"Okay, come on Sage, you too Lily!" Miles lead the way up the short set of stairs to the new group's section of the multihouse, leading a brunette and the five year old blonde behind him.

Meanwhile, the other blonde gently put down the sleeping toddler in his arms next to the girl dozing in the recliner who groaned in discomfort as the toddler nestled against her side and she lifted her arm to look blurrily at what was now touching her.

The blonde smiled the girl and gently brushed her bangs from her face, "feeling any better Sunshine?"

She made a grumpy noise at first before she actually spoke, her voice rather rough and tired. "Not really, I told you I didn't want to fly. You don't fly after three months unless you want to be sick and ill Leon."

Hannah smiled, her assumption had been correct, and she couldn't wait to introduce herself even more now.

"Hey, I didn't decide one how we were traveling, that was Firen." Leon defended himself, sitting in the arm of the recliner his companion was laying on with a soft smile.

"Your the one who didn't tell him I was pregnant," the girl mumbled, "I've been pregnant for five months Leon, it's not that hard to remember."

Leon laughed and leaned over, pressing a kiss to the girl's forehead before sitting back up, "well how about we get you to a darker and quite room so you can sleep without the sounds of everyone moving things in here from the truck."

The girl prevented him from sitting up completely and sluggishly pulled him down into a short kiss before she let him go and groaned grumpily, "the world spins enough by itself Leon…"

"Yes but I can get you some medication we were given for this and you can sleep the day away," Leon shrugged and smiled at her, the affection he held for the girl gleaming in his amber eyes.

Hannah's lips twitched into a bright smile and she watched for a few moments moments as the girl groaned and instead closed her eyes and let the toddler snuggle up to her. However, Leon prodded her a moment later and Hannah's smile widened.

"Come on Sweetheart, you're going to be woken up every few moments from the noises and then you're going to be cranky later."

"Ugh fine," The girl exclaimed, "but I'm not going anywhere otherwise unless you want me to puke on you, the world's spinning pretty bad for me."

Hannah watched as the girl tentatively and slowly sat up, pinching the bridge of her nose in the process. She noticed an opportunity to help when Leon pulled one of the girl's arms around his shoulders and the girl groaned, looking rather pale and slightly green. "Hey, want some help?" SHe asked kindly and quickly approached them, noticing the rather nauseous expression on the girl's face, "I can help you get her up the stairs faster so she can lie down."

Leon smiled gratefully at her, "sure, I'd welcome the help and I'm sure Cynthia won't mind."

"Yes, I totally won't mind a random stranger touching me," Cynthia snapped at him before she groaned, really looking like she was going to puke in a minute.

"Too bad I'm telling her to help," Leon told Cynthia firmly, "you honestly look like your going to vomit at any second and I don't want to spend my morning cleaning up the floor when I already have to empty the truck and set up your siblings' bedrooms."

Hannah carefully pulled Cynthia's other arm around her shoulders and she and Leon carefully started taking Cynthia toward the stairs, supporting almost all of her weight for her. "My name's Hannah, she introduced herself with a smile, "what about you two?"

Leon smiled in response, "Leonardo Bramble and Cynthia Lawson," he introduced them both.

"Ah," Hannah smiled, "I noticed the ring, you two married?"

Leon laughed, "Engaged, and Cynthia probably won't change her name anyway, she's too independant to change her last name."

Hannah chuckled at the idea, "I can tell she's pretty independant." She was startled when the toddler who had been on the armchair squeezed past her, went up a stair above them, and held onto Cynthia's leg, whining.

"Mama," He whined, shoving his head into her leg and grasping at her jeans, "I tired…"

Cynthia groaned and hung her head slightly, clearly fighting the dizzy spell she was still under and trying to not vomit on the hard wood stairs and speak at the same time.

Hannah's eyes widened, now she hadn't expected that, or more like she had but she was still pretty surprised. The toddler was easily three, and Cynthia was what, nineteen?

Leon looked over at Cynthia, waiting to see what she would do before he himself handled the toddler.

Cynthia forced her eyes open and looked blurrily at the toddler clinging to her leg, "I know baby," she spoke to the toddler in a rough but soothing tone, "but I can't carry you right now."

The toddler pushed his head further into Cynthia's pants and whined some more, threatening to cry. "Mama! I wan you cawy me!"

"I can't," Cynthia told the unhappy toddler, and pulled her arm from around Hannah's shoulders to brush her fingers over the toddler's hair in a clumsy but gentle fashion, "I'm sick Luke, I can't carry you right now."

"Cawy me!" The toddler exclaimed in a slight tantrum fashion, "cawy me mama!" He stomped one of his small feet and looked up at Cynthia with tears welling in his hazel eyes.

The toddler was definitely hers, Hannah reflected as Cynthia clearly tried to soothe Luke without actually carrying him at the current moment, the toddler had called her 'mama' three times, so clearly he thought she was his mother. Now if she really was or not, that was the question.

"I can't Luke, I can barely stand," Cynthia told him, her face was getting paler and greener by the second, "I need to get upstairs buddy."

Luke burst into tears and started bawling, "Cawy me mama! I wan seep!"

Cynthia didn't respond and instead closed her eyes, clearly trying to keep the dizziness away.

Leon took action, "Miles! Come get Luke and get his blanket while I get Cynthia upstairs and get her to take the meds so she can take him to her room!" He called up the stairs over Luke's bawling, "your sister's going to puke on the stairs if you don't hurry!"

Mile quickly appeared at the top of the stairs and rushed down to them before he crouched down and carefully unlatched Luke from Cynthia's leg and carried him up the stairs despite the toddler's bawling that increased in volume as he was taken away from Cynthia.

Who seemed to aburptly have an energy burst as she shot up the stairs like a rocket and toward the bathroom, almost slamming the door behind her.

Leon contined up the stairs with a soft sigh, feeling bad for Cynthia and for Luke at the current moment.

Hannah followed, and couldn't help but ask after a few moments of silence, "Luke?" She asked, implying the question without possibly offending Leon.

Leon shook his head, "Luke's Cynthia's youngest brother, but she's raised him since he was a baby so he calls her mama, Cia and I don't have any kids."

"What about the baby?" She asked, unable to help herself and very curious.

Leon's eyes narrowed for half a second before they relaxed and Hannah was hesitant to hear his answer. "Not mine, and before you ask, no she didn't cheat on me either. Cynthia's had a rough past six months."

Hannah nodded, "sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," she apologized sincerely, "I was just curious, I mean you all seem like a young family, with three siblings, a toddler, and a baby on the way."

Leon laughed, his spirits brought back up by Hannah's comment, "I've been told that more times than I can count." He reached the top of the stairs and went left, toward where Cynthia was standing, leaning against a wall, fighting the dizzy spell with Miles standing next to her with the still bawling Luke in his arms.

Cynthia eventually reopened her eyes and turned to Miles, straightening up and offering her arms to him. Miles gave her Luke and the adult cuddled Luke to her body, softly hushing the toddler and brushing her fingers through his soft blonde hair.

Luke soon quieted, much to Hannah's amazement, and she watched as Cynthia fought through the dizziness and slowly made her way to the room designated as her own with Leon behind her making sure she didn't fall.


	128. Ready As I'll Ever Be (Songfic)

_**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _I'm okay for the most part :P Currently bored out of my mind, wheelchair-bound, and isolated from the nondigital world but decently well :D_

 _Really? I'm Glad! :D The powers one is pretty old actually, and the thief one is actually a story version of a rp I did with my boyfriend :D_

 _Hmm... Maybe I'll write more drabbles and include one that's Cinderleaf wilds where Holly doesn't reject her :D_

 _ **~Featherflight123~**_

 _I'm hoping the surgery goes well, I already have nerve damage in one shoulder due to a screwed up surgery -_- I'm not torn up about it :P I'm not annoyed by the forced isolation my mom is putting me through -_-_

 _Thanks! The powers one seems to be the fan favorite so far :P I enjoy that world and playing with Jay and Bree's relationship mainly :P The Seers concept is a whole different ballpark, it's brand spanking new and has about a million kinks I need to work out in it :P_

 _ **~HollystormDragoness~**_

 _Yeah, I'm okay :D Currently bored out of my mind and isolated at home 24/7 :P I try my best to keep writing (this is the last chapter I have finished right now XD) this, but my to be published book does take priority :D_

 _Thanks! :D I really enjoyed writing and reading the last one, it has a really complicated story behind it and I enjoy writing Cynthia being so motherly :D_

* * *

 ** _So I made sure I had two chapters to upload before I uploaded again, although I have a new focus for the next chapter, I'm trying to write Boring Office Work's sequel, I have an outline half finished and really high hopes for it :D Although I really need to finish uploading all of these chapters onto Wattpad, one of my friends have been bugging me about it XD Anyway, here's a chapter and I have a few spoilers for different chapters down at the bottom of this short chapter :P Oh! I forgot to mention that this story is sort of a prologue and introduction to the world which is pretty complex and has magic! :D_**

* * *

 _Ready as I'll ever be_

 _(Songfic, introduction to Swords and Arrows World)_

 ** _Song: "Ready As I'll Ever Be" Tangled's tv show (I watched a Warriors MAP with the song to get the lyrics :P)_**

 _Braxton, Holly, Jay - 21_

 _Ivory - 19_

 _Bree - 22_

 _Cynthia, Leon - 20_

"Believe me, I know I've sunk pretty low," Braxton's dark amber eyes gleamed in the dark, putting up a malignant front as he stalked down the hallway of the dark palace, his black bladed sword glinting deadly in the dark of night through the small amount of windows in the palace. His black tunic and pants blended in well, the black metal of the Dark Sword Armor casted an eery look onto the Bloody Guard's appearance. "But whatever I've done you deserved!" He hissed as he passed his father hurrying toward the main room where no doubt Braxton's mother was.

"I'm the bad guy, that's fine, it's no fault of mine," Braxton growled as he flicked his wrist and the guards sitting around waiting all stood up and began to follow him, causing a solid marching sound to be heard through the palace. "And some justice at last will be served! Now it's time to step up, Or it's time to back down And there's only one answer for me." Throwing open the main palace doors the furious Blood Guard stormed out of the palace with a bang, his amber eyes raking piercingly over the palace grounds. "And I'll stand up and fight, cause I know that I'm right!" He walked down the palace steps and toward the black horse standing fenced to a fence post and munching on some of the red grass. "And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready!" He untied the horse's reigns and swung himself up onto the black stallion. "Ready as I'll ever be!" With those last words he urged the horse into a run and without waiting for the rest of his team set off toward the Thundering Cliffs, his target.

:O :O

"Now it's time to rise up," Ivory's leaf green eyes glinted with a loyal ferocity as she carefully helped Diana pull Cynthia into a standing position, the latter's tunic was splattered and soaked with her own blood from the thin dagger now lying on the forest floor.

Diana shifted Cynthia's weight and looked worriedly at her sister worried that she was going to do something stupid. "Ivory don't-"

"Or it's time to stand down," Ivory told her as she put Cynthia's arm back down to her side instead of being around Ivory's shoulders. "And the answer is easy!" Her pale silver blade glinted in its sheath, taking after its name Eternal Loyalty by the way it was beginning to glow and pulsate, signaling Ivory's emotions were being subconsciously put into the sword to strength it's already unbelievable speed and strength. Ivory moved toward her horse, a white and gray speckled mare wearing silver armor and nervously cantering around the clearing. "And I swear by the sword, if you're in get on board!" She calmed the skittish horse with a light touch to its muzzle before she swung up onto the mare's back and pulled out her sword, the glowing silver shifting from it's cloaking of a typical sword to a more complex slightly curved blade and jeweled pommel. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready!" Leon confirmed, swinging up onto his own horse, his amber eyes gleaming with anger and a dangerous ferocity. The Windy Hollows had tried to assassinate Cynthia, there was nothing in the world that could stop the furious blonde from getting his own form of revenge.

The other Lightning Guards spoke up as well, "we're ready!"

Ivory's green eyes were piercing and fiercely loyal as her blade vanished from her hands and reappeared in its sheath, which was glowing and emitting a massive amount of light in the moonlit sky.

:( :O

"Are you quite sure we can do this?" Jay muttered to Bree as they took their places hidden in the rocks bordering the clearing.

"Together we will guaranteed," Bree murmured in response, pulling back on her complex compound bow with three titanium tipped arrows notched in the string.

:O

"I'll make them hear me!" Braxton growled as he approached the border, slowing his horse at the bright silver light flooding the clearing. He pulled out his own sword, the inky black blade and handle losing it's cloaking and changing to it's more reaper scythe style, causing shadows to engulf light within a ten-foot radius of him, making it close to impossible to easily see him and his stallion.

"Now it's time to redeem or it's time to resolve," Ivory's green eyes narrowed as the shadows from Braxton's sword engulfed some of the light given off by her own silver sword, knowing exactly who that was. The one who had betrayed her. "Prove they can trust me… I'll save my home and family!"

"Now the line's in the sand and our moment's at hand!" The other warriors behind her responded to her words, waiting her orders to attack.

"And I'm ready!" Leon growled, amber eyes glowing in the moonlight and from the light of Ivory's sword.

A slight smirk spread across Ivory's pale skinned features, "I'm ready!"

Bree readied her bow, aiming for the three people on horses behind him, and Jay gripped his dagger's blade tightly. "I'm ready…"

* * *

 _ **Spoilers**_

 _(This Spoiler Is For a story I hope to publish, this isn't an actual snippet of the actual story because I don't want to release it till it's finished)_

Ciliana wanted to gag. She couldn't describe how disgusting Lionel and Hailey kissing was, if she tried it would be like watering down Kool-Aid to the point that it's clear again. Not to mention it made her stomach clench and a metaphorical knife to be jammed into her heart and twisted painfully. The knife may be metaphorical, but the pain sure as heck wasn't. She was jealous, yes she could admit that, but at the same time, she had adjusted to the idea of Lionel being hers and only hers. After almost six months of dating the blonde, it made her sick thinking about the possibility of him being with someone else instead of her. Yet here she was, leaning almost too casually against the white car, silently watching the man she loved happily kissing back the woman Ciliana had risked her life to save and rescue. Add on that Hailey was his Ex. and it made the entire situation even worse.

Briley limped over to her, the blood coating the left leg of her jeans of which wasn't worrying for the scientist and genius. Ciliana could tell Briley knew exactly how she was feeling behind her unfazed mask, purely because Briley had been the one to comfort her when Lionel had found out about her real identity. "I'm beginning to think Lionel's nothing like his brother," the dark brunette sighed, her multicolored eyes focused on Lionel. Even Ciliana could feel the disappointment she was radiating. "The differences are disturbing."

Jayson gave a major roll of his eyes from where he was sitting in the driver's seat of the car. "Lionel is nothing like me. I show people respect and I respect other people's feelings. He does not. Clearly."

Ciliana couldn't help but agree with him, but then felt extremely guilty for agreeing to it. She knew exactly how caring Lionel could be, she had spent almost six months undercover and learning to love the blonde who's stormy blue eyes she could get lost in forever. "He can be considerate when he wants to be." She murmured in a flat tone, "and when people aren't lying to him."

"Well he's taking too long and we need to leave. Now." Hiaka's voice came in through the coms in the entire team's ears, "I don't care if you have to drag his sorry butt into the car, he's impeding the ending of a mission."

"Let him have his moment," Ciliana reluctantly said, understanding how much of a weight had just been removed from his shoulders, "even if it's the last thing I want to see."

"I'm sorry Ciliana," Hiaka's usually brisk voice was now a concerned sigh, "I know how much Lionel means to you."

Ciliana felt a lump grow in her throat, "I'm fine. I knew from the beginning that I was going to end up with a shattered heart." She paused for a second and took a deep breath before admitting the next part, "I just never expected him to be the one I dropped all of my walls to and now I'm paying the price. I may have saved Hailey's life but because I lied to him I don't get to be the one he's kissing. I probably never will be again." She could still vividly remember what Lionel's kiss felt like, it was something she probably wouldn't forget in her lifetime. He was different than others, despite the many guys she came in contact with in her line of work Lionel stood out. He was gentle, and above everything respectful. He was the only guy she had ever been involved with that respected her in every way, shape, and form, and she would always remember that.

"Hiaka, Hailey and Lionel will be stationed at my safe house, with three agents they won't be touched." Ivalyn's voice was as calm as usual, yet held a hint of sadness for Ciliana's situation.

"Make that four," Ciliana interjected despite how the pain in her heart made her want to take it back, "I'll assist in the protection detail. I will never forgive myself if he gets hurt or killed."

"Alright," Hiaka sighed, "how is everyone besides those two?"

Ciliana did a mental run through of herself to check for injuries and blinked before looking down at her abdomen, suddenly noticing the pain poking through her high adrenaline levels and her current numbed status. "Oh..." The assassin said weakly with widening sunset colored eyes, "I'm hit?" She blinked a few times while everyone, except the kissing and celebrating pair, turned to face her in complete shock.

"What do you mean?!" Hiaka's voice was shocked and worried, and Ciliana knew why. She hadn't been injured in an op in over a year, and even then it had been a minor stab wound.

"Oh my gosh," Briley's tone was hushed as she went over to Ciliana and examined the blood soaking her shirt. "Ciliana's been shot..."

Ciliana lifted her gloved hands, palms up and with a start that the black leather was stained with her own blood, beginning to feel numb and slightly woozy, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Hands shaking she carefully lifted up her shirt and looked at the thin, almost shirt thin, bulletproof vest she was wearing beneath, only to find that there was a small bullet sized hole in the fabric just above her belly button. "I forgot..." She said in a rather dizzy tone, "I got shot from point-blank range inside the compound, I thought the vest blocked it though."

"What in Heaven's name were you doing?!" Hiaka's voice was now borderline terrified, "how bad is it?!"

"We caught it in time, if we get her back to base and to 'The Capsule' within thirty minutes she'll be fine. Although I'm sure she'll pass out here in a few seconds judging by the ashy paleness of her face," Jayson told Hiaka firmly.

"I was protecting Hailey and had someone in a chokehold, but he shot me,"Ciliana said, feeling the world start spinning and her vision flicker. "Gonna... pass.. out... now..." She mumbled before her knees buckled and her world went black.

* * *

 _ **That's a hint to my new book, what do you guys think? :D The title's still a secret :P**_


	129. I Rejected Her And Look What Happened

_**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _I have matching shoes :P Two medical boots :P_

 _I enjoyed the map too, it was awesome! :D :D_

 _It's taking a million years to write XD I may actually have to write it all then split it in half and publish it as two books XD On top of that one I'm writing a Wilds Novella that's similar to the I Can't Reject Her, It'll kill her! With a slightly different plot and WAY different chacters :P That one's half done :D_

 ** _~Silver-Rose Writes~_**

 _Yeah, I have two books in line to publish, one a full out Romance Thriller novel, the other is a Romance novella :D The surgery went well, I should be walking on it within a month :D Don't worry about it!_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _I'm hoping it will be! :D I have a novella that will come out before it, and it's wilds :P_

 ** _~Briarfeather4fun~_**

 _Yup I'm okay! :D Ouch, what's the surgery for? Mine was to anchor two bones in my foot and fix a torn ligament :P_

 _Hmm... I haven't really decided if they are, but I think Jay's in there somewhere and I'm thinking that Bree helps them since she's probably a scientist :P_

 _I'm so glad your excited! I'm hoping you guys (my readers) will read it when it's out! :D Although it's not warriors based, it's technically based off of Flashes Vs The Dark Blades and has some really interesting plot twists and stuff :D_

 _Doveheart? Hmm... Okay! What about a story where Tigerheart (Tyler) is in charge of a small rebellion group and Dovewing (Diana) is saved by him and his group where she learns to love him and defends him against her sister Ivypool (Ivory), the leader of the main rebellion group? Ooh! What if Tyler has a bad past with Ivory like maybe back when he was a spy he was responsible for Breezepelt's (Braxton) paralysis and now Ivory's suspicious of him and doesn't want her sister to be involve with him even though he's changed since then? :D :D :D (I have way too much fun coming up with random chapter ideas XD)_

* * *

 _ **Hey guys! So I'm not allowed to upload any chapters after today's chapters, there's a media thingy that my parents are taking too far so I can't upload anything till next week -_- but I did get this chapter out, and while it's relatively short I really liked where it ended and I'm half finished with one of my two be published stories so hooray! :D Plus I've been going crazy with chapters for The Runner And The Loner, The Athlete And The Jock (I really enjoy that world! :D) and have uploaded three chapters within the past week XD But no more excuses! I strive to have a few chapters finished and ready to upload by monday, even if they're random drabbles again! XD**_

* * *

 _Exhausted Reassurances_

Exhausted, that was one of the words that described what Cynthia felt like all the time now. She felt physically exhausted and lethargic, hardly able to get up and do anything during the day. A week had passed just yet since Leon rejected her and Cynthia could hardly muster the energy to face anyone when even getting out of bed was a struggle. Mentally it was a different story, Cynthia felt like her mind, heart, and wild were all encased in ice, slowing down her mental processes to a crawl, making her heart ache beyond the regection, and her wild and heart felt like they were slowly dying in agony from an icy poison. But none of that mattered, today was Monday and she was expected to go back to school. Even though the female wild was still struggling to get over the rejection and could hardly stay awake for longer than a few hours.

"Cynthia, are you awake?"

Cynthia could heard her mother's voice from where she was curled up into the fetal position under all of the blankets on her bed and facing the rest of her room, but didn't want to open her eyes, preferring to stay in the warm safety of her blankets and try to build up enough energy to get past the regection that she likely never would get over. I don't want to wake up… Cynthia inwardly moaned and felt Cinder try to symbolically feebly attempt to shake the ice from around Cynthia's heart and Cinder's own self. _Don't make me…_

"Cynthia you have to go back to school, we've tried everything to make it easier for you."

That was true, Cynthia was going to be matching her friend Bree for a little while, wheelchair bound, unable to walk around the school with the amount of energy it would take. Her sisters and Holly were going to help her, pushing her around while she could hardly keep her eyes open and not flinch every few minutes from her mark stinging viciously. The mark was a constant reminder of what she had had for the breifest of moments, a partnership that she could never get back. The thought itself made Cynthia heart and lungs squeeze, causing her to wheeze and struggle to get any air in as the short and small amount of emotions from the memories hit her again full force and sent her reeling from things she would never have again.

 _Cynthia giggled, blue eyes twinkling brightly in the sunlight spilling into the room from the windows. "Okay Lio, I trust you," she purred and brushed her lips against the tip of his nose, "what's the new idea?"_

"...breaths, try to calm down Cynthia," Cynthia could feel her mother's hand on her back as she was pulled into a sitting position and had a hand gently rub up and down her back, Cynthia's head resting on her shoulder. "Deep breaths, focus on me Cynthia."

Cynthia's head lolled to one side, her cheek pressed against her mother's shoulder as her breathing steadied and calmed as she listened to her mother and she and Cinder worked together to shove away the memories plaguing them both.

"Do you want me to call Holly?" Paige's voice helped force Cynthia back into the present despite that she was talking to their mother, "doesn't she have training in stuff like this?"

"She has to get ready too Paige," Sarah pointed out, her amber eyes focused on her only wild daughter who was slumped against her with her cheek on Sarah's shoulder, eyes closed, and hands curled into loose fists. "Cynthia will be fine, right Cynthia?"

Cynthia wanted to burst into tears and cry like a child while telling her she couldn't do this when she felt like she was dying over and over again. However, she instead reassured her and lied, "yeah," Cynthia's voice was rough and weaker than she wanted it to be to be reassuring, but it hurt like no other to speak. Still, she weakly cleared her throat and spoke again, with a better reassuring tone, "I'll be fine." Her blue eyes cracked open to gaze blurrily at her older sister before she managed to give a small smile that made her cheeks sting and other muscles sting as well. "I swear." She slowly pushed herself away from her mother's hold, sitting up by herself. "I have to get changed," she rasped quietly a few moments later, "and shower, can I be left alone?'

Sarah looked worriedly at her daughter but kissed the top of her head before she got up and stepped away from her, gently and breifly brushing her fingers through her daughter's messy hair, "we're right downstairs if you need help."

:(

 ** _Why're you promising that?_** Cinder asked softly as Cynthia slowly made her way toward the upstairs bathroom, _**we're not going to be okay Cynthia.**_

 _I know_ , Cynthia quietly told her wild, _but they don't need to know that._

 _ **But we have to see him today Cynthia…**_

 _I know Cinder, believe me, I know,_ Cynthia sighed, feeling her heart clench and ache at the mentioning of having to see the wild that had rejected her and ruined her. _But they need me to go, it's hard for them to take care of me while taking care of Lily and Luke._

 _ **But we got rejected! We lost everything Cynthia!**_

 _I know_ , Cynthia inwardly whimpered to her wild, _I know we lost everything, I feel it in my body, my mind, and my heart. But I have to help my parents._

 _ **B-but Bracken didn't help us!**_

 _My father's not the aggressive type,_ Cynthia reasoned softly as she turned the door knob and quietly shuffled into the room, dropping what she was holding onto the counter before slowly sliding down the side of the counter next to the sink into a sitting position with her head in her knees, exhausted already. _He did what he could._

 ** _Cynthia I can't face Lion_ ,** Cinder whimpered, _**not after that.**_

 _I know,_ Cynthia said, a phrase that was becoming painfully familiar, _I don't want to face Leon either, I gave him everything too, I don't have anything left to give anyone just like you Cinder._

 _ **What else is there for us to give to someone else?**_

 _Nothing really. I have nothing else to give to anyone, I already gave up my mental space, my love, my privacy to my emotions and thoughts, my mind, my heart, everything. I am Leon's mate and always will be even after he rejected us._

 ** _What are we going to do?_ ** Cinder asked timidly, **_how are we supposed to go on?_**

 _We aren't,_ Cynthia replied softly, _we're dying Cinder…_

Cinder whimpered, _ **I don't want to die yet… I wanted to have a family-**_

 _-With Leon I know,_ Cynthia murmured, _me too Cinder, but it won't happen, not now. We can't have another mate, that's it, one chance only._

 ** _I know… But I still want it_**

 _Me too one day, but now that we've been rejected it can't happen. I… I already gave it to him, I can't take it back._

 _ **He's the first and only,** _ Cinder sighed quietly, _ **it's not fair…**_

Tears blurred Cynthia's vision and she squeezed her eyes shut, "You have no idea Cinder," she uttered quietly outloud, "you have no idea…"

:(

Leon watched the water droplets drip off of his chin and nose into the bathroom sink, the clear liquid pooling in the sink before sliding down the drain. It clung to his face, small droplets clinging to his skin without fail. His amber eyes were tired and particularly miserable, with his exhaustion visible by the semi visible bags beneath his eyes. He felt tired and worn out, rejecting Cynthia had taken a toll on him as well. Unlike for Cynthia, the effects on him would fade within the next week or two, but the blonde athlete still had an immense weight in his stomach, the guilt made him feel ill and occasionally nauseous. Like his wild felt sick for rejecting his first partner, something that would always linger in his mind, even if he one day got a new partner. The idea however, made his stomach churn. Cynthia was one of his best friends even outside of the whole partnership thing, she was an athlete just like him and could play rough without getting hurt. Not only that, but they had grown up together. They had been at each other's sides for thirteen years, defending each other and keeping each other out of trouble, accompanying each other through the things only fellow athletes would understand, and fulfilling an unspoken promise to protect each other's backs through everything. Yet Leon had broken that promise. The one moment in their lives when Cynthia had needed him without fail he had given into his father's demands and rejected her, effectively ruining the rest of her life.

A lump grew in Leon's throat as he stared unseeing at the mirror in front of him, his gaze spaced out as the blonde got lost in his thoughts. He had literally ruined Cynthia's future by rejecting her like that. His partner would never be able to have someone by her side for the rest of her life, trust another male wild like she had trusted him, and never have a family… The lump thickened and Leon struggled to swallow, his hands tightening into fists on the bathroom counter. Cynthia wanted a family so badly, he had seen exactly how strong her maternal instincts were time and time again and now… The soap dispenser on the counter tipped over when Leon slammed his fists down onto the counter, he had made it so that she couldn't ever have kids of her own.

Leon gazed flatly into the bathroom mirror, gazing at his reflection, a tired and frustrated fifteen-year-old boy with amber eyes so guilt ridden that they currently made him look much much older. "I did that to her," he said in a low and slightly croaky tone, "I ruined my friend's life."

 _Smash!_

Leon didn't even blink as pain erupted in his right hand and the mirrow in front of him shattered and cracked, too angry at his own actions to think straight. He hit the mirror again, the sharp glass slicing through the skin of his knuckles and fingers and making his hand sting and throb with pain. Yet he didn't care, he felt like no amount of pain he could experience would ever get even close to the pain Cynthia would suffer under forever in a way. The female wild couldn't develop a new partner, she would have to suffer through watching him get older and unable to forget the feelings she felt toward him. Cynthia's feelings would just get stronger while she had to sit there and watch as maybe one day he developed a new partnership and possibly repaired their friendship.

 _Crack!_

Another punch to the broken mirror, but with his other hand this time. He could vaguely feel Cynthia emotions through the partnership bond, which was currently unresponsive and was protecting Cynthia from him, sheltering her broken heart and wounded wild from him like a protective layer of ice. But in return for the protection it was forcing it's icy knives into her heart and wild. He could feel the rather numbed status from her that came from the ice along with the distress and agony that hadn't left her since he had rejected her, and it made him want to go back in time and challenge his father instead of complying to his wants.

 _Creak…_

The mirror was now nothing but glass shards smeared with crimson blood from Leon's cut up hands after the three punches. Leon blinked and noticed the tears blurring his vision for the first time since he had zoned out along with his brother's hand on his right shoulder, his sister's delicate fingers gently grasping his left wrist, and another girls' hands on his right wrist. He looked over at the other mirror where he could see his siblings and Bree standing next to him, his two older siblings and childhood friend, the three people who would never leave him and always tried to be there for him no matter what. The lump in his throat grew even thicker, at a moment like this he wished more than anything that Cynthia was there too, her arms curled around him from behind like she used to when he got upset or angry like he was now.  
"Leon," Holly's voice was soft and comforting, "it's alright," her green eyes glistened with a faint layer of tears of her own at how torn up her younger brother was at having to reject Cynthia. "We're right here, no matter what happens."

"She's in agony Holly," Leon responded in a croaky tone, his voice clogged with emotion, "I did that to her." His amber eyes glistened with rare tears and with a rare vulnerability.

"Your father made you," Bree spoke softly, her amber eyes gentle and empathic toward the blonde feline wild. "He made you reject her Leon, there wasn't anything else you could've done."

"I should've tried harder," Leon said brokenly, his words slightly slurring between the wilds language and normal English. "I should've refused…" He could stil vividly remember Cynthia's expression when she was half conscious after he had rejected her. She had given him a betrayed and heartbroken look. The look added ontop of the glistening tears in her eyes, and the agony and pain she had clearly been feeling, had been enough for him to return home and cry, yell, and howl while punching the punching bag in the basement till his knuckles were bloody and Holly had to quietly clean him up and comfort him that night.

"Then Brad would've flipped and ended up hurting both of you," Jay inputted, his voice rough from his own emotions getting to him at the entire situation. "If you had refused Brad would've hurt Cynthia to make you listen. Brad's wild is unstable at times like that Leon, he could've broken Cynthia's arm or worse to make you give in." At Leon's lack of response he continued after a few moments of silence, "Cynthia knows you didn't do it of your own free will, she still loves you."

Leon gave a heaving breath, fighting the urge to flat out cry now.

"Leon look at me," Holly spoke gently and waited till her younger brother looked at her before she spoke, "I will find a way to fix this, I won't sleep till I find a way to fix this okay?" Her green eyes softened some more at the vulnerability in her brother's eyes, "just trust me. Have I ever let you down in something this important?"

Leon breathed a shaky breath and shook his head, "no, I trust you Holly," he looked at his sister in a lost puppy sort of way, "you have to show me how to fix this, Cynthia's life is on the line." And he meant it, Cynthia's life really was on the line, if they couldn't fix it and Cynthia was already having issues adjusting to the rejection. If nothing changed Cynthia's wild would die within a year, leading to Cynthia's health going down like an avalanche.

"I know," Holly told him softly, "we all will work together to find a way to fix this, I promise."

Leon nodded thickly and couldn't help but try and push his current feelings of hope through the partnership bond. Moments later he vaguely felt Cynthia cling to the hope like it was her only lifeline.

* * *

Leon honestly felt his heart squeeze with pain when he saw Cynthia for the first time since the rejection. "StarClan above," He muttered under his breath, amber eyes locked on his rejected partner, body language stiff. _Sunshine I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…_ He murmured to himself as he fought with himself to go over and help her, feeling like running over, pulling her into a hug and telling her about how badly he wanted to take back everything he had said. She had been nervous about him rejecting her from the very beginning, she had told him and asked him to promise to not reject her a little while after he had marked her.

 _Leon's amber eyes twinkled and he nuzzled her neck above the mark, being careful not to touch the sensitive skin. "I'm back," he rumbled and slid his arms around her waist from behind, "sorry, my mom called me."_

 _Cynthia twisted to look over at him and purred, the sound was joy filled and full to the brim with love. "Well you aren't home yet, she has every right to be worried right?" She pointed out with a rumble as she twisted completely in his hold to be facing him._

 _"Not really," Leon lightly shook his head and gave a cheeky grin, "cause I'm with you Sunshine."_

 _Cynthia purred again and leaned forward as if to give him a light kiss but stopped abruptly and looked rather worried for half a second before she brushed it off and completed the action, leaning forward and softly brushing her lips against his in a light kiss. "Hmm," she pulled back with a soft smile and a gentle rumble, "you are way too much of a sweet talker Leo."_

 _Leon noticed the worry right away and narrowed his eyes a hair in worry of his own. "What're you worried about?"_

 _Cynthia hesitated, sitting back on her heels and looking down at the floor, "It's nothing."_

 _Leon gently cupped the right side of her face and lifted her head so that she was looking at him, "Cyliani…"_

 _Cynthia's breath hitched at the Wivano nickname and leaned into his touch, "I don't want this to end," she rumbled with a faint whimper, "I'm scared you'll reject me when you get bored of me Lio," she called him a nickname of her own, "I don't want to lose my mate," she half closed her eyes, "not when I need him at my side."_

 _Leon's amber eyes were soft as he spoke in a gentle rumble, "this'll never end Cynthia," he cradled her face in his hands, "I love you, I really, really do. You'll never lose me."_

 _Cynthia looked vulnerably at him, "promise?"_

 _Leon smiled softly, "I promise."_

"Leon, what're you doing?" Fin's voice snapped him from his memories, "woah, Cynthia looks terrible! What in the world happened?"

Leon blinked and swallowed the lump in his throat before responding, "I had to reject her, that's what happened," he said in a gruff voice.

Fin's usually mischievous green eyes were remarkably concerned as he looked at his friend, "StarClan above Leon, Cynthia's your partner?" He asked in a hushed voice, the racoon wild looking worriedly between his best friend and their mutual friend. "And your dad made you reject her?"

"Yeah," Leon said before he shouldered his backpack and walked toward Cynthia, where she was sitting exhaustively in a wheelchair and looking like she wanted to be at home and not here at school where Leon was. He ignored Fin telling him to leave her be and brushed off his hand when he tried to stop him, he wanted to talk to her, to tell her something, anything to make the pain in her eyes go away. He arrived in front of her within a few moments, but was blocked by Paige and Haliah, Cynthia's older sisters were both giving him death glares and they didn't look too happy that he was approaching their younger sister. "I just want to talk to her," he explained simply before he gently pushed them both aside and crouched down in front of Cynthia. "Hey," he spoke in a soft tone, amber eyes darting over her face and looking for her hidden emotions, "you okay?"

Cynthia leaned her head back against the headrest of the wheelchair and just looked at him, her blue eyes pained and exhausted. She didn't speak a word, unable to gather the energy to speak to the boy who had rejected her and ruined the rest of her life in many ways.

Leon leaned forward and gently brushed his fingers over one of her cheeks in a comforting fashion, "I'm so sorry," he told her in a hushed voice, "I never meant to hurt you like this."

Cynthia dropped her eyes to her lap to avoid looking him in the eye and her eyes turned rather misty, like she wanted to cry, but she did lean into Leon's touch a small amount. She looked like she wanted to cling to him and cry till the experience was over, but at the same time she knew that there was only a low chance that it would end well for her.

Leon turned his hand around and cupped one side of her face, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb to comfort her and as an attempt to help her fight off the ice threatening to pierce her heart and her wild. "Holly's trying to find a way to fix this," he told her softly, "I want us to be okay, together."

Cynthia leaned further into his touch and her blue eyes flickered up to his before they closed, silently drawing comfort and strength from Leon's touch and his words.

Leon could tell she wanted to speak, but both didn't know what to say and was flat out exhausted from everything. "Cia," he spoke softly, and he could hear Fin's footsteps as he approached them all, "I didn't mean anything I said in the rejection I swear, my feelings haven't changed at all."

Cynthia reopened her eyes, forcing them open so that she could look at him, and finally speak. "I know," she rasped in a hoarse tone before abruptly switching languages, _"Yuliana, Leo." **[I love you Leo.]**_

Leo's throat closed up and he nodded before he stood up and leaned over, brushing his lips against her forehead and speaking to her in the same language, " _Yuliono Cyliani," **[I love you Cyliani,]**_ he murmured just loud enough for her to hear, _"Yulionsu mius." **[I love you so much.]**_ He saw Cynthia close her eyes at the words and he could only hope she believed him.

* * *

 _ **I know this isn't as long as the previous part, but I felt like this was a perfect ending point for the chapter! I think there's going to be three to five parts from how everything is going so far, and I'm excited because you guys get to see a lot of the work I've put into the world! :D Plus I'm working on a new Wilds AU called Wildy Famous, and it's based off of a rp I did with LordOblivion that I've redone three times now :P**_


	130. Cynthia's Concert (Wildly Famous Piece)

_**Hey guys! So this one probably won't make much sense, it's part of a bigger chapter in the making (I just need practice writing the two characters that I don't even own XD) and I wanted to upload it because it's beautiful, and short, and sad, and amazing :D**_

 _ **Songs involved:**_

" _ **I Could Tell You" By Talor Swift (Modified by me)**_

" _ **Can I Have This Dance" High School Musical 3**_

* * *

 _ **This entire Wilds AU as a whole is actually a story version of a rp I did with Lord Oblivion my boyfriend, I've had this rp done three times now and I need to make it a story! XD**_

* * *

 _ **READ TO UNDERSTAND CONTEXT!**_

 _ **Cynthia's a YouTuber and Singer on top of being a wild, Leon her mate, has just barely moved to her school after them knowing each other for the past three years. Cynthia, excited about her mate being around and her sister finding her partner, takes Leon, Orion (Leon's brother), and Ran (Cynthia's non biological sister) to Vyliea for a few weeks where she has a concert and a convention, and Leon has a renewal for the world record he holds. However, things kinda fall apart when Cynthia notices that Ran's jealous of her and Leon and isn't a big fan of seeing Cynthia and Leon act like a bonded pair because she longs to have what her sister has. So Cynthia and Leon agreed to hide and limit their time acting like a pair of Mates should, and instead they act like they are normal partners and just friends. Of which makes Cynthia miserable, for her this entire trip is her own personal torture, she finally has her sister with her outside of Ruxburg, but she can't have her mate with her and be more than just a friend. The scene below is Cynthia's concert.**_

* * *

 _Cynthia's Personal Torture_

 _Cynthia, Leon ~ 19_

 _Ran, Orion ~ 18 (OC characters of LordOblivion)_

Cynthia's blue eyes were bright and cheerful as she casually took a seat on top of the grassy knoll with one leg bent and the other stretched out in front of her. Slid the guitar from being slung around her back to be held gently in her hands. "Today's the second day and so I was thinking maybe a few of my more relaxed songs along with a more informal setting like I always do." She suggested with a soft smile that hid exactly how stressed out and tired she was at the current moment. "I'm feeling a little worn out as well so how about we all get comfortable on the grass while I tune this guitar okay?" She rested the bottom of the guitar in her lap as she softly tuned the beautiful dark gray and blue electric guitar. "It's always so hot during the summer, and as I've always said there's a convention to meet me personally at if a few of you miss the chance to greet me here after the concert so how about you all calm down and take a seat? We've got a few trucks full of popsicles and other kinds of treats that will be offered and stuff during the concert and during where I mingle with you all."

She then cleared her throat, looked up to check with Lila who nodded and Cynthia started strumming her guitar to start the song. " _I don't think that passenger seat, has ever looked this good to me… He tells me about his night, and I! Count the colors in his eyes!"_ She sang at her cue, having chosen a song that she had written during one of the four-month stretches where she hadn't been with Leon at all.

" _He'd never fall in love he swears, as he runs his fingers through my hair, I'm laughing 'cause I know he's wrong! And I don't think it ever crossed his mind, He tells a joke, I fake a smile… But I know all his favorite songs!"_ The song helped display her current emotions with her situation involving her and Leon and Ran and Orion, she missed spending time just by herself with him. Goofing off, learning more about each other every day, actually going out on dates, enjoying the many cities, relaxing, and over all she missed the moments where they would just do what came naturally to them both, whether it involved getting in massive trouble by Lila and laughing about the punishment, or just sitting on the couch while she worked and he played a video game or pretended to fall asleep and pinned her and shut her laptop.

" _And I could tell you his favorite color's orange, he loves to argue, born on the sixteenth...His sister's beautiful, he has his father's eyes, and if you ask me if I love him… I'd lie!"_ Cynthia sang, putting her emotions into the song and getting lost in her music, just like she usually did. " _He looks around the room, innocently overlooks the truth! Shouldn't a light go on? Doesn't he know that I've had him memorized for so long?"_

Leon's amber gaze remained locked on Cynthia, he could feel exactly what she was feeling, and he knew it was silently tearing her apart being forced to have to, hide and limit, spending time with him how they both wanted to instead of spending their time like they always did when Cynthia invited him and his family onto trips like these.

" _He sees everything in black and white, never let nobody see him cry. I don't let nobody see me wishing he was mine!"_ Cynthia sang softly before breaking into the chorus once again, her voice practically dripping with her own emotions and yet sounded beautiful, her tone emphasizing the song. " _I could tell you his favorite color's orange, he loves to argue, born on the sixteenth...His sister's beautiful, he has his father's eyes, and if you ask me if I love him… I'd lie!"_

Cynthia took a slightly shuddery breath during the music break, resting her voice and waiting for her next cue while thanking Cinder for fighting off the memories for her and taking the reminders quietly. At her cue she continued to sing, " _He stands there, then walks away… StarClan, if I could only say! I'm holding every breath for you...He'd never tell you, but he can play guitar! I think he can see through everything but my heart, First thought when I wake up is, StarClan, he's beautiful! So I put on my make-up and pray for a miracle!"_

Cynthia took a deep breath before she sang the ending part, while at the same time alerting Leon of her next plans. _I… I need to sing something with you, will you sing something with me?_ She asked before singing, " _Yes I could tell you his favorite color's orange, he loves to argue, oh and it kills me...His sister's beautiful, he has his father's eyes, and if you ask me if I love him… if you ask me if I love him… I'd lie!"_

 _Of course,_ Leon responded, _what song? I'd never give up a chance to sing with you Sweetheart._

Cynthia swallowed the lump in her throat even at the fans sitting on the grass all whooped and cheered. _Can I Have This Dance, I need to sing something that…_ she trailed off, tears threatening to make her blue eyes go misty even as she smiled at her fans and looked out at them all.

 _I know,_ Leon told her gently, _don't worry, I'll sing with you._

Cynthia's smiled turned happier and she tucked her guitar into the case and gave it to Lila before she stood up and cleared her throat, "I've been asked many times to sing with Leon live, since he has a few music videos of his own on my music channel, so today I'm going to grant that wish." She brushed off her capris and looked almost timidly in Leon's direction before singing in a soft and almost nervous tone, " _Take my hand…"_ She sang softly and stretched out her hand and arm toward Leon's direction where Jake was hooking him up to a mic. " _Take a breath… Pull me close, and take one step… Keep your eyes locked on mine, and let the music be your guide..."_

" _Won't you promise me…"_ Leon sang as he stood up and brushed off his pants and started jogging toward her, ignoring most of the fans and instead focusing on the silent needs of his mate.

" _Now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget…"_ Cynthia continued and forced herself to stay rooted to her spot and waited for him to come to her.

" _We'll keep dancing…"_ Leon sang as he reached her and promptly pulled the nearly in tears wild into a dance, carefully hiding her face from the fans while she pulled herself together.

" _To keep dancing…"_ Cynthia's voice wobbled a hair but she took a deep breath to calm herself and to straighten out her crumbling walls and sort her messy emotions. _I can't do this Leon, this is like my own personal torture, I can have my sister with me on a trip and yet I can't be with my mate…_

" _Wherever we go next…"_ Leon and Cynthia sang together, Leon smiling at how the fans were reacting, reacting with cheers and hollers and yet rather upset about how unstable this trip had really made Cynthia. He made a mental note of keeping a close eye on her and responded to her even as they continued the singing, Cynthia's faltering repeatedly as the tears she was hiding threatened to force her into a sobbing mess. " _It's like catching lightning… the chances of finding someone like you! It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do! And with every step together! We just keep on getting better! So can I have this dance?"_

 _I know, Sweetheart I know,_ Leon nudged her arms to be around his neck as he casually waltzed with her, still hiding how close she was to falling apart and allowing her to get closer without messing up her singing, _lean on me and the music, I'll have Lila move the meeting you hour to tomorrow, you need to go home and rest with me. You need to get some of the stress off of your shoulders_

" _Take my hand, I'll take the lead! And every turn will be safe with me! Don't be afraid, afraid to fall..."_ Leon sang softly and silently signaled to Lila to switch Cynthia's audio with a recording which she did. He had sung this before with Cynthia, he knew the words by heart and Cynthia needed to draw comfort off of him. _I have your audio switched, relax and let me keep the concert going. Take a few deep breaths, wipe away your tears, and listen to my voice Sweetheart._ He kept singing even as Cynthia stepped closer and pushed her face against his chest and neck just under his chin, taking a deep breath and breathing in his scent while trying to pull herself together. " _You know I'll catch you through it all! And you can't keep us apart…"_

" _Even a thousand miles can't keep us apart…"_


	131. Rewrite The Stars (Cinderblaze)

_**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _It really is! :D It's one ony my favorite rps I've done with these characters :D_

 _Which one? The Wilds Novella? It's almost done! Then I have to send it to an editor and revise it :P But it should be out soon! :D I can definitely tell you about the characters though! :D The main characters are Kiro Smith (blonde with dyed areas to simulate fire, with grey eyes) and Yuri Hamilton (light brunette with emerald green eyes), Yuri's a runner with her cheetah wild and Kiro's a little bit of a confident nerd who enjoys video games way too much :P Kiro's siblings are named Hiosu (platinum blonde with dyed golden blonde streaks, with stormy blue eyes) and Fuka (black with purple streaks, and bright sea green eyes), Yuri's father is named Richard, and Kiro's father is named Alexander. The story displays wilds from an outsider's point of view with the actual story switching between Yuri and Kiro's views :P Yuri's mark is various shades of dark green and is a lion and cheetah lightly touching noses, and right now I'm at 16 out of 28 pages and 9,806 words when I'm a little over half done :P The cover is hopefully going to be a heart with an animal's slashing claw marks with a pale blue background :P_

 _Who deserves to be punished? Leon? It's not technically his fault remember? :P He never wanted to hurt Cyndy :P_

 ** _~Featherflight123~_**

 _This chapter is just for you! :D I heard the song you suggested and imeadiately wrote a chapter for it! :D_

 _That's so true! I totally just realized how this chapter with those songs could bring some people back to their childhoods! :D I'm glad you enjoyed it! This is is only part of the whole thing, I just need more practice writing with the two characters that aren't mine :P_

 ** _~Other reviewers~_**

 _(For reviews where I don't really have a response to :P)_

 _Mina Harrker_

* * *

 _ **Eeek! I love this song! :D Although I can admit that I hadn't ever heard of it till I wrote this chapter, thanks to FeatherFlight123 and holy moly I'm glad he/she (I can never really tell with only profiles :P) told me about it because it seriously fits them so well! XD So as a heads up, I do do requests, especially relating to the Singing World, I can never have enough songs for them all to sing! :D**_

* * *

 _Request from: FeatherFlight123_

 _Song used: Rewrite The Stars (The Greatest Showman)_

 _What If We Rewrite The Stars? Cinderblaze_

 _Cynthia, Leon ~ 20_

A small smile spread over Cynthia's face as she noticed a notebook laying on her desk even though it was clearly Leon's with the messy scrawl. She stood in front of the desk for a moment before she picked up the notebook and skimmed through the lyrics Leon had apparently haphazardly scrawled down before she had gotten home last night. Once she finished, her blue gaze strayed over to where Leon was asleep on his side, having not moved since she had gotten up. Their relationship really was a mess, that was something that had been clear since they were teenagers, and that hadn't changed over the years especially with what had happened last year. Even then though, Cynthia wouldn't have it any other way at the moment. Sure, down the road she was going to want to have the mess straightened out, but right now she was happy with just being with him. She looked down at the lyrics in the notebook and smiled again, " _What if we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine?"_ She sang softly, just a hair out of tune do to having not warmed up her voice before she quietly sang the words. She chuckled, "and he says I'm the singer." She picked up a pen and pulled out her desk chair before she followed Leon's lyrics and continued them, turning the song into a duet with her own part.

About ten minutes later Cynthia put down the pen and softly closed the notebook before standing up. She let her gaze linger on the notebook for a few moments before she, instead of getting ready to go and record downstairs, went over to where Leon was still asleep, the blankets tangled around his legs. She playfully pounced on the bed next to him, staying on her hands and knees to smile when he looked sleep riddenly at her, "hey sleepy head."

"What time is it?" Leon asked in a drowsy fashion and lifted one hand to be resting on her back between her shoulder blades, fingers splayed.

"Seven," Cynthia shrugged and shifted her weight slightly so that she could brush her fingers through his thick blonde hair when he tensed up at hearing the time. She always enjoyed running her hands through his hair, Leon's hair was thick and soft to the touch and usually had a cinnamon hint due to his preferred shampoo. "You don't have to get up though, your practice is as noon."

Leon relaxed and moved his hand up and down Cynthia's back in a slow and lazy fashion, "okay, what time do you have to go record?"

Cynthia smiled and leaned over before lightly brushing her lips against Leon's temple, "does it really matter?" She asked, slid her legs beneath the sheets, and dropped onto her side before scooting closer to him, close enough that she could feel his breath on her face.

Leon slid his arm down to be resting around her waist, and his sleepy amber eyes gazed at his significant other through sleep ridden eyes, "Cia…" He mumbled in an expectant fashion, idly playing with her shirt in one hand, smoothing the material between his fingers.

Cynthia rolled her eyes, "I'm supposed to be there at…" and moved even closer. She rested one hand on his bare chest, and rested her arm around his should, her other hand lightly playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. She then gave something between a loving smile and a cheeky smirk and finished her sentence, "...fifteen minutes ago."

"Lazy butt," Leon mumbled even as his amber eyes closed half way, "what about Lila?"

Cynthia lightly shrugged her shoulders, "I have till next week to record the song, she can freak out at me later. After I get to spend my morning with you of course," she lightly kissed him, lingering for a few moments before pulling back and resting her forehead against his with her eyes closed. "I want to spend more time with you today."

"Is something wrong?" Leon asked drowsily and looked at her, "you're usually super punctual Cyndy."

Cynthia moved back about an inch and lightly shook her head with her eyes open once more, "nope, just want time with you."

"Okay, if you say so," Leon mumbled and Cynthia shifted as he slid his other arm to be around her waist as well, clasping his hands behind her back and pulling her to him so that her head was below his chin. "I'm not waking up again till at least another hour though Sunshine, I'm exhausted."

Cynthia let her eyes close and she took a deep breath, feeling safe and content in Leon's arms. "I know and I'm sleeping in with you today."

Leon gave a hum of agreement but didn't completely vocalize his response, already half asleep.

* * *

Leon abruptly stopped rubbing a towel through his hair when he noticed that his notebook was closed instead of open like he had left it. He looked over at where Cynthia had flopped down on the bed despite it being six in the evening and looked to be mostly asleep despite the date they had tonight. Which was what he had just finished showering for. "Hey Cyn?"

"Hmm?" Cynthia responded with her eyes still closed, her body language didn't change at all, clearly she was exhausted from the many recordings she had done today for different instruments and her own voice.

"Did you mess with my notebook? And we've got reservations in an hour Sunshine, remember?" He asked as he pulled a white undershirt on and over his head before he pulled a white button down shirt from his closet and slid one arm through one sleeve.

Cynthia groaned and didn't move otherwise, "five more minutes…"

Leon slid on the other sleeve of his shirt and left it unbuttoned as he walked over to the bed and lightly shook her, knowing full well that she wouldn't wake up in five minutes, if anything she would remain asleep for the rest of the night and wake up early tomorrow. "Come on Cia, I can't move these around this time." He gently shook her again, "I've tried remember?"

"Stop it," Cynthia grumbled and slapped at his hand, "I'm trying to sleep…"

"Cyn come on, we haven't been on a proper date in weeks," Leon groaned, he hated their schedules, it always conflicted and usually only left them both home late at night and early morning.

Cynthia pushed herself up on her arms and gave him a sleepy glare, "you don't usually complain about what goes on instead."

Leon rolled his eyes, usually if she was still awake when he got home he'd gleefully spend a few hours with her with some kind of game. More times than not it was karaoke since both of them could sing. She usually beat him, but Leon really enjoyed the moments where he could just listen to her sing for him, loving her voice. They both usually had a blast and usually Cynthia would pull him into a waltz while singing a song she had written only for him called _Kissin' You_ _**(Cleo sings this song later, after stumbling across her mother's unpublished lyrics :P)**_ before ending it with a laugh and a smile that made it all worth it in his opinion. "I don't mean to complain about it, but I don't know about you, but I do enjoy going out every once in a while."

"Whatever, you just want to see me in the dress Lila made me buy," Cynthia retorted and pushed herself into a sitting up position to continue glaring at him as he finished buttoning up his shirt.

Leon smiled and rolled his eyes as he tied a silver tie around his neck, "while yes I do want to see you in a dress that just amplifies your beautifulness, I know you enjoy occasionally dressing up for me Sunshine."

Cynthia's cheeks turned pink and she snorted, "your have a massive ego." She shook off her drowsiness and stood up, getting to her feet and walking toward their closet. "Outside," she pointed at the door while she looked for the particular dress Leon wanted to see.

Leon rolled his eyes at her, "there's a bathroom over there for a reason Cyndy," he snorted even as he scooped up his notebook and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

 _ **(I don't really know how to completely describe this dress, so if you look this up on google:**_ _ **TFNC Allover Sequin Maxi Dress With Strappy Back**_ _**you should see exactly what it looks like :D)**_

* * *

Leon smiled after reading the lyrics that Cynthia had written to finish the song he had written, "She always knows exactly what a song needs doesn't she?" He said to himself with a smile as he skimmed over the part Cynthia had written in her loopy partially messy handwriting in blue ink.

"Who, me?" Cynthia asked as she opened their bedroom room door and stepped out of it to be standing next to him.

Leon didn't respond, too busy staring at her with his jaw slack and looking her up and down.

Cynthia smirked and laughed at his reaction, "what? See something you like Leo?" Cynthia was wearing a silver colored dress that had a strap that went around her neck instead of over her shoulders, it had a high neckline and revealed most of her back with a few thin straps that went down the open back in a slanted diamond shape. The silver fabric of the dress shimmered as she moved due to tiny sequins all throughout the fabric, it hugged her body down to her hips before it straightened out to be loose around her legs where it went just below her ankles, just barely enough for her silver sandals to be seen.

Leon gave himself a mental shake and grinned at her, "yes, very much," he grinned then leaned forward and gave her a kiss. Once he pulled back he smiled gently at her and took her hand, "you're more beautiful than ever Cia."

* * *

" _You know I want you…"_ Leon sang softly as the blonde emerged from the curtains the the stage had been outfitted for this performance, " _It's not a secret I try to hide."_

The audience went crazy at the sight of him instead of Cynthia, they all knew what it meant when he arrived on the stage without her, it meant a duet between SapphireGleam and FireAthlete, something that fans had been requesting for months ever since they had seen the video last year of the talent show of them singing together. " _I know you want me, so don't keep saying our hands are tied."_ He held his mic and smiled at the audience before looking out at the back of the audience. " _You claim it's not in the cards, fate it pulling you miles away and out of reach from me, but you're here in my heart so who can stop me if I decide that you're my destiny?"_ He sang softly, his voice lowering and raising in volume depending on the phrase he was singing. " _What if we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine, nothing could keep us apart you'd be the one I was meant to find!"_

The audience cheered louder at Leon's perfectly tuned singing of the high notes, clearly surprised by the range of his voice.

" _It's up to you, and it's up to me! No one can say what we get to be, so why don't we rewrite the stars? Maybe the world could be ours… tonight…"_ Leon sang with feeling, smiling softly in anticipation of Cynthia's appearance.

" _You think it's easy? You think I don't want to run to you?..."_ From the back of the audience emerged Cynthia on a raised walkway, allowing her to be seen wearing a silver colored ankle length dress and holding a small mic, blue eyes twinkling happily. " _But there are mountains…"_ She sang as she approached the stage, " _and there are doors that we can't walk through. I know you're wondering why, because we're able to be just you and me within these walls, but when we go outside you're going to wake up and see that it was hopeless after all!"_

" _No one can rewrite the stars! How can you say you'll be mine?"_ With those sentences Cynthia stepped onto the stage, her silver dress swishing around her ankles as she walked up the steps and toward the center of the stage, the audience cheering even louder with Cynthia's presence on the stage. " _Everything keeps us apart and I'm not the one you were meant to find!"_ She walked over to Leon, " _It's not up to you, it's not up to me when everyone tells us what we can be!"_ She reached him and stood next to him, both of them facing each other, " _How can we rewrite the stars? Say that the world can be ours… tonight."_ She smiled and faced Leon.

" _All I want is to fly with you, all I want is to fall with you, so just give me all of you!"_ Cynthia and Leon sang together, both of their eyes were twinkling, both from excitement about the concert and love for each other.

" _It feels impossible!"_ Cynthia sang, putting her heart into the music, this song was closer to her than any of the other ones she had sung with Leon before, and admittedly it made her a little giddy.

" _It's not impossible!"_ Leon sang as an echo, he seemed to have the giddy feeling too.

" _Is it impossible?"_ Cynthia asked as she faced the audience once again.

" _Say that it's possible!"_ They sang together, now facing the audience and standing close enough for their arms to brush, " _How do we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine? Nothing can keep us apart 'cause you are the one I was meant to find! It's up to you and it's up to me, no one can say what we get to be!"_ Cynthia grasped Leon's hand and laced her fingers through his, " _And why don't we rewrite the stars? Changing the world to be ours!"_ They both waited for the next part, Cynthia walking a little ways away from Leon with their hands still clasped together.

" _You know I want you…"_ Cynthia sang softly as she walked a little further with every word, " _it's not a secret I try to hide, I can't have you…"_ She said, she and Leon's clasped hands threatening to come apart, " _We're bound to break and my hands are tied…"_ With the last word she moved back toward him, standing next to him once again. She brought the mic away from her and smiled at Leon, blue eyes twinkling softly. She wanted to kiss him, this particular song touched her heart more than anything else, and while she wouldn't on stage because she knew better after last year's mess, she still wanted too, and badly. Instead she leaned close to him and whispered three words in his ear, "I love you."

Leon's smile turned into a white toothed grin and he playfully spun her around a few times, amber eyes twinkling with his response to her words.

* * *

 **End**

* * *

 **Sneak Peek for 150 Milestone Chapter (I'm sure you guys thought I forgot about this particular story :P)**

 _Pretending Sequel_

Leon stepped toward her and stood next to her and lifted a picture up so that she could see it, "and I picked it up to look at it I realized something." He looked over at her, "usually a single parent has a picture of them with the baby's father in the baby's room, and they teach the baby who their father is. This picture was _in_ Cleo's room Cia, why?"

Cynthia put the t-shirt she was holding down and gazed almost tiredly at the photo, knowing what it was by heart. The picture was one that Cynthia had gotten Holly to take while they had been in Vyliea looking at Bree's new house, all seven of them visiting their friend's new house. The picture however was one close to Cynthia's heart, they were splashing each other at the Vyliean waterfront, Leon had just pulled her to his body and lifted her up, and was playfully threatening to flop over completely while she had been laughing and demanding that he put her down before she kicked him or pinched his nose. "Does it really matter Leon?" She sighed softly and took the picture from him, "I still have pictures of the two of us, is that a big deal? I've grown up with you Leon, you've been my best friend besides Holly since I was little." Her thumb brushed over the side of the frame, "and someone as young as I am doesn't forget their first love." She placed the picture down on the bed, "I don't see the problem with that."

"That's not the problem," Leon went and picked up Cleo before coming back to her.

Immediately Cynthia's eyes widened, no… he couldn't have… She watched helplessly as Leon scooped up the picture and pointed at Cynthia in the picture while speaking to Cleo.

"Who's that Cleo?" He asked the baby who knew as far as he knew, two half words.

"'ma!" Cleo giggled and reached for the picture, "'ma!"

Leon glanced at Cynthia and then pointed to him in the picture, "and him?"

Cleo took the picture frame and the baby brought it to her face and gave it a baby-like kiss, "da!" She giggled then Leon caught the picture as she reached for her mother, "ma!"

"Cynthia, Cleo is _my_ daughter. She's _my_ daughter." Leon told her as he put down the picture.

* * *

Leon just looked at the baby girl in his arms, looking for any features that were like his own. She mainly looked like her mother, with the same nose, freckles, and the shape of her eyes, but Leon could see a little bit of him in her, the shape of her chin, the way her soft and fuzzy hair was lightening from black to an auburn color at the ends, and the shape of her head in general. She was a beautiful baby, he had always thought that, but now she was even more beautiful and special. She was his. The infant held in his arms was his own flesh and blood. Leon wished he could go back and see all of the things he had missed, the first few months were everything to a new father, and Leon had missed them all. His throat clogged up, he hadn't connected the dots between Cynthia coming to him in the middle of the night during the whole pregnancy.

L _eon groaned, he hated it when people arrived at his doorstep in the middle of the night. But he opened the door_ anyway, _and found out who it was with a shock. Cynthia, in all of her tired and yet beautifully pregnant_ glory _was standing at his door, rain streaming down her face and clothes. "What're you doing out here?! You're going to get you and your baby sick Cynthia!"_

 _Cynthia didn't speak for a moment,_ instead _she moved closer to him and held out her arms, "can you please just hug me?" She asked quietly, "and tell me everything's going to be alright?" Tears were in her bright blue eyes, from what he didn't know._

 _"Oh… Cia…" He spoke softly, "of course I can." He swiftly wrapped his arms around her middle, refraining from resting his palm against her rounded stomach, and resting his cheek against the top of her head. He hoped she hadn't had an argument with Ashton, the baby's supposed father, of which he selfishly refused to believe. "Everything's gonna be okay Sweetheart," the nickname slipped out before Leon could stop it, and was surprised to feel Cynthia relax at the nickname, "everything's gonna be okay."_

Nor had he connected how once almost everyone had left and it was just them, Cleo, and holly in the hospital room after Cleo's 'birth,' how she had muttered 'I love you' under her breath and he thought she had just mistaken him for someone else.

 _Leon couldn't help but keep smiling, the baby was beautiful, a little on the small side, but as beautiful as newborns went. The picture was completed perfectly with Cynthia lying most asleep on the hospital bed with the covers almost up to her neck with the baby lying against her chest, keeping the baby warm and helping her get comfortable in the brand new world._

 _Currently Cynthia was holding two of his fingers in an exhausted grip with her head turned toward his with her cheek resting on her pillow and with her eyes closed. "I love you," she mumbled suddenly and Leon almost had a heart attack before remembering that the baby wasn't his. "Cynthia," he forced himself to chuckle, "I'm not Ashton, I'm just your friendly best friend Leon remember?"_

 _He didn't get a response, Cynthia had completely fallen asleep._

Leon sighed and looked over at the sleeping woman who was apparently the mother of his child amongst other things. _I love you too Cia,_ he said mentally, _I love you too._


	132. Our First Dance (Guilt Ridden World)

_**I'm sure you guys weren't expecting a chapter from this world ever again now were you? :P Well I wrote it anyway and I may eventually write the second piece to it :P**_

 _Our First Dance_

 _(Guilt Ridden And Broken World)_

 _Cynthia ~ 17_

 _Leon ~17_

Cynthia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, Leon was honestly going to drive her insane. She loved the blonde to death but he was fretting way too much over this entire thing. "Leon…" she groaned in exasperation, you would think that after being kidnapped and held hostage for two years he would be able to handle a dance of all things and not freak out like this.

"... and what about the actual date? I've been gone for two years! I have no idea what everybody thinks is cool!" Leon continued to ramble and pace, rather nervously for that matter. "I'd hate to have this dance ruined because I've screwed this all up and can't give you what you deserve…"

"Leon."

"And what about after? I don't want to end it with just taking you home!" Leon exclaimed, aparently not hearing Cynthia saying his name twice now. "I want to make it perfect and if I can't do that then I'm an utter failure-"

"LEON!" Cynthia yelled and affectively cut him off, "will you please stop rambling and calm down!" She glared heatedly at him, her glare able to melt steel, "it's just a dance! Just. A. Dance! You're not proposing to me, nor are you planning a wedding! It's just a dance!" She grasped him by the shoulders, yanked him down to her level and lightly shook him by the shoulders, "calm down!"

"But it's our first dance!" Leon complained even as his annoyed girlfriend shook him by the shoulders, "our first dance together and I want it to be perfect!" He looked pitifully at Cynthia, "I want _our_ firsts to be perfect. All of them."

Cynthia stopped shaking him and lightly shook her head, "Leon you're paranoid. All of them will be perfect as long as you're the one doing them with me." Her blue eyes were soft as she continued, "as long as I get to be at the dance with you, you dance with me at least once, and we end the night with a kiss, I don't need anything else to make it perfect."

Leon looked nervously at her, nervous about the idea of taking Cynthia to a dance after he had been gone for so long. He had spent a year returning to normal, getting used to having so many people around after two years of isolation, and to having Cynthia around. They had been inseparable since Leon and his siblings' rescue, to the point where Skylar and Brad had gotten used to Cynthia pretty much living with them and sharing a room with the blonde. Part of it was because of her nightmares. She used to have stayed in Holly's room, but after a particular terrible nightmare where Cynthia had seen her friends be captured one again she had started to sleep in Leon's room. At first it had been just her sleeping curled up on the floor in one corner, then over the past year it had evolved to her sleeping next to him, able to imeadiately reassure herself it had been a dream with Leon right next to her.

Then she had started to just stay there. By now the room contained a mix of both of their stuff, clothing, nick nacks, tech, books, etc. Despite the oddity of the arrangement Skylar and Brad trusted both of them to behave properly and treated Cynthia as part of the family like they always had. Cynthia rarely stayed the night in her own room at her parents' house, saying that it triggered memories she wanted to forget the longer she was in the room. Sure her parents were still a little sore about how she was practically living at the Brambles' now, but they let her, understanding how shaken up the past three years had been for her and how much she had gone through.

Cynthia spoke softly to Leon, resting her hands on his chest as she did so. "I'm just glad your here with me and not held hostage at the cabin anymore Leon, I don't need anything else." She stepped closer and rested her head on his chest with her eyes closed. "Just you, that's all I need.

Leon took a deep breath and ran one hand through his hair while his free arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close to him. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long," he sighed, "it really messed up the rest of our lives."

Cynthia lightly shook her head, "it wasn't your fault," she wrapped her arms around his back, hands resting just below his shoulder blades, "and it pulled us closer together," she closed her eyes. "I love you, you know I do."

Leon buried his head into her black hair, "I know, but it's not fair."

"Life's not fair," Cynthia murmured into his chest, "so you have to take advantage of what you get Leo."

Leon took a deep breath, letting the faint ocean smell from Cynthia's shampoo help soothe his nerves. "I still want it to be perfect."

"There's only one thing you can do to keep it from being perfect Leo," Cynthia told him quietly, "and that's not going with me."

:) :) :) :)

Leon looked distantly up at the cieling, listening to Cynthia's soft and faintly rumbling breaths and thinking. The near snoring was something Leon had noticed that she had developed while sleeping next to him, having never heard her to anything of the sort before he was kidnapped. However, Leon was actually soothed by the sound. Cynthia only breathed like that if her dreams were peaceful and she wasn't any where close to having a nightmare about his kidnapping. Even now, a year later, Cynthia was sleep deprived and had been told by multiple doctors that she was still recovering from the strenous two years.

While Leon had been taken care of despite his kidnapping, Cynthia had spent many a day eating nothing, drinking little, and sleeping even less, and it seemed that it was going to take a long time to rectify. She still struggled to eat properly, unable to eat more than a small amount at once without getting sick, and to Leon's dismay, she had issues staying hydrated, so used to being dehydrated that she didn't recognize when she became dehydrated. While she had finally developed a normal sleeping pattern after a full year, she didn't always get anything out of her sleep, ridden by nightmares or restless sleep. Of which he helped with, and he was glad.

He could feel Cynthia's breath against his shoulder where the girl had her head partially resting on, and felt her arm draped across his body along with the leg she had drawn up at the knee. Cynthia's breathing changed and she groaned in her sleep in a complaining fashion before she stilled and her breathing steadied, remaining a lot more light than before.

Leon sighed and rubbed her back with the arm she had pinned down and was sleeping on top of, he hated how she went from having a good dream to having a restless sleep, to a nightmare, and back to having a good dream. All without completely waking up. Cynthia was a heavy sleeper, now more than ever. Unless he moved a decent amount, then she was one of the lightest sleepers he knew.

Leon glanced over at his alarm clock, of which read six-twenty-nine in the morning, and then back up at the cieling, letting the sunlight from the window begin to spill in and over the bed and the cieling. Half a year ago and the sunlight would've startled Cynthia from her sleep, but now it did nothing as she stayed asleep in her deep slumber, undisturbed by the world. _I don't want anything to happen during the dance,_ he admitted quietly to himself, _I want the whole thing to be perfect, for both of us._ He sighed, he missed some social stuff with the occasional dance being one of them. He had always wanted to take Cynthia to a dance, especially after the goofy ediquitte dinner they had been forced to go to just a few weeks before his kidnapping. Now he could and he had no idea what to do for it. _What am I going to do? I have a week and a half to plan everything and I can't even decide on what to do for the day date._

He heard his alarm start to go off and sighed, not really in the mood to go to school today after his own nightmare and his earlier mood. _And so the day begins…_

Cynthia stirred at the sound of the alarm clock and she lifted her head in a drowsy fashion, "what time is it?" She asked in a slurred voice and let her head rest back down on Leon's shoulder.

"Six thirty," Leon responded to her words and lifted his other arm to run his fingers through her silky black hair, "and time to get up and ready for school."

Cynthia yawned, "I'd rather stay here with you," she mumbled already half asleep. "I'm not really in the mood to go to school…"

"Well Sunshine," Leon sighed and gently pushed her arm and leg off of him before sitting up, "we both have to get up and go no matter how much we want to stay home."

Cynthia gave a disgruntled grunt and rolled onto her back, putting one arm over her eyes. "Why? You have a day date to plan and I'd rather not deal with so many people."

Leon felt a pang of guilt, another thing that had happened due to his kidnapping. Cynthia was so used to having only a few people around that even now a year later, she was incredibly claustriphobic and almost panicked anytime she was in a hall. These days she usually had a death grip on his hand as he walked her to class and half the time had her eyes squeezed shut muttering about the noise and the amount of people. "Well I'm still behind remember?" He pointed out and stood up, "and while I do have a date to plan along with Jay, I do need to go to class. I don't have your math and science skills."

One thing that hadn't changed was how smart Cynthia was, she had used to have a brain hardwired for math and science and she still did. She was almost as good as Bree in Calculus and even surpassed her in College Chemistry, which was saying something. Over the past year Bree had graduated as a junior in highschool, and tested out of her first and second years of college. Now she was in her third year and soaking up new concepts like a sponge soaked up water.

Leon moved to stand up but Cynthia wrapped her arms around his chest from behind and rested her head on his shoulder near his ear, keeping him there for at least a moment or two.

"I can always teach you," Cynthia pointed out, clearly she had her heart set on skipping class with him at least once today.

"I'm sure you can, but I really shouldn't miss anymore days Cia, I already missed a lot." Leon pointed out with a sigh, "and it's really hard to keep up."

Cynthia's breath tickled his ear as she spoke, "not the whole day, just one class, just one. I want time with you outside of watching you study or tutoring you."

Leon rolled his eyes, "Cia no, I need an education remember?" But he had to admit that the idea was rather tempting, it had been atleast a month since they had really gone somewhere and acted like normal in love teenagers instead of overly mature and tired teens still working out the kinks in their lives.

Cynthia moved to be sitting next to him and looked at him through half pleading half sleepy blue eyes, "we could go to the lake," she prompted, "and the cabin… the lake's still warm despite the chilly nights and the cabin's furnished properly now." Her eyes lit up as she expanded on the idea and leaned closer, "I could teach you how to swim properly and we could climb a tree or two."

Leon weighed his options and hesitated, school was important and so was Cynthia. He had a day date to plan, Cynthia had been patiently waiting for his exams to finish, of which ended last weekend, and he had been wanting to visit the lake before it got too cold… "Okay fine," he sighed softly, "you win." The excited smile and warm kiss Cynthia gave him was worth every moment of missing his first and maybe second class of the day.

:D :D :D :D :D

Leon bit his lip to hide a grin as he and Cynthia waited patiently for both of their parents to arrive at the Principal's Office, they were both soaking wet from the lake's chilly waters, and they were both fighting identical grins and exchaning half smug glances. The visit to the principal's office was nothing compared to how much they had enjoyed themselves goofing off together at the lake and cabin, and if Leon wasn't so worried about failing math class he would do it again in a heartbeat. Even then, the happy twinkle and absence of the misty glaze in Cynthia's eyes made everything worth it. Even Clark nearly dragging the blonde by the back of his shirt to his car with an irritated growl when he caught them.

Cynthia caught his eye and let a grin slip through, she was extremely happy, Leon could tell that today was clearly one of her favorite days so far. After all, cuddling together in the cabin, having at tickle fight, Cynthia trying to teach him how to swim properly, and playing together in the lake was a blast.

Leon barely managed to keep from grinning back as the principal and their parents walked into the room.

"... skipped first and second period," the principal was saying with a faintly amused and semi irritated tone, "which isn't tolerated, especially when a teacher is the one to catch them." He sat down at his desk and looked at the pair of students over top of his glasses, "if you're going to skip class then make sure you're not caught."

"Firen!" Skylar, the principal's daughter and Leon's mother, chastized, "how is that supposed to teach them to not do it again?"

Firen took off his glasses and lightly chuckled, "Skylar as much as I disaprove skipping class I don't think there is anyone in this room unhappy to see the clearly very happy look on their faces. Especially Cynthia's. Now, which one of you had this brilliant idea?"

Cynthia adopted a guilty yet proud smirk and lifted her hand from her lap, "me."

Firen's green eyes softened slightly and Leon knew that it was because how normal of an action this was for Cynthia to have done before Leon's kidnapping. Firen then leaned back in his chair, "usually I would give out a detention for a week to both of you and stagger the times, but today I'm feeling generous. So Cynthia, I expect you to be at the gym after school to help the basketball team with anything they need for a week. Leon, after practice I expect both of you to organize the gym storage closet for a week, understand?"

Both teens nodded, and at that point everyone seemed to relax.

"If this happens again maybe you two should be split up," Firen suggested casually then laughed heartily at the terrified expressions on the two teens' faces. "I'm just kidding," he smiled at them both, "but I do expect both of you to stay out of this office for at least a week, understand?"

Cynthia grinned and nodded while Leon's gave a thumbs up before they both caught each other's eye and grinned an identical mischevious grin.


	133. We're Like Ghosts

_**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _I actually haven't ever seen the movie XD_

 _It's taking a bit to get back from my Editor :P but I'm racing to get this done before December for sure :D_

 _Nope, I asked my mom to come up with the last name for her and figures she chose Hamilton :P I may change it or change Alexander's name to sound more like his son's depending on what happens :P_

 _ **~Featherflight123~**_

 _Zendaya's voice is beautiful, and I have a tendency to agree with Cynthia having the voice but usually singing a different style :D_

 _Ooh, I would love it, but his hair color is too dark for Leon's and his eyes are blue…_

 _But it would still be awesome! I wish one of my stories could be turned into a movie :D Although I'm getting a new computer and I can animate for the most part so I'm going to try and turn one of the short stories (not sure which one yet) into a short animated film…_

 _You wanna know what's weird about that chapter? (Our first dance) I had started it as just another Cynthia and Leon moment where Leon's ticking her off and it developed into that XD_

 _Well they are pretty irrational, and so skipping school once or twice is right up their alley XD Plus Leon jokes about how Cynthia's in love with water and not him so that makes it even better :D_

 _ **~Briarfeather4fun~**_

 _Ooph, that doesn't sound at all fun :( I have to get another two in December for my ankle and foot, so I feel your pain! The Doveheart chapter is still coming, just ask everyone else how long some of the waits for the request chapters can be XD_

 _ **~I'vereadyourprof~**_

 _That computer actually did join StarClan, just not peacefully XD it broke in April to my head being smashed into the keyboard in a car crash :P_

* * *

 _We were told the AR world was harmless, safe and supposedly even safer than the developing Holo-Technology created by a genius named Breanna Grayas. However that wasn't the case, and now two people are paying the price..._

* * *

" _ **We're invisible to them Orion…**_

 _ **Cynthia and Orion are "trapped in a game" where it seems to them they're stuck in an AR world of the game Sword Fighters, meaning while they're practically comatose they're characters in an AR game. They can see, touch, and hear everyone, but their friends can't see, touch, or hear them. Together, the almost like siblings have to somehow pull off a miracle and find a way to get their friends to realize something's wrong. But turns out they have to beat the game to escape the game's hold on them.**_

 _ **Ran's shaken to the core. The guy she's in love with, Orion, and her best friend, Cynthia, are seemingly comatose after a crash. Add on that fact that she and Cynthia had been having a decent amount of conflicting opinions and Cynthia had managed to clear up the confusion just before the crash and Ran felt terrible. It wasn't fair! Now she can't do anything besides sit there and just watch.**_

 _ **Bree's stunned. She left for a few weeks and two of her friends end up comatose with some lingering inconsistencies that she has a hunch about, but can't get there in less than a week. Her job as an inventor and specialist in technology sucked at moments like this when she was half across the world testing some clean energy generator. Of which her own was about a thousand times better and faster, not to mention about a hundred times smaller, but she couldn't tell anyone that.**_

 _ **Leon's inwardly dying, raging and inwardly throwing some kind of fit. Why now? Why not in a month or even just a week before? The school's dance was in two days and all of the elaborate planning was now useless. He had finally convinced Cynthia to go to one of the dances and now this happened. Not to mention his close friend was comatose too, leaving Leon floundering with no idea what to do anymore. Everything was falling apart at the seams and no matter how many times he grasped at the escaping threads to keep them together they always slipped through his grip. Leon's world was over, but he had to pretend to be unfazed and holding him and the others together. At least until they uncovered the mess their friends were now involved in.**_

* * *

 _Misc. Info: The Autema is an AR device that works outside of games, almost like Holo-tech that only the user can see. They're almost as powerful as Holo-tech and can function as a phone, and mobile device. The Aumeta looks like a Bluetooth earpiece that wraps around the ear and has a thin mic extension that molds to the jawline for perfect sound output. It has a thin piece that goes along the back of the head to provide the brain with the sensations inside the AR realm and provide power to the cordless earbuds it has. The earbuds are mainly used for normal calls and stuff outside of the actual AR realm for those do prefer the normal style of plain earphones, it's able to mold to the shape of the ear to prevent discomfort and they remain hidden in a thin slot in the back band._

* * *

 _We're Like Ghosts..._

"Ran," Cynthia sighed, her blue eyes fixed on the road even though annoyance was leaking into her tone. "It was just a gift, he doesn't even have a proper cell phone. So I bought him an Aumeta? So what? I still don't get why you're so fired up about it." So she had bought her friend a _really_ expensive device, with her career she had enough to buy most of the students in her grade one of the Aumetas.

"It's _really_ expensive, that's why," Ran huffed over the phone, "I mean I know you're all for giving you money to pretty much everyone, but why an Aumeta to Orion?" She unknowingly put stress on Orion's name, subconsciously hinting at why she was really annoyed.

To be honest Cynthia had been intending to just get Leon one, the guy she was going to the dance with and one of the only guys who didn't care about her money or her famousnes. "Because you have one, Bree has her own special stuff that I can't even begin to understand, I got the twins one for their birthdays, and because I could." Cynthia huffed before abruptly something clicked and she grinned and very briefly looked at Orion out of the corner of her eye. _Ah._ "Are you… jealous?" She asked in a teasing tone, "that I bought him one instead of you getting him one?"

Orion was sitting in the passenger seat fiddling with the new device, he had a highly confused expression that caused his forehead to wrinkle slightly, his eyebrows to furrow together, and his nose to wrinkle as well. Sure he had a phone, but jumping from a glitchy like the phone he had owned for years to this tiny device that would do everything and then some was rather, well, above his head.

"No! I don't have the money laying around," Ran quickly responded, but the very faint brief stutter gave her away to the sharp-eared singer.

Cynthia couldn't help but laugh as she finally, after months, figured out what had made Ran so sour lately with her when she was around Orion. "You totally are jealous, just admit it." She said as she slowed the car to a stop at a red light.

"I'm not jealous!" Ran insisted in turn, "it's just that…" her voice kind of failed and she went quiet, refusing to let Cynthia believe she was jealous of her.

Cynthia softened but remained teasing her, "okay Mrs. I'm-Not-Jealous, next time I'll take you with me so I'm not all alone with him."

"Whatever," Ran brushed it off with a faint huff, "you could've helped me get a new game or something for it instead…" and started rambling, the ramble born from her irritation at the situation.

Cynthia eased the car into motion and finally stopped teasing her. "Ran," she tried to softly break Ran from the rambling.

"... or taken Leon to get one, he doesn't have one…"

"Orion's like my brother," Cynthia stated simply and abruptly and was satisfied to find Ran to abruptly stop talking in her shock. "Always has been, and I don't know if you've actually been paying enough attention lately to have heard that I'm going with _Leon_ to the school dance. It's the main talk of the school at the moment since I graduated early last year and I can sing at the dance."

Ran still didn't say anything, momentarily speechless, a rarity that usually only Cynthia could make happen.

"He's like my little brother, clueless regarding girls and denser than a brick wall."

Orion suddenly looked up and over at Cynthia, "I hope you're not talking about me, cause I'm not that dense."

"Orion you wouldn't understand romance even if a girl came up and flat out kissed you," Cynthia stated flatly, "half of the girls in your English Class have a crush on you, it's _that_ obvious. Obvious enough that even Leon sees it."

Orion frowned and couldn't find a reply, the comment was definitely a blow to his pride. Of which would vanish in a minutes or two but still. "Rude," he muttered under his breath to avoid Cynthia of hearing him.

"If I was rude I wouldn't have bought you that nice and shiny little device you're holding right there," Cynthia pointed out, "and I can always take it back…"

"You may as well," Orion grumbled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "I can't even get it to work."

Cynthia laughed, beyond amused at the comment, "whatever Orion. See Ran? Nothing to worry about. I'm the pestering older sister and keeps his ego in check."

"I do not have an ego."

"Yes you do," Cynthia replied simply and then snorted at his next words.

"Leon's is way bigger than mine then."

Cynthia suddenly got an alert and without warning Orion, she barely managed to turn sharply before she and Orion were thrown forward from a car hitting the back and crumpling the trunk. Cynthia's head hit the steering wheel before the airbag deployed and likely almost broke her nose. She barely managed to bite her tongue to keep from cursing, one of her bad habits, "Orion," she spluttered thickly through the blood quickly coating her hands and dripping down onto her pants, "you okay?" She felt particularly confused and knew somewhere in the back of her mind she had a concussion.

Orion, who had quickly thrown his arms in front of him nodded, his face was at white as a sheet and his eyes were round but beyond that and the small cuts from shattering windows he was fine. "Y-yeah…"

Cynthia was thrown against the steering wheel again at the other car backed up and hit them again and this time just stayed there, not moving an inch after her head hit the firm steering wheel once again.

Orion was thrown forward harder and hit his head against the dash above the glove box. His vision blurred and he weakly lifted his head to look out of Cynthia's shattered window, only to see a hooded figure doing something near Cynthia's head. He tried to speak, say anything to Ran, or Cynthia, but nothing came out. It was like the hit to the head scrambled his brain and speech. He fought to keep his eyes open against the impending unconsciousness to watch the guy go around the front and go over to him. Only when the hooded figure was close to him could he manage to speak. He needed to know who he was for later reference, so they could get the guy after doing this to them. "Who… are... you?" He croaked and received a short punch to the temple. However, before the blackness settled in he heard a male voice speak.

"Akai Mason is the name that will haunt you forever," the voice spoke in a hushed whisper before Orion's world went completely black.

* * *

 _ **I know I haven't been updating frequently, at the moment I've gotten into an anime called Sword Art Online, and the writing base is rather small, 3k compared to Warriors' 25.7k, so I'm trying to build it up a little and give myself a break from the same characters constantly. I will continue to update if I come up with anything, but the updates are going to continue to be infrequent till I recharge my batteries and release Heartbreak. Plus I reeeaally enjoy writing the SAO (Sword Art Online) stuff at the moment!**_

 _ **I'm not saying this story over, I'm just saying I'm looking for some diversity :P Plus I haven't been getting much support with this story here on anymore, it's easier to write when I know people are still interested in the story :( Especially on a project/story this large, this thing's monster-sized by now, 424,888 words, 133 (including this one) chapters, been up for almost two years, and I'm still working on some of the chapters. I'm aiming for 200 chapters total and either ending it and or starting another one on my Wattpad that's not just warriors, that's all of the fandoms I'm involved in.**_

* * *

 _ **As another side note, I'm actually still healing from my accident in April. Today's my first day walking without a boot and with two shoes on. I can't run, jog, or even jump yet and the injuries have been taking its toll of my body and spirit. It's been how many months since April 27th, almost four, and after having almost no complaints and going from wheelchair, to crutches, and then to two boots it's taking it's toll. There's a few other issues I won't disclose but I'm not looking at a bright future recovery with my ankle. I didn't just break the bones, I broke a lot of the cartilage apparently and so I'm going to have to learn to adjust to my left ankle aching constantly. I doubt I'll be able to properly run for very long because of this. Everyone continues to tell me, "just look at the positive and it'll be fine Caylee," but I'm human and hearing it over and over and not being allowed to just talk about how much it's really bothering me is killing me :(**_


	134. Wilds Explained, AN Announcement

_**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _I will! I definitely will!_

 _Better is a strong word :P It's kinda leveling out at the moment XD_

 _I will keep writing Warriors stuff, just not as often XD Although can you really count these as Warriors anymore? XD_

 _ **~Featherflight123~**_

 _Yeah… Sorry about that :( The A/N I mean, it was pretty heavy._

 _I had fun writing the chapter, I was experimenting with someone else's characters and that's what came out of it XD_

 _I probably won't, I'm physically messed up so I have to get other surgeries for things outside of the accident -_- But I'm still happy, as long as I have my mind I'm a happy camper! Ish :P_

 _I'm not really breaking free, it's more like I'm multitasking! Sometimes I need a break from writing the same characters day in and day out, even though I will be ending this particular story soon._

 _The other Fandom collection I'm working on is called "Little Moments" I'm pretty good at explaining everything in the chapters except for the character's full descriptions, but you're totally welcome to look at it! Btw I am half planning a crossover XD_

 _I'm working non stop of this book, it's gonna be great! Both of them! :D_

 _ **~Briarfeather4fun~**_

 _Believe it or not I actually write stuff for this collection all the time, I just don't always finish and upload them :P But since I'm ending this soon I'm going to uploading every single unfinished and finished piece I have so that you guys can take over with them if you all choose!_

 _Thank you for the support! The support of my reviewers and readers is really what encourages me to write more and more!_

* * *

 _ **Soooo I'm gonna end this collection in two weeks I think. But, I have a plan! The finale is the "Pretending Sequel" which isn't done yet or even half way but it's close to the size of "Boring Office Work"and I'll be uploading all of the finished and unfinished chapters, stories, and idea that I never finished or just never uploaded because I have TONS of those! However, this book isn't complete until "Pretending Sequel" comes out, where I'll change the story status to Complete. This is something I've have to mull over for weeks, I need to end this collection and maybe start another one with possibly the same characters. It's been going on for so long that the pressure I kinda inflict on myself regarding update times is getting to me. This thing is my greatest writing accomplishment so far and it will continue to be for a long time!**_

* * *

 _ **However, I am leaving part of this collection to you guys, my readers. I will be uploading a lot of unfinished chapters, meaning some of them don't have endings, beginnings, or sometimes a middle chunk, and I'll willing to let you guys "Adopt" ones that you want to try to finish for me or find interesting and want to rewrite! So this collection isn't dead, I'm just letting go of the reigns and beginning a different one! I may go back and rewrite some of them eventually, like boring office work, but I'm leaving the collection up to you all!**_

* * *

 _Wilds Explained_

 **This world is currently in 2025 with only slightly heightened technology and brand new access to holo technology and AstroPhysics Tech. Technology fueled off of stars. All through a brilliant minded Dormant Class Wild named Bree. By now Wilds have learned to coincide with humans and they live almost seamlessly to the point where humans can't tell if a wild is a wild before seeing them flipped. Which is where their human ears shift into animals ears and they typically speak in the Wild's Language, a language built off of animal like sounds outside of Wivano, an articulated part of the language.**

* * *

 _Wild's Lore_

Wilds were created back in the late late 1900s through a genetic mutation in an airborne flu virus and was spread through a worldwide pandemic. Most people caught it but only acted like they had caught the flu, leading the world to believe that there wasn't any side effects. However, there was a group with an isolated gene called "Wilagnumtitosis." Which at the time was called the "Wilagn Auto Immune Disease, and Wilagn Stem Gene" that isolated the inner workings of the body and made them typically much stronger, or smarter with one or the other with various specialized stem cells. The group with the Wilagn Stem gene fell gravely ill, under constant delirium and with vivid hallucinations amongst substantial muscle weakness and respiratory issues until they grew comatose, for weeks. During the victims were comatose their DNA changed, the virus bonded to the Wilagn Stem genes and recoded the rest of the essential genes in their bodies.

The first generation of Wilds were unstable, violent, and couldn't communicate properly with normal humans due to their name being undecipherable by humans, but as time went on, the Wilds grew more integrated into normal life, learning how to live alongside humans with their special abilities and strange ways of life.

Religion developed and continued to grow around the idea of a pair of Deities called Xuan, Human Father, and Mizya, Animal Mother. Xuan is said to be the father of the human side of Wilds, the creator of the gene in the first wilds' bodies that changed them. Mizya is said to be the mother of all the Wilds' Wilds, the animal and creature that they are each born with that gives them the special animal abilities. They don't believe in everything humans do, marriage in particular, and yet at the same time they blend their beliefs with the humans they meet and grown up with to create their own moral code and standards.

Wilds don't understand the point of marriage when they're born with essentially a homing beacon for their partner and know exactly what's going on in their partner's head at all times. They know that they will have one partner in life, unless the male's an idiot or a jerk, and learn to love, bond, or live with their partner for the rest of their lives.

Wilds also developed Classifications, groups that certain wilds had certain abilities and the skills that others haven't. Three main classes developed, Vivid, Dormant, and Hibernation.

 **Vivid** **Wilds** are very partner oriented, meaning their sole purpose in life is to find their partner, make them happy, and have a family. They're Wild's personality mirrors their own perfectly or pretty close, and they share something Dormant and Hibernation Wilds don't. Where the other classes simply enjoy physical touch, Vivids need it. They are happier if they're touching their partner somehow, even if it's just holding hands or their arms brushing it provides them with an easier ability to understand what their partner is thinking, feeling, or dreaming about. These guys are also very physically enhanced, with extra strength, speed, metabolism, and etc depending on their Wild's animal whereas the other main classes aren't.

These are also where the term Alpha Wild comes from, Vivid wilds are strong, they are intensely strong wilds and can typically beat another wild sometimes just by looking at them or pushing at another's mental barriers. They can communicate with their partner mentally, they instinctively read their thoughts, judge their emotions and mood, and strive to keep them close and make them happy. A partner and family is everything to a Vivid Wild, they wouldn't bat an eyelash if the entire world got sick as long as their family and partner is safe and happy.

 **Dormant** **Wilds** are all mentally orientated, these are the geniuses in the world. Their priority is solving problems and creating something to benefit mankind, they appreciate and adore having a partner but at the same time it's not a full blown need for them. They had IQs through the roof or some have normal IQs with a specialty that they can beat anyone at, or they hide their true intelligence level afraid of being called a geek or nerd. Dormants have mental prowess, they had a "Mind Scape" a place in their mind that they are visualize, touch, smell, hear, and taste that is essentially their mind. It's typically a room they're familiar with with tweaks here and there to better fit their minds, and it's where they can store, locate, and remember every thought, idea, goal, and dream they have ever had in their lives. Dormant wilds are fully capable at beating a Vivid and becoming an Alpha, but not physically, they usually aren't super athletic, prefering to hone their mind and keep their body healthy without making them seem to crazy.

When it comes to a partner the Dormants have everything the Vivid has: communicate with their partner mentally, instinctively read their thoughts, and judge their emotions and mood, but they can also share dreams. They are so close to their partner in a mental way that they can be clear across the country and neither of them would feel any kind of distance.

 **Hibernation** **Wilds** are rare because they are a wild with the Wilagn Gene and they're already changed and ready to have a wild, but their wild hasn't shown up yeah. To trigger a Hibernation Wild into one of the other two classes, called a Dormant-Hibernation or Vivid-Hibernation, takes a lot of time and the meeting of their partner. Once their partnership kicks in and reaches the Amor milestone their wild will emerge. Hibernation Wilds have the advantage of patience, they have more patience than most other people and WIlds in the world and don't mind being late for something.

* * *

 _Vivid Wild Class Example_

 _(Cynthia and Leon)_

"Ow!" Leon jerked awake, yelped, and rubbed the back of his head where Holly had smacked him rather hard with a book. "What was that for?" He complained in a grunt and sat up, "I was sleeping!"

Holly gave him a disapproving look and pointed with her book at something next to him. "Seriously?"

Leon blinked a few times to really clear his vision and looked over at what she was pointing at, only to be confused. "What's so bad now?" He asked and looked up from his sleeping mate to his sister, "she always does this, you know that. It's not like I kept it a secret." He was talking about how Cynthia seemed to almost always sneak into his room and end up snuggled next to him in the morning whenever she and Miles had a sleep over at his house. It was like she used a GPS to find him and snuggle with him at night when he was there at the same house.

Holly narrowed her eyes and hissed quietly, "if dad finds out Cynthia's been sneaking into your room he's going to have a fit! Even though your mates and all he and mom aren't a big fan of well, this!" She gestured to the pair of Vivid wilds, "Sarah, Cynthia's mom may be fine with this but not our parents!"

"If I didn't know what you're already talking about I would've taken that _a lot_ differently," Leon said with a straight face despite the smirk threatening to spread on his face. "You should be ashamed of yourself Holly."

Holly's face went pink at Leon's teasing about her rather bad choice of words, "oh shut up and help me get Cynthia out of here!" She smacked her brother over the head for emphasis and for payback for the comment.

Leon winced at the hit, "I deserved that," he admitted and kicked off his blankets, careful not to kick Cynthia and have to deal with a very moody Vivid wild. He couldn't really move besides that with Cynthia snuggled to front like a koala bear, her arms and legs wrapped around his torso. "You do realize that I have to do this without waking her up right?" He said to his sister over Cynthia's head as he pushed her up so that he could potentially use his arms and legs even with Cynthia asleep and curled around him. If Cynthia actually woke up properly then he could be in trouble with her and his parents.

"I know, I know," Holly grunted in a hurry, "but dad's coming back from the store in ten minutes so hurry up!"

Leon glared at her before he slowly sat up, supporting Cynthia's back and trying his hardest to not jar her. He could yell in her ear and she wouldn't twitch, but if he moved too sharply it would wake her up with a jolt. He froze when he lurched to one side under her weight and felt her shift and turn her head. He then half frantically started purring, making the noise to mask the movement and put her back to sleep. "Ssshhh," he purred, amber eyes staring half wide eyed at his sleep ridden mate.

Cynthia lifted her head slightly from from the front of Leon's neck and gave a soft puff of air through her nose in the form of a wild's language chuff, " _what's going on?"_ Her eyes were still closed, Leon's purr lulling her into a drowsy state.

" _Nothing, I just went and got some water,"_ Leon rumbled in response through the heavy purr, still staring at her. " _Did I wake you?"_

" _Mmmm"_ Cynthia mumbled and pushed her head into the crook of his neck, her nose touching his neck while her head rested on his shoulder. " _Not really…"_

Leon brushed his fingers lightly through her long hair, " _go back to sleep Cyliani,"_ He leaned over and kissed her forehead, lingering there for a few moments, " _it's still early."_

Cynthia gave a grumble but her body stilled as she fell asleep again, drifting off at Leon's purr and his quiet words in the Wild's language.

Once Cynthia stilled, Leon breathed out a sigh of relief and scooted to the edge of the bed, the sheets rustling as he disturbed the fabric. "Next time if we're caught, we're caught. I'm not risking this again." Cynthia wasn't much of a morning person, she could wake up with no problems, but she didn't really have a filter speech wise in the morning and she often times grouchier than a bear. There were some days when woken up a special way where she wasn't all grumpy, but for the most mornings she was pretty grouchy and snappy. So Leon didn't want to have her wake up and blame him for waking her up.

With an immense amount of caution and Leon just about having a heart attack everytime Cynthia moved a little, Leon managed to make it to his feet. Moving rather awkwardly because of the girl on his front, who he was supporting with one hand and keeping her from falling, he slowly walked toward Holly's room. Cynthia didn't stir as he walked, his repetitive strides working almost like a rocking chair.

Holly followed behind him, keeping an eye and ear out for their father who could come back at any moment.

Leon breathed a sigh of relief when Holly shut her door behind him and took a moment to just breathe. While his sister pulled back the blankets from the lower bunk of her bed, which was practically reserved for Cynthia, and moved away so that Leon could put Cynthia down. If she was startled awake now Leon wasn't going to be too concerned as long as he managed to leave the room before she completely woke up. However, he could sense the intense drowsiness fogging his mate's mind and knew that if she woke up now she would be easily persuadable to go back to sleep.

So Leon carefully knelt on one knee on the bunk and leaned over so that Cynthia's head and shoulders were resting on the bunk. He then carefully slipped her arms from around his neck to be resting next to her body, and reached back to nudge her ankles apart, only to have Cynthia do it herself.

Cynthia blurrily opened her eyes and let him go, unlocking her ankles and putting her feet down on the bed, her knees bent. For a moment Cynthia and Leon just stared at each other, their faces an inch and a half from each other while Leon froze and Cynthia just looked at him.

Leon could tell she was mulling over what she could feel with her senses at the moment in a sluggish fashion, easily able to tell that she was in Holly's room again with the change in scent.

Holly froze as well, not sure how her drowsy and anti-morning best friend would react to where she was.

" _G'morning,_ " Cynthia mumbled then paused before she continued, " _but what're you doing?""_ She moved to lift her head to kiss Leon in a sleepy fashion, because she wanted the innocent physical contact, happier when she was next to him. She felt pretty content at the moment with how drowsy she was, but she preferred to snuggle with him, to drowsy and lazy to do anything else.

However, Leon twisted his head to avoid it and straightened up, " _nuh uh, later Sunshine. Not at six in the morning when I'm saving our butts."_

Cynthia looked confusedly at him, " _what do you mean?"_ She grasped on his wrists with lightning speed despite how slow the rest of her body was working, something Vivids seemed to do a lot. " _Where're you going?"_

Leon gently ruffled her hair, " _back to my room so that I can go back to sleep."_

Cynthia grasped the front of Leon's shirt and pulled to one side. It made Leon lose his balance and fall on his side and Cynthia pinned him there. " _Stay here, with me."_ She said and moved to be cuddled up to his chest instead of her pinning him there.

Leon hesitated before he sighed, " _can't, my dad's here."_ As he said that though he vibrated his vocal cords in a low purr and ran his fingers through Cynthia's loose black hair. " _We'd get in trouble if I did."_

" _Hmm… I don't care,"_ Cynthia decided in a sleepy rumble and pushed her face into his shirt, " _I'm not here right now for you to listen to your dad."_

"Leon…" Holly warned after she noticed the indecisive look in his amber eyes, "you'll get us all into trouble…"

Leon sighed and pulled Cynthia closer by the waist, " _I'll stay here till you fall asleep,"_ he rubbed softly. " _Only till then though."_

Cynthia didn't respond, already mostly asleep.

* * *

 _Dormant Wild Class Example_

 _(Bree and Jay)_

 _Bree ~ 18_

 _Jay ~ 17 1/2_

 _ **Bree?**_

 _Hmm?_ Bree responded to Jay's question as the eighteen-year-old tapped her white pencil against her chin, staring down at the blueprint paper in front of her as she calculated exactly how much energy a car would take from a dying star seven times the size of the sun. She didn't need to write it down, practically able to see it in her head as she worked it out. She figured it wouldn't be much if it also had a body painted with a special chemical compound that practically doubled as a massive solar panel.

 _ **What're you up to?**_ Jay was sitting on the floor in his house reading a book, stuck at home with his parents, younger brother, and Cynthia while Bree was visiting her mother in Vyliea. It was a well known fact that Bree's parents had split up back when she was little and over something stupid as she had told them. Till he developed a partnership with her and found out it was because she was a wild. So the pair of them were roughly ten thousand miles away from each other and it felt like nothing. He could feel Bree's whirring mind pressed next to his as per usual, and could tell she was working on an equation he didn't understand half of. _**I doubt a rocket scientist can follow along with what're you're working on.**_ He lightly teased.

 _Eh, it's AstroPhysics,_ Bree snorted at the confusion she felt on Jay's end and almost smirked, _basically I want to fuel a car with the power of dying stars in our universe to prevent more black holes and put extra energy into our sun in the first place._

 _ **And to say you have a car powered by the stars?**_ Jay snorted, _**isn't that a little far to go with wanting to say that?**_

Bree rolled her eyes and rolled her pencil along her palm back and forth, leaning her chin on her other hand, _not really, it solves a problem in the universe and I get bragging rights right? Not that I really need any more of those._

Jay laughed out loud and caused Leon and Cynthia to jump in surprise and stare at him. He waved them off and spoke to Bree, _**you have bragging rights about creating holographic technology, a bullet proof spray that can charge your phone from the impact, and you have a AI that does everything.**_

 _True…_ Bree grinned, _what can I say? I like building things! Plus I'm tired of refueling my car,_ she deadpanned, _after refueling it six times just to get here I'm determined to fix it._

 _ **You did drive ten THOUSAND miles Bree,**_ Jay pointed out, _**I'm surprised you didn't have to refill it more than that.**_

 _Blegh, six times is enough. Although this does mean I can build that morphing tech in the car so that Lion can morph… What if I programmed it to morph into a cat?! Then I can finally have a cat!_

 _ **You're still hung up over the fact that I'm allergic to cats and we're moving in together so we can't have a cat?**_ Jay gawked, _**if you wanted a cat that bad you could've just made something that could end my allergies.**_

 _No, I only just remembered about it because my AI is named Lion,_ Bree snorted, _so I want a cat and it want to make it Lion. Hmm… Maybe if I made it so that he could actually meow, then he could pass off as being a real cat-_

 _ **And not a morphing AI that seem a little scary when it's a talking cat?**_

 _Yeah… Oh well, I'll figure it out later. You miss me yet?_ Bree teased cheekily, knowing full well what he would say.

 _ **You haven't gone anywhere,**_ Jay shrugged, _**I can still talk to you, I can still feel your mind working a million miles an hour and I can still talk to you in our dreams.**_

 _I don't know why, but I never get tired of hearing that,_ Bree smiled, _it's always been an interesting concept to me._

 _ **Well I get to see the mature side of you, which is odd in of itself,**_ Jay pointed out, _**you're rarely not hyper outside of your head.**_

 _Well yeah,_ Bree scoffed, _my head's got too many problems to solve and my body has too much energy. Mash them together and you get mature mind and hyperactive body._

Jay snorted, _**You're still hyperactive in your head, it leaks into your mind.**_

 _Leaks! That's it!_ Bree grinned, proving Jay's point completely, _I could kiss you right now!_

 _ **I'll take your word for it,**_ Jay said, particularly confused, _**what needs to leak?**_

 _The solar radiation that comes off of the dying star needs to leak into some kind of wireless system that converts the energy to light and back again..._


	135. Jay's Prank, Camping Aftermath

_**~SnowCrystal of ThunderClan~**_

 _Hey, just because I'm ending this doesn't mean I'm not writing anymore! I'm going to write smaller more specialized collections that are deeper than these are :P If you think these are good just wait and see some of the stuff that gonna be in Vividly Beautiful (A collection for Cynthia and Leon as wilds) and a possible WHSS 2 :P_

 _Of course! My book's release date is in December, I just need to work on the draft and make a cover now :D_

 _ **~Featherflight123~**_

 _I know, I love Cynthia and Leon's relationship too :D Especially as wilds, they're adorable for the most part, besides the few times Cynthia gets all mad then it's straight up hilarious!_

 _I know what you mean, Bree and Jay are more relatable and Cynthia and Leon are mainly just flat out cute :P_

 _I actually designed Cynthia and Leon to be a kind of "Model Relationship" that has its moments but are super cute and you either hate or love. While I designed Bree and Jay to be a classic but relatable "Opposites attract." I wanted three very different relationships for the main characters, so each of them are designed to be one of the three "categories." Cynthia and Leon are "Perfect & Complicated," Bree and Jay are "Opposites Attract," and Holly and Finli are "Reserved but Beautiful."_

 _Alright! Well the unfinished chapters are going to start being uploaded after this chapter because it's the last one I have finished! I have 11 lined up and ready to upload at the moment, so let me know which one(s) you want to adopt and I'll make sure to edit the chapter to include that at the top of the chapter! :D_

* * *

 _ **One last finished Wilds chapter before I begin to upload the unfinished ones… It feels bittersweet I think, makes me nostalgic thinking about all of the previous Wild chapters…**_

 _ **But, I will be starting two small collections with Cynthia and Leon, and Bree and Jay. However, keep in mind if you read them when I release them (Vividly Beautiful, Latently Perfect) that they are deeper theme wise, writing wise, and a lot of the scenes and details are deeper as well :D**_

 _ **Anyway, here we go, open the floodgates! XD**_

* * *

 _Jay's Prank, Camping Aftermath_

 _Cynthia ~ 18_

 _Leon ~ 18_

Holly jumped a mile at the sound of a vase smashing against the floor. "StarClan!" She yelped and put one hand over her pounding heart. She had been absorbed in her latest book called "Ravaged Heart" and the sound had nearly given her a heart attack.

"What's going on in there?" Skylar's voice was warning from the kitchen where she couldn't see who or what had knocked over the vase and made the sound.

"You two!" Holly hissed softly at the pair of younger teens, Cynthia and Leon, "mom's going to kill you and Cynthia, Leon!"

The pair of young adults were next to the broken vase, Cynthia perched on the corner table where the vase had been, with two handfuls of Leon's shirt. The blue eyed wild had an odd expression on her face like she couldn't decide if she hated the hair on Leon's face or actually liked it. She seemed a little more on the 'liked it' side with how she looked like she was going to pull Leon into another kiss. That could be from her medicated heat at the moment as well, while she did have a medication in her system that dulled her heat she still had her moments where she was all partner oriented and a nutcase.

Leon was standing in front of her, leaning forward and down to account for Cynthia's current lack of height, he had pretty much just woken up. As shown by the blonde scruffy hair on his face, rumpled pj pants, marvel t-shirt, and sleep in his amber eyes. He and Jay had just gotten back from a week long hiking and camping trip with their dad, and apparently Brad had told them to not bring a razor so Leon was currently rather scruffy bearded. Which his mate was intrigued by and he was too sleepy and tired to care all that much about. "Then don't tell her it was us," Leon hissed back to his sister in a sleepy fashion as their brother came down the stairs.

Unlike Leon, Jay was cleaned up, with a slight smirk on his face. He was teasing Bree, all three of the siblings knew about it and he had been spending a month on it while she was in Vyliea finishing up her latest break in technology. So to tease his all knowing partner he had changed one of his physical traits, goofing off and teasing her by keeping a trimmed goatee. She had no idea, and Cynthia and Holly were there to see her reaction since the two brothers had been staying that their parents' for the night. Even though Cynthia was clearly very occupied by her mate.

Cynthia seemed to not notice that she had knocked the vase off of the short table when she decided to sit there, and instead leaned forward and brushed her lips over Leon's. Giggling slightly at the tickling sensation caused by Leon's facial hair.

Leon's lips twitched into a sleepy smile, "mornin' Sweetheart," he mumbled in a very southern sounding sentence from his sleep slur. "Wha'd you think?"

Cynthia brushed her cheek against the semi soft blonde hair and laughed, "you're like a big lion Leo."

"Uh huh," Leon responded with a smile and he kissed her nose, "it's my mane."

Cynthia released his shirt and lifted her hands, putting her hands on both sides of her mate's face and feeling the hair tickle her skin. "I thought that was your super styled hair up here," she ruffled his extremely messy hair, "but I do like it… a little."

"He looks like a mountain man," Jay snorted and rolled his eyes, "I've never seen anyone grown that much hair in a week."

"If I kept it I would trim it and stuff," Leon snapped at his brother, "not everyone has the slow hair growth of a snail that you have."

Jay narrowed his eyes, "you've been away from Cynthia for too long." He decided gruffly before going toward the door.

"What does that supposed to mean?" Leon huffed and moved away from his mate and straightened up completely.

"It means you're grouchy, snappy, irritable, and more annoying than Jay is-"

"Shut up Holly."

Holly responded for her brother and stood up before leading her younger brother toward the couch "-so you need to eat whatever mom's making, relax with Cynthia, and for StarClan sake give me my friend back!" She huffed and pushed him down onto the couch, Cynthia following after Leon, her attention fixated on him.

Leon looked blankly at Holly even as Cynthia dropped down onto the couch next to him and rested against him, her blue eyes still fixed on his facial hair.

"She's in heat," Holly explained with a roll of her eyes, "she's been more moody than ever, rambles occasionally thanks to this medication, and doesn't shut up about you."

"This medication sucks," Cynthia mumbled in addition for Holly's words, "I hate it more than the other ones so far."

"Whatever, can we all just calm down and wait for Bree to get here?" Jay asked rather sharply, "I've been waiting for this all month for her reaction and you guys are not ruining it."

"Right," Holly pulled out her phone and opened a recording app after glancing at her text messages. "She's on her way here from her dad's house, should be here any second."

"You recording it?" Jay asked a little grumpily, "she's walking up the stairs right now."

"Yes Jay, I'm recording it," Holly smirked, "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Hardly a few seconds later the door unlocked from someone using a key and pushed it open, revealing Bree in her typical rather scattered appearance.

Bree was wearing blue jeans and a half sleeve shirt, a white hoodie with the words "Yes I'm who you think I am," on the back, dark gray converse, and had her wavy brown hair up in a messy bun with a drafting pencil and a metallic pen holding it together. She seemed just a little moody with how she was shoving her phone into her pocket and mumbling about stupid rich companies and their idiocy tendencies. She had a satchel slung over one shoulder and had a cat trotting happily at her heels, icy blue eyes roaming around curiously. The creature looked completely life like with cat tendencies, realistic looking eyes, thick golden fur, and smooth movements. However, everyone knew that it was only Lion in his cat form, his preferred form when he wasn't inserted into his car form. "Sorry I'm late!" The brunette quickly apologized as she turned and shut the door behind her, "I forgot how stupid companies can be and I didn't want to seem rude leaving a meeting that early!"

"It's fine Bree, there wasn't a set time," Jay rolled his eyes at his mate's nonsense rambling apologies and pushed his hands into his pockets. "Leon just barely got up anyway."

Bree's expression when she turned around was priceless. Her eyes widened like golf balls, her eyebrows rose a decent amount and her jaw slackened. "Did you really?" She asked, still full of shock and surprise. "Did you seriously grow a goatee for when I got back?"

Jay grinned a genuine grin before he smirked and nodded, "I did, what do you think Bree?" He, in a rare moment of playfulness, spun around in a circle before he grinned at her.

Bree burst out laughing, doubling over and laughing till tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

Jay knew she wasn't laughing at his new goatee, instead she was laughing at the situation. She had told him specifically to not grow some kind of facial hair while she was gone because she wouldn't know if he did and so he went and did it. So he grinned and waited till she straightened up, "come on, mine's not as ugly as Leon's is, right?"

"You're so lucky I don't get up and punch you," Leon grumbled from his position now lying on the couch with Cynthia curled up and snuggled with him. She was brushing her fingers through his scruffy facial hair with soft blue eyes, clearly the facial hair made him seem more like his Wild to her, it made him look more like the Alpha Male of a lion orientated Wild that he already was.

Bree straightened up and brushed the mirthfilled tears from her eyes and smiled brightly at Jay before she moved closer and touched his face. "It looks great Jay," she said through more than a few stifled giggles, "definitely fits you now that you're not a teen anymore." Her amber eyes softened and a hint of her wild could be seen in her eyes as she spoke, "fits you perfectly."

Jay smirked a confident smirk, "I know it does."

* * *

 _ **I think Jay should have at least a small amount of facial hair, it fits him perfectly :P Leon on the other hand… Maybe a 5 o'clock shadow, but beyond that I don't really see him having any :P**_


	136. Werewolf (Unfinished) 1

_**Werewolf**_

 _ **(Unfinished)**_

 **Title:** _Not So Human Anymore_

 **Summary: Cynthia Lawson is an anomaly. In all of one day, she's gone from an athletic and a rather popular human to a mated werewolf with no idea what in the world she's supposed to do with the rest of her now timeless life. Her life's been tipped upside down and yet for some strange reason, she perfectly happy with it.**

 **Main Characters:** _Cynthia, Leon, Holly, and Jay_

* * *

 _Not So Human Anymore_

A normal day didn't consist of Holly's older cousin come drop by Cynthia and Holly's college dorm room. Nor did it consist of Cynthia putting literally no effort into her appearance when she took Holly and Jay to the airport where he was supposedly waiting. However, he was a full-blooded werewolf, so technically Cynthia supposed he could've just run to the college from the airport with his super speed and stamina. His cousins, Holly and Jay, were vampires, new and born as ones.

So Cynthia had grown up living beside a pair of vampires and learned the art of dodging or avoiding either of them when they were hungry. Besides that she had a good life, she was in college with an art and chemistry double major, had a healthy social life, acted how a normal nineteen-year-old girl would act, and usually managed to hide the fact that her best friends were supernaturals from her friend Asym's parents. However, Cynthia often times wished for some kind of action, she was bored out of her mind with school and life in general. Hence why she was sitting in a car with a rather chatty Holly and grumpy Jay. That boy wouldn't know excitement if slapped him in the face.

"... you'll like him, Cindy," Holly was saying when Cynthia actually tuned back into the conversation, "Leon's seriously your type."

Cynthia snorted, "an athlete? I'm sure. But don't get your hopes up, Holly. I know you'd love having your cousin live here and him having a relationship would probably bind him here, but he's also a player remember? And a werewolf? I do not date supernaturals. You two and Bree are hard enough to keep track of and control." Bree was their mage like friend, she was supernatural with how she could literally use magic to bend physics, and she loved it.

"You haven't even seen him, Cynthia," Holly pointed out with a bright smile, the studious girl's emerald green eyes were gleaming slightly. "I bet you'll change your mind once you meet him."

"How much?" Cynthia responded with a rather smug smirk as she parked the car and turned off the engine. She fixed her sapphire blue eyes on Holly, "I've got a twenty."

Holly grinned, "Sure, twenty dollars that you'll be attracted to Leon."

Cynthia shook her head, "nuh uh, twenty that I'll actually like him outside of his appearance you nerd." she lightly teased.

Holly rolled her eyes, "fine." She dug a twenty dollar bill out of her slim and small icy green purse and held it out to Cynthia.

Cynthia pulled out a neat bill out of her wallet before she twisted to look at Jay in the backseat, "what about you Jay?"

The grouchy loner pulled his earbuds out of his pale skinned ears and looked over at her, icy blue eyes piercing and as grouchy as usual. His black hair partially covered his left eye. "What about me?" He asked gruffly as he ran one hand through his black hair to pull it up and away from his eyes, making the top spiky and reveal both of his sharp icy blue eyes.

Cynthia rolled her eyes even as Holly faced her brother as well, "that I'll like Leon outside of his appearance."

Jay rolled his eyes, "you? Cynthia, you'll fall on your face." He put one of his headphones back in, "Leon has the enhanced werewolf appearance and a goofy jock of a personality. I'd be surprised if you didn't do anything with him."

Cynthia blushed and harrumphed before she turned around, "ouch, I'm not liking my chances here."

"You're a human girl about to meet a male Alpha werewolf," Jay deadpanned as he opened his car door and put in his other earbud. "If you don't like him there's something wrong with you."

"Oh whatever," Cynthia responded breezily and placed the two twenties onto the dash. Before she then sneezed when Jay pushed a twenty bill of his own under her nose in a flash and left the car.

"Bless you," Holly laughed at Cynthia's contorted expression before she too got out of the car. "Come on Cynthia! I can hear that money calling me!"

"It's mine," Jay shot back at his sister, "you only said if she likes him. I said she'd actually do something with him."

"Ugh fine…" Holly rolled her eyes, "we'll share it." her voice changed playful as she ducked into the car where Cynthia was placing the money under a sheet of paper on the dashboard, "if Cynthia ever gets her butt out of the car!"

Cynthia rolled her eyes and opened her door and exited the small car, "I'm going, I'm going. If I didn't know better I would change my bet to bet that you two are purposely setting me up with Leon."

Holly grinned sheepishly while Jay mimicked someone throwing up.

"Oh grow up you old man," Cynthia rolled her eyes at Jay's actions and walked around the front of the car to them. "Romance is not gross. You're in a relationship with a magician for heaven's sake."

Jay's pale cheeks lit up with a pink blush and he grunted, "shut it human."

Cynthia smirked, "how about never?" She leaned against the side of her car with a smirk, "face it, you can't get rid of me without Holly killing you." At her words Holly laughed, her sharp and slightly longer canines glinting in the light.

Jay glowered at the human woman, "just wait… one day when Bree and Holly aren't around I will get rid of you."

"I don't think so-"

"Wow, are you guys lazy or what?" A new voice said from behind Cynthia, the voice was a tenor with the smooth hint of a player and the rough gravely underlay of a werewolf. "You made me walk all by myself over to your car."

Cynthia turned around with a start and could barely breathe. _Oh my gosh..._ "Jay wins," she decided in a semi-weak tone. Good grief she had no idea what she had been getting herself into! She could tell the guy in front of her was around her age, with the build of a lean football player and the clean cut muscle of a werewolf.  
"Hooray…"  
The guy in front of Cynthia had soft looking golden blonde hair swept back with it being longer on the top and short on the sides into a fade at the base, amber eyes that were warm like a fire but also held a slightly untamed aspect from his werewolf nature, a height of easily six-two and tan skin like he had lived in the sun for years. He had was half slacker look going with a rather close fitting creamy colored t-shirt under an unbuttoned white collared shirt rolled up at the elbows, rugged blue jeans, and black high tops. However, the half cocky half smug smirk that was tugging at his lips was the only thing that actually annoyed her. Of which dropped half a second later and he just stared at her, and unreadable expression on his face.

"I'm Cynthia, Holly's human best friend," Cynthia said with a megawatt smile, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Leon?" Holly asked her cousin in confusion after he said nothing and continued to stare at the blue-eyed human. "Something wrong?"

"I…" Leon responded before he vigorously shook his head to clear it, "I never knew a werewolf could have a human mate until now."

* * *

"How about never?" Leon couldn't help but smirk at the voice, sure it was beautiful and it made his wolf wanna hunt down the source, but it was highly amusing as well. "Face it, you can't get rid of me without Holly killing you." So that was the girl Holly had told him about, Cynthia, he believed. A human artist in the middle of college and with a rather sarcastic tongue.

He then heard his cousin Jay's voice and followed it from where he had been wandering around looking for his cousins. "just wait… one day when Bree and Holly aren't around I will get rid of you." He could see the back of a woman leaning against the car in a hoodie and fleece pj pants like she had been woken up to get them there.

"I don't think so-"

"Wow, are you guys lazy or what?" Leon butted in abruptly as he finally made it to them, now smirking. "You made me walk all by myself over to your car." Then the woman turned around and Leon's mouth went dry.

 _ **Mark her!**_ His wolf, Milo snarled insistently at the complete sight of the woman who Leon knew to be Cynthia. _**Ours!**_

 _Shut up! She's human!_ Leon snapped back dimly.

"Jay wins," Cynthia said weakly, not that Leon noticed.

Leon rarely stuck to one girl, finding humans annoying and unreliable, but this one could make him change his entire thought process. She was shorter than him, but not by much, roughly about five-ten, with sapphire blue eyes that sparkled with life and right now a fascination in him, long black hair pulled up in a semi-sloppy high ponytail, a light blue tank-top beneath a partially unzipped white hoodie, fleece PJ pants with paint splatters, and grey converse. Sure she was literally dressed in one of the laziest ways possible, but to him, she was beautiful beyond belief. Her skin was lightly tanned with light freckles scattered along it, her build was one of a runner despite her clear art orientation, her eyes were almond shaped, and her nose was cutely small. He could feel the werewolf mate bound the connection to her even though she probably had no clue why he was staring at her at all. _She's human,_ he reminded himself and Milo, _she's human, fragile and tame._

"Leon?" Holly asked Leon in confusion after he said nothing and continued to stare at the blue-eyed human. "Something wrong?"

"I…" Leon responded weakly before he vigorously shook his head to clear all thoughts of Cynthia being his mate out of his mind and to fix his focus. It was hard pulling his gaze away from the beautiful woman, even though he didn't want to be tied down and stuck with a relationship with no if ands or buts. "I never knew a werewolf could have a human mate until now." He admitted before clearing his throat, "um, Milo likes Cynthia." He didn't want to delve into the details with a human present.

He saw Cynthia's eyes widen and she spoke, "I'm your mate? But I'm human, and I've never seen a werewolf besides you before! I thought mates were only between werewolves!"

"Well um yeah, you are." She was more observant than Leon gave her credit for. "

* * *

 **Scene # 2**

Cynthia cried out when Leon bit down on her neck near her collarbone, screaming in pain at the sensation of fire filling her veins.

"No, no, no," Leon immediately pulled away from her and carefully lowered Cynthia to the ground when her knees buckled, "Great Luna, I'm so sorry! I forgot!" He knelt down and put her head in his lap as she yelled and cried, tears welling in her blue eyes from the pain of the werewolf venom now coursing through her body. He fumbled with his phone for a second before he managed to call Holly and fidgeted. He didn't know the curse for werewolf venom, either they turned or they died, but his sister probably knew one. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," his whispered as he gently ran his fingers through her black hair, "I forgot you were human…" Then his sister picked up, "Alphas above!" He cursed in werewolf slang, "Holly I accidentally bit Cynthia!"

"WHAT!" Holly's voice made Leon cringe as it made his sensitive ears sting painfully, "where are you?"

"At your dorm," Leon responded in a ramble, "I was dropping her off when my wolf seized control and bit her like he wanted to mark her till he remembered she was human and the venom's deadly-"

"Leon focus," Holly snapped, "is she foaming at the mouth or are her lips turning blue?"

Leon narrowed his eyes and peered down at Cynthia. "Foam!" He responded as he noticed the white foam bubbling at Cynthia's mouth now through the pain-filled groans she was making.

"Thank goodness," Holly sighed, "she's turning, it's gonna take a week for the full change but she's turning, she's not dying."


	137. Disability Blues (Unfinished) 2

**Title:** _Disability Blues_

 **Summary:** _Breanna Grayas was born with multiple physical issues, leaving the beautiful girl growing up in a wheelchair and in a series of hospitals for most of her life. At nineteen, four years ago, a girl a year younger than her arrived at the hospital. Now they're practically siblings, and when a group of siblings comes to input new technology, she finds someone who understands her. But will that understanding help him see beyond her physical limits?_

 **Main Characters:** _Bree, Jay, Cynthia, Leon, and Holly_

* * *

 _Disability Blues_

Bree shyly brushed her bangs from her face and shrugged, leaning forward on her arms on the armrests of the wheelchair and gazing out at the setting sun beyond the beath. "I've never had anyone show interest in me beyond friendship," she admitted quietly, "I'm paralyzed as you can clearly see, and most people take one look at me and turn the other way." She smiled through her rather sad words, "guys don't like a girl who can't stand up next to them, people perceive people like me so differently that it's something I've gotten used to over the years." The young woman gazed out at the sun, her dark brown hair billowing slightly in the wind, "I may have an IQ that surpasses Einstein and am the creator of a lot of technology, but I've never met someone willing to look past my paralysis."

Jay looked at the woman sitting in the wheelchair next to him, he could tell that she meant every word of what she said and he knew what it felt like. "I used to be blind," he admitted, "it's why I can get along with disabled people as well as I can. I understand exactly how it feels to be isolated, treated differently, and not seen as any kind of partner. Cynthia's an exception," he nodded to where the black-haired woman was sitting on the sand with her dog next to her, the metal casing of her left arm glinting brightly in the moonlight.

"I love Cynthia like a sister, but it's not the same," Bree admitted quietly, "it's different seen as a disabled person who still can't stand up after six years of physical therapy and three surgeries on my spine." She leaned back in her chair, the air tube in her nose shining a little in the setting sun. "The respiratory issues don't help at all either."

"Instead of being seen as disabled, Cynthia's seen as a cripple, which isn't any better," Jay pointed out quietly, "and she's had multiple surgeries too and is a veteran at twenty-three." He leaned his arms on his bent knees, "at that age she should be out there learning her career, meeting a guy, dating, and possibly engaged. Not sitting here at this special hospital for years learning to live with a permanent limp, a partial prosthetic, and seizures. Just like you shouldn't be overlooked."

Bree chuckled, "I'm out here because they have the equipment and because they have the tools I need to do what I do best and that invents and create things."

"I know, and your friends have been worried since they called me and my siblings in for you and Cynthia."

Bree shrugged, "you're welcome to try and help, I'm always open to someone's help, but unless you or your brother happen to like either of us we've kinda stuck here Jay. Cynthia can't leave till they can fix the seizures without causing any brain damage and I'm stuck here essentially till I get sick enough that I can't keep going." She looked at him a little sadly, "I'm not all that unhappy, I have my AIs, Cynthia, Mia, and everyone else here."

Jay looked sadly back, he knew exactly what she was wanting and knew that it was the only thing he couldn't give to her. "You want a partner," he said quietly, "someone to love you and make you feel normal, that you can have everything everyone else can have."

Bree nodded softly, "yeah, and it's the one thing that can't be rushed or forced." She looked over at Cynthia who was watching Leon sprint off down the beach and into the water, "even Cynthia-"

"-Just wants a normal romance," another voice spoke as she sat down next to Jay. "Cynthia wants recognition for what she's done and a romance as well, with someone she could feel normal around."

Bree smiled, "I was wondering where you went off to Holly, researching no doubt?"

Holly smiled softly at her, "researching and setting up a few things." She pointed at Cynthia and then at her brother swimming around in the ocean, "Cynthia likes Leon, she's had her eyes on him all afternoon and evening."

"Cynthia's a free spirit," Bree shrugged before she gave a small cough and took a deep breath before continuing to speak. "She's forward and blunt regarding stuff like that, I wouldn't be surprised if she kissed him by tonight." She watched her friend force herself to her feet and limp toward the water with a smile, "she's going to take advantage of her opportunity to having a guy around that seems mildly interested in her."

Holly looked surprised, "you can tell Leon's interested in her?"

Bree laughed, "most guys are, despite her crippled status she doesn't look any different to a normal person if you catch her without the brace on and if she's sitting down somewhere. She can easily get someone's attention, but it's the keeping it is the issue she has. It's hard when she limps all the time and has seizures. It's a turn away factor that your brother seems unfazed by." She watched with a faint smile as Cynthia waded into the water after Leon, yelling something to him, "Leon's a player right?"

"Yeah, for the most part," Holly admitted while Jay listened to their conversation, "why?"

"I'm just making sure," Bree shrugged, "Cynthia will have no problem taking advantage of her time in a player's spotlight if anything she'll enjoy it..."


	138. Inner Animal (Unfinished) 3

**Werewolf #2**

 **Title:** _Inner Animal_

 **Summary:** _Growing up Cynthia had been told about Vampires and supernatural creatures, but she had been told for years that they weren't real. Until she came face to face with a blonde werewolf who had deep amber eyes that made her breath hitch and her cheek turn pink. Hardly a month later her life took a drastic that introduced her to the animal hiding inside of her._

 **Main Characters:** _Cynthia, Leon, Holly, Brendon, and Fin._

* * *

 _Inner Animal_

Cynthia gazed up silently at the dark night sky, her blue eyes fixed on the white moon shining high up in the sky. Sure as a child she had heard about the stories of werewolves and vampires, just like everything other child, but she had never expected any of the lore to actually be true. She sighed and lifted one hand to her right shoulder, lightly rubbing the blue marked skin beneath her soft cotton t-shirt. And now here she was, technically called a werewolf and with a guy who was a hybrid of both a werewolf and a vampire. She seriously had terrible luck, she honestly did. She lowered her gaze toward the woods below the outcropping she was sitting on with her legs dangling over. It was full moon at the moment, and rapidly approaching moon high, where the moon was perpendicular to the ground. She was waiting, both for Leon wherever he may be, and for that odd feeling for when she actually changed, shifting into the rather small silver spotted wolf her other form was.

It was kinda funny, Cynthia could admit, the kids of a family she had grown up with were apparently vampires. New vampires definitely since she had literally grown up with them, but vampires all the same. Then they're older brother roughly her age came to visit and she literally fell flat on her face for him. Leon was darn near perfect in her opinion, even with the whole vampire-werewolf hybrid he was, and when she was through her second year of college her mother had been driving her insane about how she needed to date more and settle down. Of which she was very reluctant to. She had had some pretty bad experiences as a teenager, in particular with a guy named Ashton, and had resolved to never get herself into that kind of situation again.

"And now look at where I am," Cynthia signed out loud and let her arms drop to her lap, "I'm a werewolf with a hybrid mate and hiding from my parents," she mused before giving a rather loud snort of amusement. "I'm sure my mom's thrilled that my dad told her instead of me telling her."

The word mate felt weird on her tongue, it was such an animalistic word, one that never regarded people that it was still hard to wrap her head around. It was hard to get used to without Leon around when he was actually around she felt like the word was natural, but away from him she usually got tongue tied around the other supernaturals and kinda just trailed off. Of course, alternating between saying "he's my fiance" to normal people and "he's my mate" to other supernaturals didn't help all that much. Plus she was feeling a little fuzzy in the head at the moment, it was something that would fade in the next few minutes and come back tomorrow and it was because of her upcoming heat. This was her third one so far, it happened the first week of every month so far and she had to be extremely careful. Locked up in her and Holly's room because she practically turned into a raging tiger careful. Last time she had pretty much trashed her and Holly room of the girls' house and broken more than a few counters downstairs due to her enhanced strength and raging emotions. It was like she was in a fit of rage whenever Leon was off doing whatever Leon did when he wasn't with her or their group of saving the world supernaturals, and if he wasn't paying enough attention to her. If he was then she was like a docile cat, very calm, quiet, and affectionate. Outside of the moments Holly affectionately called her "Wild Animal Moments" where she kinda just spazzed, pushing Leon back and breaking something in the process with how hard she pushed him amongst other things, anyway.

Cynthia felt the odd pull in her gut as the moon reached the proper point and she took a deep breath before letting it out slowly and shutting her eyes. It didn't hurt if she was relaxed and she wanted to change, otherwise, it hurt like no tomorrow and felt like every muscle in her body was contracting and moving. She would change under incredibly stressful situations in particular at night, and she would attack anything that moved, hence the whole werewolf not so friendly part. She kept her mind though, it just adopted this longing for the hunt and the smell of blood, which sounded terrible. Normally she could keep from changing at something that sent her adrenaline racing and her heart pumping with fear, but there was the occasional button that could be pushed that would send her over the edge and make it look like she had a seizure as she fought the change.

Moments later Cynthia opened her eyes and blinked, readjusting to her vision sharping to about twenty times better than her normally terrible vision. She couldn't really see anything at the moment due to the fabric covering her head and tickling her thick fur. She groaned and inwardly cursed, she had forgotten to grab her ring again. Her ring caused her clothes to change with her, turning into this cute little spotted blue bandana around her neck instead of a pile that she would be stuck in. _Come on, I really like this shirt too…_ She complained as she tried to carefully move the light blue shirt with leather ties part way down the front without her rather sharp claws tearing through it like butter. She hated this part, it was never fun trying to not tear her clothes if she forgot the ring. Then her vision cleared and she was looking up at a smirking black haired girl with pale skin.

"You are terrible at remembering this thing," Holly laughed before the clothing vanished and the girl was left holding a blue bandana. "I saw it on the dresser and figured you wouldn't want to deal with ruining your clothes again."

Cynthia's silver ears perked up and she wagged her fluffy tail, feeling impatience and excitement coursing through her veins. She felt a building sense of freedom, she loved and hated full moon, it made her feel sick during the day and free from everything at night.

Holly carefully tried the bandana around Cynthia's neck before she gave a bright smile, her slightly elongated and much sharper canines highly visible in the darkness of night. "Go get him," she laughed before running off, barely a blur as her super speed kicked in and she ran back to the house.

Cynthia wet her black nose with her tongue before the werewolf tilted her head back and howled, her body going rigid for no more than a split second before she leaped off of the outcrop and disappeared into the undergrowth with a decent crash.

A lower resounding male werewolf howl was heard a second later in response to Cynthia's own howl, Leon had returned.


	139. Outcasted Engineer (Unfinished) 4

_**Apocalypse # 1**_

 **Title:** _Outcasted Engineer_

 **Summary:** _Cynthia's well known in the apocalyptic country as one of the last remaining chemical engineers. However, she's also known to be particularly anti-social with her strained relationship with the leader of one of the largest survival groups. Besides that, she's rumored to have a hidden relationship with the lead field scavenger Leon and is known to disappear for hours on end with no one catching even a glimpse of her. However, the tables have turned. It's now up to Cynthia to push past her strained relationship with Holly and do something for the greater good of all the survivors._

 **Main Characters:** _Cynthia, Brittany, Leon_

* * *

 _Outcasted Engineer_

 _Cynthia ~ 26_

 _Leon ~ 25_

Rapid knocking on the door of the safe house and Cynthia's personal base awoke the chemical engineer who everyone knew rarely enjoyed having other people around since after her father was killed and her friend essentially left her to die. She was only friends with a few people, Breanna Grayas and Jay Bramble mainly, while it was rumored that she and Leonardo Bramble, a man belonging to a different survivor group, were in a relationship despite Cynthia's strained relationship with the group he belonged to. Cynthia had known all three of them since she was a teen during the earlier stages of the outbreak. Those who grew up around her and the Brambles knew that Cynthia's parents, in exchange for a favor and a promise, had promised her to Leon on top of everything else. However, nowadays Cynthia was rarely seen with him and his sister, more commonly seen with his cousin Jay and Jay's fiance Bree who was working with her to create a mass produced cure for the outbreak that would also return living infected back to normal humans.

Cynthia blinked open her sapphire blue eyes and sat up, pushing the blankets off and registering that Leon had left at some point during the night. She picked up the beat up pistol her father had carried before he was killed along with the slim dagger like knife she carried around with her usually tucked into her front jeans pocket. Cynthia tapped on the device on her wrist, which flickered to life and showed what exactly was banging on her door at six in the morning. _Brittany again,_ she rolled her eyes, that younger woman got in more trouble than she had ever seen someone else get into and most people came to her for help. Despite how she was tempted to leave the door shut and let the infected following her get to her, she pressed a small button on her wrist device and activated the electric fence she had turned off to conserve power and went toward the door. "Brittany," she spoke through the door as she reached it, "what did I tell you last time you woke me up banging at my door at six thirty?"

"Not to do it," The Survivor Runner responded breathlessly, "but I need your help!"

"With what?" Cynthia leaned casually against the door, waiting patiently for her to explain herself. The isolated survivor was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, both of which were clean thanks to her chemical solutions mixed with some of Bree's technology. Cynthia's base was a two-story suburban house that had a large basement and bunker, with a white picket fence looking fence encasing a massive yard and a front and back porch,. The outside was a work in progress, currently being painted by Cynthia to be a light shade of blue that wouldn't chip off or get dirty from the infected outside of the fence and sometimes in her yard. The inside looked like it would if there wasn't an outbreak, everything was pristine and clean, without a trace of blood or dirt anywhere. Cynthia had spent years creating specialized chemicals and synthesizing cleaning supplies from her chemical work and with the aid of some of Bree's technology. It was something that set her apart from everyone else if someone was looking for "The Chemist" it was rather easy to find if they were in the right city. Cynthia's base could be seen from a mile away from its clean paint, and massive yard with different kinds of fruit trees and other plants in the backyard. She helped other people with their bases too, just not very often, instead she often times went around in her small reinforced army truck with food and supplies for the smaller groups and loners.

"There's a small family trapped in a basement from Thunder's explosion of one of the Infected nests, they have a small child who's been bitten and has less than an hour before she turns on her parents and older brother. The father's leg is pinned beneath a steel beam and I don't have to equipment to cure her, free him, and perform an emergency amputation so I can take him and his family to Bree and Jay's group." Brittany responded quickly, "please Cynthia, you're the closest one to the nest and the trapped family."

Cynthia pulled open the door and pulled the trigger of her pistol a few inches to Brittany's left of her head, killing an infected that had gotten past her fence. "Stay here, did you run over here or bring a buggy?" A buggy was a device Bree had widely distributed to any survivor she could find over the years, it was a small golf cart-sized car with metal beams that make up the cabin, and are outfitted with an invisible force field, allowing the drivers to drive through infected hordes and not be bitten. While the buggies were perfect for a small mission, they weren't fast and as powerful as an actual car, and Cynthia owned an army truck that she and Bree had reinforced and increased its performance since they were teens.

"Buggy," Brittany confirmed as she stepped into the base and stood in the entryway, watching as Cynthia moved around and gathered the gear she would need.

"Put this on it," Cynthia tossed her a small disc-like device before she disappeared up the stairs to change her clothes, mainly just her pants.

Brittany caught it and did as she asked, going over to her buggy which was in Cynthia's driveway next to the army truck and attaching the device to the small vehicle. Of which shimmered for a brief second and changed to be all white, a sign of it working.

Cynthia emerged from the house a second later, a backpack strapped to her back and wearing blue jeans with her pistol holstered at her right thigh, knife strapped her left arm, and a specialized rifle strapped to her backpack. "It makes it lighter," she explained the device's function as she grasped two lower bars of the buggy's frame and lifted the vehicle into the back of the army truck before she pulled the cloth covering down and hooked it into place. "Get in the truck Brittany," she then said as she removed the backpack from her back and tossed it into the back of the truck and shut the back door before jogging back to her base to shut the door.

Brittany quickly yanked open the front passenger door and got in, buckling her seatbelt by the time Cynthia returned and slid into the truck. She often wished that she had all the cool stuff Cynthia had, it would make everything so much easier. She belonged to a group called The Wandering Leaves, with most of the people she, Cynthia, and the Brambles had grown up with. Breanna was her younger sister, someone everyone who knew about her adored. And it was just her luck that she belonged to the group that Cynthia flat out refused to help with her past with it and who was leading it. Leon belonged to the group too, but everyone knew that he was special and very lucky. It was rumored that the two of them were in love, and a few people speculated that Leon was actually the reason behind Cynthia helping out her community now and not continuing to stay at home all the time.


	140. Orphaned Wilds (Unfinished) 5

_**Wilds # 1**_

 **Title** _ **:**_ _Orphaned Wilds_

 **Summary** _ **:**_ _Leon's made multiple mistakes like most wilds and humans, but this one he regrets more than anything else. It was unlikely that he was ever going to get his infant daughter back after Sapphire Gleam of all people adopted her from a Wilds Orphanage. That doesn't mean Leon wasn't going to try, she was his daughter, and not even a worldwide known YouTuber would be able to stop him. Even when he came face to face with the YouTuber after many years and Lion demanded that he was her partner. A match made in heaven would be a rather realistic term in Leon's opinion._

 **Main** **Characters** _ **:**_ _Cynthia, Leon, Luke, Lixa_

* * *

 _Orphaned Wilds_

Cynthia cooed at the baby in her arms as she lifted her up to her eye level and brushed her nose against her own, "Good morning Pumpkin!" She smiled widely at the baby's laughter and babbling at her actions. "Rise and shine right?" She enjoyed taking care of this particular baby more than any of the other kids she took care of, probably because she was an orphan like herself. Cynthia had grown up in the foster system, with a rather terrible track record, and had been coming here for years to help teach and care for the infant and toddler wilds who didn't know anything about being a wild. Unlike most of the kids there who were there for only the morning and afternoon, Lixa, the baby in her arms, and Luke, a toddler she cared for, stayed there at the place twenty-four-seven with no family to take them home at night. Cynthia knew them both well, Luke was actually Lixa's half-brother, something that had taken her and everyone else by surprise, and she had been there when Lixa had been dropped off at hardly two and a half weeks old. So the Youtuber had done her best to care for them, taking them off of the other volunteers' hands and taking care of them herself.

Lixa giggled and grasped at Cynthia's cheeks, the now nine-month-old baby girl was strong and healthy, with thick golden blonde hair and hazel eyes that viewed the world with an innocence that Cynthia wished she could have again at her young age. Currently, the baby girl was wearing white flower patterned green fleece footies with a white onesie beneath it, and her small round bear ears on the top of her head from her being a wild were mostly hidden by her sleep messy blonde hair.

Cynthia's blue eyes softened and she smiled softly at her, she wished on many days that Lixa were her own daughter despite that she herself was only twenty and a half and hadn't met her partner yet despite her age. So finally, after months of working out paperwork and having to practically beg her friend and manager Lila to agree, she finally got to take the precious baby home with her along with Luke for a few weeks to make sure she could handle them both. Even though she had been taking care of them for a long time. "Today's a special day Lixa," she told the baby as she tucked her into her right arm and held her against her hip as she started to move around the room to gather all of the stuff she had gotten Lixa since her arrival. "You and Luke are gonna come home with me, isn't that great?"

Lixa squealed in response to the words and grasped Cynthia's shirt, hazel eyes roundening before she giggled and nestled her head into Cynthia's side.

"Mama!" Another voice exclaimed and Cynthia narrowly managed to not fall over when a rather clingy three-year-old threw himself at her and hugged her legs, "I go with you today!" He said in his adorable toddler way, "I stay with mama!"

Cynthia laughed, blue eyes twinkling softly as she reached down and ruffled the dirty blonde boy's hair, "yes Luke, you're finally coming home with me buddy." She could feel the innocent joy both Luke and Lixa were feeling through her parental bond with each of them, Lixa's was a little weaker due to her young age, but only barely.

* * *

 _ **Scene 2**_

Leon swore and ran one hand through his hair before he looked pleadingly at May, "Can I get an address? I haven't seen Lixa since after she was born."

May looked hesitant, "sure, but you have to remember sir that Lixa's legally Cynthia's now, Lixa's been cared for by Cynthia since she was brought here."

Leon nodded, "I know," he sighed, "I… I wasn't told that she was a wild till after Isa had given her up. I have terrible luck with women," he shoved his hands into his pockets, "never met my partner."

May nodded sympathetically as she wrote down Cynthia's address and home phone number, "I understand the feeling, and Cynthia would too, she's never met her partner either."

Leon nodded but felt too miserable to even react well to the news. He had lost his son years ago, and now his daughter. Plus now he couldn't have either of them, he couldn't even adopt them back from here, some woman had beat him to the punch.

"Here," May handed him the address, "I wish you luck sir, your daughter is a beautiful little girl."

Leon smiled sadly and nodded at her thankfully before he turned and left, looking at the address and immediately recognizing the name scrawled above the phone number. "Cynthia Lawson?" He breathed, the name caused his wild to perk up while at the same time he felt even more miserable. There was no way in the world he was going to be able to get his daughter back with a YouTube Star having adopted her. "This is hopeless," he sighed as he stuffed the paper into his pocket and stepped out into the rain, "it's not like she would let me see Lixa anyway." He had known Cynthia as a child, she had been one of the kids across the street for a few years before she transferred foster homes, and he had been one of the kids to tease, and admittedly, bully her. Then she turned out to grow up to be one of the most famous people he had heard of, with a total forty million subscriber count across four channels of about twelve million subscribers each and even had more than a few music albums of her own out in the world. As a kid, she had been one of the quiet seclusive kids in the neighborhood with rather nerdy tendencies and a habit of playfully singing in the rain with her foster siblings.


	141. Reconciling Trust (Unfinished) 6

_**Broken Trust Part 2**_

 **Title:** _Reconciling Trust_

 **Summary:** _Broken Trust's Climax and Resolution. Bree's vacation is supposed to be relaxing, but with how jumbled up her emotions are and Jay going with them, it's a mess. Combine with how Cynthia and Leon are as happy as can be, and Bree's emotions are on a rollercoaster. That will hopefully end in fixed relationships and an emotion Bree's been missing for many years. Love and Happiness._

 **Main Characters:** _Jay, Bree, Cynthia, Leon, and Holly_

* * *

 _Reconciling Trust_

Jay looked at Bree, his blue eyes hard and as cold as usual. After his mother's death, he became increasingly cold and withdrawn. However, his words weren't cold at all, and his tone was rather defeated. "You're never going to forgive me are you?" He asked his daily question.

Bree looked at him, her amber eyes as impassive as ever, her stance light and impassive as well. "No." She responded flatly with her usual response, "the only way I will will be when I can trust you outside of field missions."

Jay nodded, a flicker of deep regret flashing in his blue eyes. "I understand." He said in his customary response, his reply short, he then began to start walking away. Then after he had taken a few steps and Bree had started moving in the opposite direction, waiting and tensing up in anticipation, did he speak again. "I still love you," he said in a flat tone to anyone but her.

Bree continued walking but felt her chest squeeze painfully, this was why she hated having conversations with Jay, he often told her in a tone that only she could read as sincere that after everything he still loved her, even after all of the drastic changes in her personality that cause her to become this impassive, uncaring, and mundane, he still loved her. "I don't." She responded in her usual response to his admission, knowing that Jay pretended not to hear her every time she said that.

* * *

 _ **Scene # 2**_

The sand rose between Bree's toes as she wandered along the beach, her dark hair lifting and billowing lightly in the breeze that was stirring up the sand and letting spray from the sea brush against her slightly tan skin. Bree looked down at the sand and wiggled her toes slightly, allowing the sand to go over her small toes. "I don't know what I'm doing here." She spoke softly to herself, "I shouldn't be here with everyone." She looked up and toward the setting sun, not caring about how the breeze was ruffling her t-shirt and beginning to make her legs cold. "Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing here, I can easily just run away or purposely make a mistake that could potentially cost me my life." She closed her eyes, "Ever since Skylar's death I've been missing the parts of me that made me who I was," she took a deep breath, "and I don't like who I've become, I want to be happy, and cheerful, and emotional again," she sighed and opened her eyes, her amber depths as deadened as ever.

"I want to be the Bree who was I before Jay showed me how I can't trust people besides only a few, not the one I am now." She sighed again, "but I can't. I can't be that person anymore, I have to protect myself now, I have to protect my shattered heart from Jay and everyone else, I can't let myself be free in fear that he'll break me again." Tears glimmered faintly in her amber eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself, standing alone in the sand while witnessing the setting sun's beautiful colors paint the sky. "I had thought that Jay would never have done this to me, but I was wrong," she said quietly, "I had been blinded by what trust and love I had for him." She watched as the sky began to be painted with pink, red, and orange. "And now I'm paying for it. He shot me with _my_ _pistol_ and broke every ounce of trust I had in him along with shattering my heart to tiny shards that I now have to guard every day." The tears grew more prominent in Bree's pretty amber eyes, "I want someone to treat me like Leon treats Cynthia," she told herself quietly, "like I'm one of the most important people in their life, but I can't do it anymore, I can't let anyone close enough in case they end up like Jay, betraying me and breaking me into pieces." She knelt in the sand as she continued speaking. "I'm trapped now, and there's nothing I can do to let myself be free." She fell silent, her eyes fixated on the setting sun, tears catching in the breeze after making their way down her cheeks and to her chin.

* * *

Bree hiccuped as she rubbed at her eyes, feeling drained and exhausted after watching the sunset and the whole big long conversation with herself. She really just wanted to go go to sleep now, but she doubted she would be able to with everyone's excitement at being free of regimens and responsibilities. But then again, her body was beginning to go numb from exhaustion. _I need to go to sleep._ She numbly told herself before she got to her feet and brushed the sand from her legs before she stretched slightly and began to make her way back to the cabin, it's warm lights kept part of the beach lit up, and she appreciated it.

* * *

 _ **Scene 3**_

Bree's amber eyes drooped closed without her permission, she tried to chase the drowsiness away, trying hard to stay awake around Jay, she couldn't risk him hurting her again, she couldn't! But he smelled really good, like aftershave and the sea, his breathing and heartbeat were like a lullaby, and he was so warm… Bree lost the battle of staying awake a few moments later. her expression smoothed out to be peaceful and her body relaxed to be stretched out next to him rather than curled in a ball and taking as little space as possible. She subconsciously snuggled closer to him, pressing her back against part of his chest, and rested one hand on the arm he had placed beneath her head earlier.

Jay stiffened at her movements before he relaxed, realizing that she had fallen asleep. He looked at the t.v that he had been watching before Bree had come along looking like she was going to pass out from exhaustion, and a faint smile crossed his lips. He could remember back before Skylar's death the nights in his dorm room with Jay watching a movie while Bree watched it with him and tried to stay awake but failed. He had always liked those moments, cause she had looked so peaceful and content, but he enjoyed this one even more because he hadn't seen this side of her in a year and a half, he hadn't seen the affectionate and peaceful side of her for such a long time that it made this moment special. Jay leaned his chin on the top of her head and felt her snuggle a little closer to him with a small noise of complaint when he moved and put one arm over her waist. "You're safe here Bree," he told her softly and gently brushed her bangs from her face, "I promise that I'll never hurt you like that again. I broke your heart and destroyed your trust in me that day, and I swear I'll never let it happen again." He softly pressed a kiss to the top of her sleeping head and he settled a to be a little more comfortable and closed his eyes.

Jay couldn't see it, but Bree subconsciously smiled, her lips quirking into a small dimpled smile.

* * *

Bree was woken up by someone lifting her and her amber eyes opened blurrily to look at Cynthia who had picked her up and was currently walking toward the bedrooms of the cabin. "Wha's goin' on?" She mumbled and lifted one of her arms to rub at her eyes.

"Hey sleepy head," Cynthia smiled at her, "I'm taking you to your room so that your back doesn't hurt in the morning and so that you don't have to confront Jay in the morning."

Bree looked confused before it cleared and she smiled sleepily at her friend, "thank you," she mumbled, she wasn't used to be drowsy like this anymore, she hadn't woken up drowsy since before the accident. "What time is it?" She asked as Cynthia continued walking toward Bree's bedroom.

"Around two in the morning," Cynthia shrugged casually as she walked past Holly's room where their friend was asleep.

Bree blinked, "why are you awake at two in the morning?"

Cynthia's face took on a faintly pink tint and she used one foot to close her bedroom door with a soft click, "no reason," she said hastily, "but be glad since now your back isn't going to make you hardly able to hobble around tomorrow."

Bree sleepily rolled her eyes, "you need sleep too Cindy," she mumbled as Cynthia pushed open Bree's bedroom door and walked over to the bed where she put her down and pulled the covers over her.

"I'm going, I'm going," Cynthia rolled her eyes, "g'night Bree, sleep well," She smiled before she turned off the light and shut the door with a click.

* * *

 _ **Scene # 4**_

Jay blinked awake, a little confused as he looked around, wondering where Bree had disappeared to and when did he get a blanket thrown over him. He could hear voices, his brother and Cynthia's mainly, with the faint voices from the tv in front of him. He sat up, blinking a few times to focus his vision properly to take in the scene going on around him.

Cynthia was sitting on a counter in the kitchen, her back to him while she ruffled and messed up Leon's hair who stood in front of her and was allowing her to mess up his already very messy hair. Well at least the top was, the sides were still too short to be messy.

"Well, I'm glad you're satisfied with how messy my hair is," Leon had been speaking when Jay had been waking up enough to actively hear what was going on.

Jay looked at the couple, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. He still didn't approve of that particular relationship, since technically Cynthia was also Leon's student, which made the entire thing pretty odd.

"Well I'm getting tired of you complaining about a pillow doing it," Cynthia replied with a brief pause that Jay put together with the way she leaned closer to Leon, to guess that she had kissed him briefly. "So now I'm responsible for it."

Jay saw his brother roll his eyes before he smirked and squeezed her sides, causing her to jump and nearly hit the cabinets above her head.

"Leon!" Cynthia complained, and by her playful tone, Jay guessed she wasn't really annoyed by any of it at all. "That's not fair!"

Leon chuckled, "uh huh, says who?"

"I do," Cynthia replied in a slightly stuck up but teasing tone, "I say so."

"Okay you two, cut it with the fluff," Jay grunted, interrupting them both and swinging his legs over the edge of the couch he had been asleep on.

"Wow, someone isn't in a good mood," Cynthia snorted as she reluctantly slid off the counter and turned to face him after popping a grape into her mouth, "what side of the bed did you wake up on?"

* * *

 _ **Ending**_

Jay looked at her, his blue eyes flat and cold as usual, he asked his usual question. "You're never going to forgive me are you?" He asked, clearly he was hoping something would have changed after the whole vacation fiasco.

Bree looked him impassively, "no," she responded while managing to keep an impassive expression, "the only way I will, will be when I can trust you outside of field missions."

Jay nodded, and regret flickered again across his eyes. "I understand." He responded quietly before he turned and started walking away, Bree doing the same. Bree waited, her heart beating hard in her chest as she waiting for him to speak. "I still love you." Sure enough, he did as Bree had known he would.

A small smile brushed over Bree's lips as she responded, in turn, a response that made him stop in his tracks. "I love you too."

She heard him stop abruptly and turn around to look at her but she didn't turn around, instead, she spoke to the slightly flustered and confused man, "keep walking Jay, you heard me right."

She could feel Jay's stunned stare on her back as she walked down the hall and when she turned a corner away from other people staring at her she grinned happily, her amber eyes lighting up like a child at Christmas time.


	142. My House, My Rules (Unfinished) 7

**Title:** _My House, My Rules_

 **Summary:** _Bree's had enough drama to last a lifetime. However, her perfect little world is about to crack at the seams. It seems that even escaping to Vyliea to get away from Ruxburg and painful parts of her past isn't far enough when Holly only has her as an option. Jay and Hadara are supposed to stay over at her technologically advanced house for a week, and Bree's not happy. Not when Jay once stomped on her heart and found a different girl, Hadara. This week just isn't Bree's week of choice._

 **Main Characters:** _Jay, Bree, Hadara, Holly_

* * *

 _My House, My Rules_

Bree blew out a deep breath and ran one hand through her dark colored hair, amber eyes following the pacing black haired woman in the screen in front of her. "Holly, I live on the border of Vyliea and Vandala, not in Ruxburg. What do you want me to do about it? Drive all the way down to Ruxburg to pick Jay up from the airport, pick up Hadara, and take them back to Vyliea with me?"

Holly stopped pacing and looked at her as she sat down in front of the laptop as if surprised she hadn't come up with that solution. "That'll work…" she mused, clearly thinking it over.

Bree blanched, "wait, hold on one second!" The brunette spoke indignantly, "Holly you can not expect me to be happy with having Jay and his _fiance_ over at my house for who knows how long! What about Cynthia? She's in Vandala, that's closer than Vyliea!"

"Cindy's on tour again remember? And I don't expect you to be thrilled about it, but what option do I have Bree?" Holly said helplessly, "I'm not supposed to be back to the real world in a sense for a week, and after that, I have business to take care of in Yukota. My place isn't an option."

Bree threw her hands into the air, "I'll buy them a house then!" She exclaimed with a rather angry tone, "for StarClan sake I'll go down there and buy them a freaking house instead of them staying over at mine!"

"Bree, now that's overreacting," Holly reasoned, "and you and my brother used to be inseparable, can't you help him out this once?"

"I help him all the time," Bree snapped back, annoyance in her tone, "and what happened to us was that I practically spilled my heart out to him and he didn't even blink. Instead, he went off, effectively pushed me out of his life, and found another girl."

"Bree please," Holly pleaded with the brunette, "you're my only option! Cynthia's house is so expensive she'd cry if they broke something while she was gone, Leon's with his team in Rija, and I'm not supposed to be taking care of this!"

Bree's annoyed expression crumpled at the desperation on her childhood friend's face and she gave a drawn-out sigh, "okay, I'll take care of it." She then pointed a warning finger at her, "but only for you. Jay could rent an apartment for all I care."

Holly's face broke out in a bright thankful smile, "you're a miracle worker," she smiled at the brilliant inventor, "thank you so much, Bree-"

"Oh come on Holly," A male voice cut Holly off and Holly gained a sheepish expression as she looked at someone out of the camera frame. "We're supposed to be getting away from everyone else on the honeymoon remember?" Finli came into view on the camera as he rolled his eyes at the green-eyed woman sitting in front of the laptop.

"I know," Holly sighed, "but my brother's coming home early from the boot camp and I couldn't leave him out in the cold."

"Don't worry Holly," Bree spoke up, hiding the pang of sadness she mildly felt at the sight of them so happy and together. She used to have that with Jay, maybe not to the same extent but close. "I'll handle it, and I promise to not kill your brother."

Finli smiled thankfully at Bree, "thanks Bree, Holly will talk to you later," he looked over at Holly, "hopefully at the end of the week."

Holly smiled sheepishly at Finli, green eyes twinkling softly.

Bree nodded, "have fun you two, embrace the lack of responsibilities," she said with a slightly cheeky smile before she lifted one hand and casually swiped to the left in the air. Effectively ending the call. She then gave a drawn-out groan and resisted the urge to childishly sulk around her house.

"Bree, are you alright?" Her trusted AI companion Lion asked in a concerned manner and the robotic cat bounded over to her, his synthetic Toyger fur brushing soothingly against her ankles. "I'm detecting elevated Stress levels from you."

Bree sighed and picked up the AI before depositing him on her shoulder, the cat sitting calmly on her shoulder as she scooped up her keys from the white circle table where she had been working on the translator device she had promised her dog Blissie weeks ago. "Just wait," she sighed, "my stress levels are going to shoot through the roof. Lion, you in the mood for a road trip?"

* * *

 _ **Mike ~ Bree's House Security System AI**_

 _ **Lion ~ Bree's Perfect AI. Lion is an AI stored in a tiny micro chip that Bree can put inside a variety of things with his own personal favorites, a robotic cat that looks just like the real thing (Toyger Breed), a hoverboard, or the standard L.I.O.N car**_

 _ **Blissie ~ Bree's normal chocolate lab**_

 _ **Tigress ~ Bree's Pet Monitor AI**_

 _ **Blue Jay ~ Bree's Smart House System**_

* * *

 **Scene # 2**

Bree crossed her arms over her chest as a way to fight off the chilly wind as she stood at the airport waiting semi impatiently for Jay and Hadara to come to her. She had fetched Hadara and gathered things for Jay before arriving at the airport, getting rid of the unnecessary trip back to Holly's place. The less time she had to be here in Ruxburg where she could be publicly noticed as the scientist who achieved holographic technology and ways to cure blindness and paralysis the better. Vylyan citizens had gotten used to having the world renowned scientist live in their city state, other regions not so much. Plus she wanted to go home and for time to speed up so that the days could blur together and she could forget about the whole thing.

* * *

 _ **Scene # 3**_

Bree responded with a grunt and stepped into the moderately modern looking house where she had lived since she had left Ruxburg heartbroken and miserable. She dropped her keys into a hand carved wooden bowl near the door and continued into the house while Hadara watched Bree's keys shimmer then vanish, leaving the bowl empty.

"Where'd your keys go?" Hadara asked curiously, having never seen so much tech inside a house before."

"A safe place," Bree shrugged, "I have multiple sets because I never leave them in the same spot in the house. I have multiple of those bowls as well and Mike makes sure each of the bowls have their proper set of keys."

Hadara opened her mouth to ask another question but Bree spoke before she could ask it.

"If you have questions just ask Jay, seeing how I told him about all of my older tech," she said in a half sarcastic tone before disappearing around the corner and gave a soft sigh. _This is a nightmare._ She kept walking toward the entrance to the basement, her limp more prominent than ever from her heightened stress levels.


	143. One Chance (Unfinished 8

**Title:** _One Chance_

 **Summary:** _Cynthia's someone who's able to blend in very well, too well if you ask her. But at the same time she is well known. Known for being a semi-small YouTuber and an artist responsible for about half the paintings in the school's art rooms anyway. But she's always been seen by her crush as just "one of the guys." How long, and how many other girls is it going to take for him to see that this picky jock's perfect and nerdy athlete of a best friend is the girl he's been looking for when he has to choose who he's going to end up marrying one day?_

 **Main Characters:** _Cynthia and Leon_

 _ **High Chance of being Finished in WHSS 2**_

* * *

 _One Chance_

Hiding in the background was one of Cynthia's talents, along with art, video games, reading books, and sports anyway. However, sometimes she was _too_ good at it. She was even better at hiding in plain sight, after all she was a video gaming YouTuber and artist under the aliases SapphireGleam and Casi Ligura, and yet only a select few in the entire school knew about her hidden career. Wearing contacts during her videos and usually, glasses at school certainly made it pretty difficult for anyone to recognize her. For some reason. Although hiding the light blue cheetah marking of her bloodline, the different way of styling her hair, and changing her voice just a hair probably made it more difficult to recognize her in her videos. It was so bad that the guy she had had a crush on and had been friends with for years simply considered her as basically one of the guys, meaning she definitely knew how a guy's brain worked much better than most of the other girls.

Take now, for example, currently, she was sitting on the grass at the edge of the school football field with her laptop on her lap typing up a paper she needed to finish as early as possible so that she could make sure she got some videos recorded this evening and tonight. At the moment her crush and best friend Leonardo "Leon" Bramble was practicing for the football game, what he was talking about had her a little worried however, Leon had found out over the summer that she was a particularly good sports player, and the blonde had gotten the idea of bragging to some of his friends about how she was smart and really athletic. Which wasn't a lie, Cynthia was a very athletic person on top of her nerdiness as Leon so eloquently called that part of her. However, she wasn't a big fan of showing off to a group of doubtful boys just for the fun of it. Unluckily for her, when Leon's shadow loomed over her she knew she was going to have to prove herself to the entire ridiculous team.

Cynthia sighed and closed her laptop's lid only to yelp when Leon's helmet was pushed over her fishtail braid covered head so that she could hardly see. She took a few moments to recollect herself before looking at him, knowing that seeing the sweaty blonde was probably going to make her face flush if she didn't get control first. Leon was pretty good looking by himself, but the whole football gear and even messier blonde hair made it more difficult than usual to hide what she was feeling.

Leon grinned at the way the helmet fell over Cynthia's eyes and she had to lift it up to see properly, feeling a fleeting warm and fuzzy sensation before he sobered up, the first emotion was so quick that he didn't even notice it. "The team doesn't think you can play," he told her in a rather huffy and annoyed tone, "I _know_ you can."

"Leon I don't like showing off, you know that," Cynthia responded with a roll of her eyes and wrinkled her nose, "and your helmet is pretty damp, you know that right?"

Leon waved off the second half of her statement, "you won't be showing off, you'll just be saving my honor," he grinned lopsidedly at her, "you know, the whole knight in shining armor thing Lily was telling us about?"

Cynthia's jaw almost dropped, the one thing he remembered from the whole fairytale story and conversation with her younger sister was the knight in shining armor bit? When she had been teasingly telling him about it for years? The nerve of that boy. But she let it go, knowing he wouldn't know romance unless it smacked him in the face. _Come to think about it even if I flat out kissed him he would still stare at me blankly._ She quickly shook herself from that road of thoughts, knowing exactly where it would go. "I can not believe you remember that but fine," She set her laptop down on the lush grass and stood up, not bothering to take the helmet off, knowing that she was going to need it. "What do you want me to do "Oh great one?""

Leon grinned at her, "You're a wide receiver, I'm the quarterback, the others are trying to block you. Get it?"

"Loud and clear quarterback," Cynthia snorted and jogged toward where the left wide receiver would be, standing and waiting for Leon and one of the other boys to get ready to begin the practice round. She could hear many of the boys mumbling to each other as they moved to the other side of the center field so that they could play an opposing team for the purpose of practice.

"She's a girl, a nerd at that."

"She's going to fall the moment one of us knocks into her."

"What's Leon doing?"

"Who cares? He's an idiot when it comes to this girl remember?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes and pushed the mouth guard, having done it before while practicing with Leon to help him over the summer, boys were stupid. Especially jocks.

"Hike!"

Cynthia heard the words and took off running, keeping an eye on the football as if spun through the air from Leon's perfect throw as she ran, dodging some of the other boys and continuing to run. For a few moments, it was a blur to her as she snatched the ball from the air, tucked it under one of her arms and flat out sprinted toward the touchdown line, shooting forward like a rocket and narrowly avoiding getting knocked down. That was until she was a few feet from the touchdown line and got tackled from behind, causing the lighter girl to fall onto her stomach with one arm outstretched with the ball held over the line. The tackle itself made her glad she had risked Leon's mouth guard, it had made her teeth rattle from how hard he hit her, and she didn't have any padding on either.

"Brendon what the heck man!" Leon snapped as he jogged over to where the defender had tackled Cynthia and gotten up while Cynthia remained on the ground. "She's not wearing the rest of the gear you idiot!"

Brendon furrowed his eyebrows and spit out his mouth guard, "I thought we were testing her!"

"Not body slamming her to the dirt when you weigh at least her weight and more than an extra half of it!" Leon snapped back and squatted down on the grass next to Cynthia, "you okay?"

Cynthia gave a thumbs up before she rolled over onto her back with a wince, "may have bruised a few ribs, but no big deal." She said after removing the mouth guard and hesitantly touching her nose, "and no blood so no issues." She offered her hand to him for him to help her up, "but I'd appreciate a hand."


	144. Run to the Farm (Unfinished) 9

**Title:** _Run to the Farm_

 **Summary:** _Holly couldn't breathe. It was like her lungs were frozen with her guilt and grief. Cynthia's dead… A phrase that haunted her so badly that she ran away, only to get stuck and meet a boy with handsome green eyes and heart of gold. Her days on the farm will remain in her heart till even after death._ || _Redo of Holly's Sewer Trip. The "Farm" is referenced many times in the collection, and here's the half unfinished introduction to it. It's also Holly's view for "Cinderheart's Accident" the unuploaded version._

 **Main Character:** _Holly, Cynthia, Leon, Finli, Brilee, Jay, Bree, Fala, Steve_

* * *

 _Run to the Farm_

 _Holly's Story_

 _Brilee (pronounced Br-I-Lee)-She's specially featured in this chapter, she is Finli's younger sister_

"Cindy?" Holly called into the locker room, her green eyes searching for her friend. Cynthia was supposed to meet her in the courtyard after school, but she hadn't shown up. Suddenly the door swung open and someone seized Holly by the shirt, yanking her into the locker room and shutting the door with a barely audible noise. "Hey!-" A hand slapped over her mouth, and Holly looked up to see striking sapphire blue eyes blinking down at her. Well, she had found her at least. Then she noticed the semi dry blood trail from her nose to her chin, and Holly's jaw slackened. "What happened to you?!" She gasped in a hushed voice once Cynthia had released her.

"Don't ask," Cynthia grunted, she was looking around, her gaze flickered around like a trapped animal, clearly something was wrong.

"What's going on?" Holly asked in a hushed tone as she approached Cynthia, "why're you in here?"

Cynthia suddenly covered her mouth again, "Ssshhh!" She hissed and fell silent. Holly waited with bated breath as she heard muffled footsteps outside of the locker room and went away from the door. Only once the footsteps disappeared did Cynthia release her. "Drake's hunting me," she said in a hushed voice, "so ssh! I need to get out of here without him seeing me."

"Or me now," Holly said in a similar tone, "otherwise he'll use me as bait."

Cynthia nodded, "I've been trying to think of how to get out of here for an hour and a half now."

Holly nodded, and as Cynthia vanished around a corner probably to look for an exit, she took out her phone and quickly started to text her brother. " _Leon, I'm still at the school, Cindy's here with me, she's in trouble by,"_ she accidentally pressed send when Cynthia swore softly, rushed back over, shoved Holly into one of the showers, and drew the curtain closed, her blue eyes wide and panicked. "Don't say anything!" She hissed before she whirled around at the sound of the door being kicked open.

"This is the last place where the girl can be Drake," a guy growled, his voice rough and annoyed.

"Come out come out wherever you are Cynthia!" Drake cackled, his voice sent chills down Holly's spine and she stood like a statue, trying not to make any noise as she discreetly pulled the shower curtain half an inch so she could see what was going on.

"Why?" Cynthia retorted, her back was facing Holly. "So you can play with me? News flash Drake, I'm not your prey you sick perv."

Drake came into Holly's view and ice gripped her heart, he had a closed switch blade swinging on a chain at his belt. "You don't get it do you?" He drawled, stepping closer to Cynthia, "I'm not here to be your predator, even though you would be very fun to play with." He eyed Cynthia in a way that made Holly flinch. "I'm here," he drawled, stepping closer to her, "to take back what you stole from me."

"What? Your reputation?" Cynthia snorted, "StarClan, I didn't steal your rep you arse." There was a crash and Holly jumped, staring through the crack of the curtain at her friend who had just been slammed into the tile covered wall, Drake now had one hand around her throat, and he looked very angry. Cynthia glanced briefly at Holly, "Calm down tiger, I didn't steal your reputation."

"I'm not talking about that Cynthia Lawson," Drake snarled, "you know full well what I'm talking about."

"Oh," Cynthia rolled her eyes, "Leon right?" She snorted, "you know, for such a tough guy, you're really a sap-" She broke off wheezing, doubling over as Drake's brass knuckled fist made contact with her ribs.

Holly stared at her friend, what was she doing?! Drake wasn't someone to mess with, even for Cynthia.

"Okay, okay, obviously you don't understand sarcasm," Cynthia coughed and leaned on her knees, blood was beginning to stain her lips a crimson red. "I didn't do anything to Ivory Drake, I didn't steal her from you, she's Leon's cousin for StarClan's sake!"

Drake sneered and punched her again in the ribs, nearly knocking Cynthia to the floor. "What did you tell her?! Ivory won't even look at me thanks to you!"

Cynthia coughed and cleared her throat, her voice now somewhat raspy, "I didn't tell Ivory anything about you," she rasped, Holly could see that she now had one arm wrapped around her now bruised ribs. She fell to her hands and knees when Drake's fist ade contact once more but this time with a loud crunch. "I didn't tell her anything," She spat out a clob of blood. Holly could see Cynthia's skin going pale, nodoubtedly Drake had just broken more than a few of her ribs.

"I don't believe you!" Drake hissed and punched her across the side of the face, "she won't even look at me after I saw you talking to her!"

"Maybe she finally saw the real you," Cynthia wheezed, "a cold blooded creep."

Drake growled, seized Cynthia by the shoulders, and smashed her face into his knee. Holly cringed violently at the crunch of her friend's nose breaking.

"I don't know what happened Drake," Cynthia wheezed, her voice now somewhat nasally thanks to the broken nose. "I don't." She then let out a cry of pain Holly stared as Cynthia arched her back and she saw the flash of a silver knife and blood to start gushing from a thick cut in the back of her thigh.

Drake grabbed Cynthia's ponytail and yanked down so her head was tilted up awkwardly, "What. Did. You. Say. To. Ivory. Fernandas."

"Nothing," Cynthia spat, and Holly stared at her friend, her face was completely bloodied, her nose was obviously broken, blood shined on her lips and chin, and over all she looked terrible. "I didn't say anything to her involving you!" She spat at him, wheezing from her ribs.

Drake yanked Cynthia to her feet and hauled her out of Holly's vision. "Answer me properly!" He growled, "or this mirror will be ruined."

Cynthia laughed bitterly, "you can't mess my face up much more Drake, smashing my face against a mirror won't get me to say anything else."

Holly jumped and slapped her hands over her mouth when she heard the smashing of the mirror and Cynthia's gasp of pain.

"Answer me!" Drake snarled.

"Never," Cynthia spat, she sounded like her face was still pressed against the broken mirror, "I'm not giving you the satisfaction!" Holly flinched when she heard another mirror being broken and Cynthia groaned. "I'm not telling you Drake," She growled, panting slightly now.

Holly scrambled backward in the shower when she saw a small amount of blood making its way toward the drain that was in the shower. _How much is she bleeding?!_

"Then maybe this will!" Drake roared, finally losing his temper

Cynthia howled and Holly paled as she heard another crunch, but this time by the way she heard Cynthia fall to the floor and the mirror shards crunched beneath her body, Drake had broken part of one of her legs. "I'm not telling you," Cynthia growled, her voice wheezy and nasally, "no matter what." She yelled again and Holly heard another crack, "never."

"Tell me!"

"No." Cynthia howled again and Holly began feeling slightly faint, her friend was gaining injuries by the second. Then her phone buzzed silently in her hand and she jerked her head down to look at it.

 _Leon_

 _In trouble from what? Are you still in the school building? What's going on?_

 _sent at 4:50_

Fingers shaking as she heard Cynthia continue to get beaten on, she typed a reply and sent it.

 _Holly_

 _From Drake, yeah Cindy pushed me into one of the showers, I'm hiding from Drake. I don't really know what's going on._

 _Sent at 4:55_

"That's enough Drake," one of the guys' voices shook slightly, "she's going to bleed out if you're not careful."

"Then let her!" Drake snapped viciously and Cynthia howled once more, "what did you say to Ivory?!"

 _Please submit, please!_ Holly whimpered mentally, hoping to StarClan that Cynthia would submit.

"Nothing," Cynthia coughed, "I didn't say anything to her about you."

Holly felt fear weigh down her belly even more and she looked down at her phone when it went off again.

 _Leon_

 _Drake's there?! S*** I'm on my way to the school, is Cyn injured?_

 _Sent at 5:00_

Holly quickly replied.

 _Holly_

 _Yeah, she's lost a lot of blood, by the way, there's blood draining through the drain of the shower stall I'm hiding in. Please Hurry!_

 _Sent 5:02_

Then something Cynthia said was music to Holly's ears. "All I said was that you were just below her in the whole scary rank thing," Cynthia wheezed, her voice hoarse, "that's it."

Drake seemed to accept her answer. "Fine."

Holly looked down at her phone again.

 _Leon_

 _I'll be there in five minutes, get a picture of Drake and his goons, I'll use it later. Make sure Cyn's okay_

 _Sent 5:04_

"Drake let's go," one of his 'friends' urged, "otherwise we're going to be in some big trouble."

Holly carefully pulled the curtain again, opening it enough so she could see what was going on and quickly snapped a picture.

"Fine. one last thing…" Drake growled and Cynthia gasped and howled once again, "there. Now let's go."

Holly moved to open the curtain once she heard the door close but she froze, why hadn't she have done anything earlier? A wave of guilt crashed over her so strong that she wanted to go hide in a corner and sob, she let Cynthia down…

"Holly?" Cynthia croaked, "they're gone now."

Holly rushed out and covered her mouth with her hands, her green eyes wide as she took in the full scene in front of her.

Cynthia was lying on her back, her blue eyes directed at Holly, but there were obvious signs of a concussion in her eyes, and her eyes were glazed like she was about to pass out at any moment. Blood stained some of the walls, a lot of the floor, the broken mirrors held traces of Cynthia's blood as well, and Holly could hardly see her friend's face beyond the thick layer of blood that covered her face and her bangs and hair that was getting in her face.

"Cindy…" Holly breathed, her friend was broken, severely injured, and she had done nothing to help her.

"Are you okay?" Cynthia croaked and she coughed and spit up blood.

Holly nodded, unable to say anything.

"Call your brothers," Cynthia croaked, "and go home, you're safe at home."

Holly noticed the blood staining the front of her friend's shirt, and mustered up the words to speak, "what… what happened there?"

Cynthia smiled weakly, as much as she was able to. "Go home Holly, you don't want to know."

"C-Can I help you in any way?" Holly asked, a stutter in her voice.

Cynthia started to shake her head, but she abruptly started coughing violently and a heartbeat later she vomited up a lot of blood before her blue eyes glazed over and slid shut, her body lying still and motionless.

Holly stumbled, her green eyes fixed on her friend, willing her to move and show her that she was alive.

Cynthia didn't move.

Holly's fingers shook as she texted Leon.

 _Holly_

 _Cindy's not moving, her eyes are closed and she's still… I don't know if she's alive_

 _Sent 5:09_

She then picked up her backpack, trembling, and fled, bursting out of the locker room and running out of the school and toward the woods, unable to face her brother or any more for that matter. _I didn't help her! I didn't help her and now she's dead!_

:( :( :(

Holly felt her ankle screech in protest as her foot suddenly sunk deep into a mud hole and she fell forward onto her hands and knees, which caused them to sting as they scraped on the rough terrain. She managed to turn around so she was facing the mud hole and sitting down before she tried to wrench her foot from the mud that was sucking her foot down deeper into the earth. _Come on…_ She whimpered softly, speaking the words to herself even as she struggled to pull her foot free. Tears were still blurring her vision, she couldn't get the image of Cynthia lying limply on the locker room floor like a ragdoll, and she, Holly, had done nothing. A blubbering sob escaped the pretty ravenette's lips and she pulled harder on her lower leg, the chill from the rain was beginning to sink into her bones and her shivering was becoming uncontrollable. "Come on you stupid foot!" She sobbed through her angry words, "get out of the mud!" She yanked once more and only succeeded in making her foot sink deeper into the mud. She sobbed harder and gave up on pulling her foot free, "my best friend's dead and my own two feet won't cooperate!" She sobbed, her shoulders trembling at the force of her tears. "Even nature hates me!" She sobbed and threw a handful of the spring colored leaves into the air along with throwing her green backpack. The leaves fell softly back down to the earth as she curled her arms around her knees and sobbed, her heart heavy with guilt, pain, and anger all directed toward herself.

"Hello?" A male's voice drifted into Holly's ears and she looked up through tear swimming emerald green eyes to see a boy her age in a rain jacket, worn jeans, and mud splashed tennis shoes with a smallish umbrella hanging from his belt.

The boy's eyes widened and he rushed over, dropping the wood in his arms and unzipping his raincoat. "Oh my gosh, are you alright? It's freezing out here, here," he draped his jacket around her trembling shoulders, "what're you doing out here?" He asked gently as he knelt next to her.

Holly looked at him, the rain and her tears were blurring colors slightly, but with all that had happened to her today, she couldn't help but think that this boy was her hero. "I ran away," she hiccuped, "but my foot got stuck in this mud hole!"

The boy smiled gently at her and he rolled up the sleeves of his light gray hoodie and stuck his hands into the mud, carefully urging the mud to release Holly's foot. Moments later her ankle and tennis shoe clad foot emerged from the mud with a soft sucking sound. "There you go," he smiled warmly at her, "Do you want some help getting home?" He asked, offering her his hand to help her up, which she accepted.

Holly vigorously shook her head and wrenched her hand from his grasp before she got up, "no! I can't go back there!" She sobbed, completely distressed and emotional after the day's events.

The boy's green eyes grew a little startled, but he quickly recovered and smiled gently before he picked up the jacket that had slid off of Holly's shoulders and draped it around her again. "Okay, how about I take you to my house instead until you feel better?" he asked gently, "you'll catch a cold or freeze to death if you stay out here much longer." He moved closer to her, allowing his excess body heat to seep into Holly's chilled body.

Holly scooted a little closer, seeking the warmth and comfort this strange boy seemed to give off.

The boy smiled and offered a hand for her to shake, "I'm Finli, what's your name?"

Holly ignored the handshake and instead huddled closer to his body, feeling now rather drowsy from her overload of emotions out here in the forest. "Holly," she murmured in a barely audible voice, "my name's Holly." Holly's green eyes then slid closed as she hiccuped softly, exhausted from her tears. She felt Finli pick her up and felt the rain cease beating its fists on her face before she fell into a light sleep at the rhythmic rocking of Finli's stride. A little while later she faintly heard a door open and Finli speak.

"Nana, I'm back! And I brought someone with me!"

"Oh dear!" Holly dimly heard a female voice gasp, "she's completely soaked! Where did you find her Finli?"

"I found her sobbing next to a mud hole with her foot and ankle stuck in it," Finli replied and Holly felt herself be gently laid down on a soft couch, "her name's Holly and she's a new run away."

"Poor dear, she must be exhausted…" Holly heard nothing else as she finally succumbed to a deep sleep.

:) :) :)

Holly awoke to feeling warm and comfortable, in a place that she didn't know. Her green eyes slid open and she gave a soft groan, her body felt rather stiff, and her left ankle was sending a weak jolt of pain up her leg and down to her foot. Holly pulled herself up into a half sitting up position and looked around the room, her eyes a little panicked. Where was she? The room had walls the color of the forest, clearly, it had been painted by a skilled artist, for it felt like she was literally inside a forest, the furniture was all oak stained with many shades of green furniture. Holly herself seemed to be on a bunk bed on the lower bunk.

Then the door opened to reveal a girl about thirteen-years-old with blond-streaked dark brown hair braided over one shoulder, chocolate brown eyes, and tan skin with freckles covering every inch of available skin that Holly could see. The girl was wearing dirt splattered overalls with a light blue t-shirt, muddy tennis shoes, and she had a faded half sleeve denim jacket over her overalls and t-shirt. For a moment Holly and the girl stared at each other before the girl gave a soft surprised gasp and shot off like a rocket down the stairs.

Holly stared at the doorway, did she do something to scare the girl? Or did she have something on her face? Holly rubbed her face, checking to make sure she didn't have something on her face that could've scared the younger teen off.

Holly didn't need to worry though, cause a few moments later, the girl returned but this time with a middle-aged woman with grey speckled dark brown hair and icy blue eyes that gleamed with a nurturing and mothering look that made her seem nice and supportive. "What Brilee?" The woman asked the younger teenager who had evidently dragged her up the stairs, "what now?"

The girl, whose name was apparently Brilee, ducked behind the woman and pushed her forward, pointing with one freckled hand to Holly who was looking at them with wide green eyes.

The woman's eyes widened before they filled with warmth, "oh! How are you feeling darlin'?" She asked before she looked at the girl hiding behind her, "go fetch a plate of lunch Bri, make sure to bring some water up with you."

The girl nodded and vanished once again, seemingly able to vanish without a trace.

Holly cleared her throat, which felt like sandpaper at the current moment, before she replied to the woman, "um… okay, I guess."

"Are you in any pain?" She asked kindly and took a seat in a chair next to the bunk Holly was lying on.

Holly shook her head, "just faint pains in my ankle thank you. Um, would you mind telling me where I am?"

"Oh silly me," the woman smiled, "you're at Gingaka Ranch, the ranch just beyond the Ruxburg Woods."

Holly nodded, "so I'm not in Ruxburg then?"

The woman smiled, "yes, you're not in Ruxburg at the moment."

"Oh," Holly said, rather stunned that she had escaped her city so easily. She thought for a few moments, debating about whether or not she was going to return to Ruxburg or stay here. It wasn't like anyone would miss her anyway, plus her best friend was probably dead after Drake's serious attack.

The woman waited patiently, seeming to be accustomed to thoughtful teenagers.

The clinking of glasses alerted the pair of Brilee's return, and sure enough the teenager emerged from the doorway carrying a tall glass of water and a plate that contained a sandwich, few celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins, and an apple that had a few water droplets left on it from it's washing.

"Thank you Bri," the woman smiled and took it from her before she passed it to Holly.

Holly murmured a thank you and sat up completely before she put the tray down on her lap and picked up the water glass. There was nothing at Ruxburg to keep her happy, sure her family was there, but when they heard that Holly was there but had done nothing they would surely turn their backs on her. So the other option was seeing if she could stay here. They all seemed nice enough, and she wanted to get to know the boy who had rescued her, all she could remember was his striking green eyes and ginger and blonde hair. Holly put down the glass with her mind made up and the glass empty. "Ma'am," she started, being very respectful, "would you mind-"

"Call me Fala," the woman, Fala, smiled, "and you're wondering if you can stay here right?"

Holly nodded silently, poking at the food with one of the celery sticks.

"I think it's a good idea Nana," a soft spoken voice that Holly hadn't heard yet murmured, "she's lonely and confused." Brilee finished, scuffing the floor with the toe of her mud stained shoes.

Fala nodded to the young teenager's comment before she smiled at Holly, "You're a lucky girl Holly," she smiled, "Bri here almost never talks to anyone outside of our family, this is the first time I've heard her talk around a newcomer before them being around for at least a week."

Holly smiled weakly, that didn't answer her question though and it was starting to bother her not knowing if she could stay or not, she didn't want to see Ruxburg right now, the wounds were too fresh.

Fala smiled, "you're welcome to stay as long as you like Holly," she said as if sensing her agitation. "You'll be expected to help Finli and Bri around the house, and be one of the kids, but yes, you may stay as long as you see fit."

Holly smiled a million dollar smile, she needed to get away for a while, and this family was perfect.

"Once you're finished eating and you change, Bri and Finli will show you around the farm," Fala continued with a warm smile, "you can start helping them tomorrow."

Holly nodded, her green eyes alit with low key happiness. She then asked a question before she took a bite of a celery stick. "Who's the artist for the room?" She asked rather curiously.

Brilee shuffled a little embarrassedly and Fala smiled, "Bri drew all of the art here, she's quite the talented artist, don't you think?"

Holly smiled at the young teenager, "definitely. This art is some of the best I've ever seen."

Brilee just blushed, mumbled something, and scampered out of the room.

* * *

Once she had finished eating, Holly donned a loose green t-shirt, a pair of loos blue jeans, and an unzipped zip up light green hoodie with the muddy shoes she had arrived in. Aparently Fala had washed and dried everything in her backpack, including her precious book _Inheritance_.

Brilee led the way outside where the sun was shining warmly down upon the farmland, bathing the ffarmlandin its warm rays. She seemed to wander over to a horse stable near the house, her footsteps determined and soft on the soft and earthy ground.

Once they had entire the horse stable Holly realized why Brilee had gone there first. A boy Holly's age with ginger and blonde hair and striking green eyes was filling up water troughs. The boy looked sweaty and a little over heated, like he had been working since early that morning. He was dressed in a white and green plaid shirt that was rolled up at the elbows under dirtied and worn in overalls with currently rubber boots on his feet.

"Finli," Brilee spoke softly to the boy who Holly suddenly remember as the boy that had saved her, "Holly's awake and we're supposed to show her around the farm."

Finli paused his work of filling up the water troughs and looked over at Brilee and Holly, he smiled at Holly, "you feeling alright?" He asked curiously, "you were half frozen when I found you."

Heat rose to Holly's cheeks and she nodded, scuffing the ground with her muddied shoes, feeling slightly shy. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for finding me."

Finli smiled and set down the water bucket he had been using to fill the troughs, "your welcome, I'm glad you feel better now."

Brilee spoke up aburptly in her quiet voice, "Finli we're supposed to be showing her around the farm."

Finli rolled his eyes affectionately and ruffled the young girl's hair, "I know sis, I was about to leave after I finished filling up the troughs so we can do that."

Brilee smiled, "then let's go!" She then grabbed Finli and Holly's wrists, and tugged them out of the stables.

* * *

 _ **Scene 2**_

"You should at least see if she is alive," Brilee said softly as she gently braided Holly's hair, her amber eyes fixed on her task at hand.

"I know," Holly sighed and moved to have her legs stretched out rather than crossed, "I'm just scared for what my parents think about me."

"Why would they think badly of you?" Finli asked from his chair that he had pulled up to the bunk from the desk, "I'm sure that if you had tried to help you would've been beaten up as well."

Holly hesitated, not sure if she wanted to explain why her parents would think of her as a bad person.

"I'm sure your parents are happy that your safe and happy," Brilee said quietly, "every parent loves their child and always wants to think the best of them."

"Maybe so," Holly sighed again and rubbed her fingers against a small cloth, cleaning the dirt from her fingernails and fingers, "but my parents think I'm flawless, so if they find out that I didn't help Cynthia when Drake beat her and probably killed her, they're going to hate me." She was silent for a moment before she spoke again, her voice now small and timid. "Everyone will hate me."

"I don't hate you Holly," Finli said, reaching over and gently grasping one of her hands, "Brilee and I only think the best of you." He smiled a little, "you are an amazing person, just because you didn't fight what's his name, Drake?" At Holly's nod, he continued, "doesn't mean your a bad person, it means you recognized that your efforts in getting involved like that would get both of you into trouble."

Holly smiled weakly at him, feeling reassured by his words. "Thanks, Fini," she said and grasped his hand for a second before gently moving her hand from his grasp.

"Are you afraid your friend won't forgive you for not helping her?" Brilee asked Holly softly, as she plucked a hair band off the bed and finished up the brai before she let go of Holly's hair. "Cause by how you described her, Cynthia wouldn't have ever doubted you in the first place."

Holly blinked, realizing that what Brilee had said was true, she had been worried about what Cynthia would've thought if she had survived, and that her best friend would have never doubted her for even a second. Cynthia knew what she had gotten herself into and she had been the one to push Holly behind the shower curtains of one of the showers in the locker room. Cynthia had been protecting her. Holly's throat grew clogged as a lump grew in her throat, "you're right, Cynthia wouldn't hate me, she was one protecting me."

Finli looked at her, his green eyes gentle and reassuring, "then do you want to see if she survived? And if so how she's doing?"

Holly nodded thickly, her green eyes emotional, "can I?"

Finli nodded, "Of course."

"Will you and Bri come with me?" Holly asked quietly, looking at the pair of siblings.

Finli smiled at her, "of course, we can't leave you to do it all by yourself now can we Bri?"

Brilee smiled brightly, "nope, that we can't do."

* * *

Holly's nervousness resurfaced as the truck was turned off and she gazed out the window at the Ruxburg Hospital, somewhere she had been a few times for her brother and her aunt. _What if Cynthia didn't survive?_ She couldn't help but wonder, _there was blood everywhere, mirrors had been shattered, and she wasn't moving when I ran, so what if she's dead?_ Then she was startled when the door was pulled open and Leon was revealed to be standing there, his amber eyes were bright at seeing his older sister.

"Holly!" He smiled, "where've you been?!"

Holly smiled weakly at her brother and got out of the car, "I've been on a ranch, recovering from what happened."

Leon's smile wavered half a second, "how's the ranch then?" he asked and hugged her, his voice a little less enthusiastic.

Holly smiled and hugged her brother back for a few moments before she released him. "It's nice, the family's amazing and they're all really nice."

Leon smiled warmly and began walking toward the hospital's entrance, "I'm glad you've been doing well. Jay's here somewhere, I think he wanted to say hello, but he may have fallen asleep, so…"

Holly chuckled, "so I should find him at some point and say hi to my twin."

Leon bobbed his head, "yup!"

"How's Cindy?" Holly blurted out after a few minutes of casual silence.

Leon looked a little startled and he blushed a tiny amount, which confused Holly a decent amount. "She's awake, bound to a wheelchair and on a breathing tube till the tear in her left lung heals, but as normal as she can be stuck in a wheelchair and being driven insane by cabin fever."

Holly nodded, feeling like a weight had been taken from her shoulders, Cynthia was alive and well, thank StarClan.

"You should go find Jay," Leon urged his sister, "I'll track Cynthia down for you and bring her to her room so you can talk to her."

Holly swallowed the growing lump in her throat and nodded, "any ideas where he is?"

"Nope," Leon said, popping the p, "I have no idea."

Holly sighed, "great."

* * *

"Jay?" Holly called into the lounge, looking around for her napping twin brother for the past twenty minutes. It seemed that finally, she had found the right lounge.

"Holly?" Jay sat up from where he was sitting and had been dozing, "what're you doing here?" He asked, his voice rather grouchy and miffed, "and I was sleeping thank you very much."

"Well, I wanted to say hi while I'm here and Leon told me to find you while he hunted Cynthia down." Holly shrugged and plopped down next to her brother.

Jay snorted and got more comfortable, "of course he did."

Holly blinked in confusion and looked at him, "what do you mean?"

Jay rolled his blind eyes, "He and Cynthia had been going through the whole stage of 'my friend who I have feelings for nearly died and now I realize how little time I have.' It's honestly somewhat messed up."

"How?" Holly asked in confusion, "they aren't a couple, are they?"  
Jay snorted, "that's why it's messed up, they aren't a couple yet, but they're acting somewhat sappy and overly affectionate and it's borderline ridiculous."

"So sappy stuff that you don't like?" Holly giggled, "it's nice to talk to you again Jay, your opinions are so vastly different from everyone elses."

Jay shrugged, "I'm special." he grunted, "Cynthia's room is two-twenty-five," he told his sister, "go have fun chatting with her."

"I will, I'm glad I got to see you brother," Holly smiled at him and got to her feet, "good luck with your nap."

"You too Holly," he replied, and settled into a comfortable spot for his nap, "I missed you."

Holly smiled weakly at him and began walking down the halls toward Cynthia's room.

It only took ten minutes to find Cynthia's room, and when Holly did, knocked, and pulled open the door, she saw what Jay had been talking about. Cynthia was lying on her side under the hospital bed blankets, looking incredibly drowsy like she was about to fall asleep. Leon was sitting in a semi comfortable chair next to the bed, one of Cynthia's hands were clasped between his hands, and he was playing with her thin fingers and the hospital bracelet around one wrist. He was leaning forward so his forehead was brushing against her black bangs that were semi tucked behind her ear.

Niether seemed to have heard her arrival as Cynthia mumbled something in a sleepy mumble to Leon before she moved a little and stretched her left leg, turning onto her back and yawning.

Leon's eyes flickered over to Holly, he murmured a greeting to Cynthia and brushed his lips against Cynthia's cheek before drawing back and addressing his sister again, "Hey Holly, Cyndy just got her medication about five minutes ago, so she's half asleep at the moment."

"She can go to sleep if she wants," Holly smiled encouragingly at her brother, seeing that he was nervous about doing what he was doing while around Holly. "I'm here all day so I can talk to her once she's gotten the sleep she needs."

"What're you doing Leo?" Cynthia mumbled as Leon released her hand and tucked his hands into his pockets. She turned her head toward him, half opening her eyes to look sleepily at him.

Leon turned a little pink and shook his head at her, his amber gaze straying to his sister.

Cynthia mumbled under her breath, turned so her back was facing Leon, and closed her eyes again.

Holly could clearly see her face now as she moved to sit down on the second visitor's chair across from Leon on the other side of the bed, and guilt weighed in her stomach once more. Cynthia had clearly had a special treatment for the cuts on her face, because almost all of them were healed and there wasn't any scabbing of any sort. The bridge of her nose had a white tape across it that probably helped in keeping her nose straight while it healed, and there was a large scar forming that went from her nose, across her right cheek, and down the side of her neck. Probably from one of the mirror shards. "I'm fine," Cynthia mumbled and Holly jumped, having not noticed that she had opened her eyes while Holly looked over her injuries, "Don't worry so much," her blue eyes slid shut as the medication kicked in.


	145. Thundering Lightning (Unfinished) 10

_**Warriors Tribes**_

 _ **Thunderclan Part**_

 **Title:** _Thundering Lightning_

 **Summary:** _Thundering Lightning Tribe, ThunderClan as an advanced tribe. This is the second part of "Warriors Actually as Humans" and contains a part that Holly wasn't around to see. (I don't know what else to put here :P)_

 **Main Characters:** _Cynthia, Leon, Holly, Jay, Bree._

* * *

 _ **Need to Know Info**_

 **Thundering Lightning Territory** \- Forests, streams, small clearings, a thick river, part of a lake, and the base of an extinct volcano that was the source of their blackened glass windows in the cabins. The territory is sprawling, covering easily 26 miles, the size of a decent city (Ogden roughly) with it mainly covered in thick forests spotted with fruit trees which are also cultivated near the camp. the forests are broken up by many small clearings and a large clearing that has thick soft ferns covering the ground typically used for sparring called **Tribal Spar** near the base of the volcano is the **Star Cavern,** a cavern full of lava rock with the walls naturally covered with black glass that glows orange at the full and half moon. This is where the medical personnel seeks guidance from the stars. In the center of the cavern is a quartz pillar covered in black glass with small six-pointed stars carved into the glass and quartz

 **Thunderous Lightning's camp-** The camp is built at the base of a cliff, with one protection for the camp is the cliff face. The camp is very large, it's partially built into the cliff side with it dug out to about ten feet up from the ground. The camp itself is slightly bean shaped with thick logs lashed together with a wet rock mixture in between each log. the logs stand at 16 feet up and ivy vines have covered the outside into a more camouflage style camp. There are shorter interior walls (about 12 feet tall) that divide the sleeping quarters (for everyone without a mate and family) and nursery from the main area of the camp as a way of protecting it, and another section divides the small village style cabins that are for mates and young families of which is build mostly inside the hollowed out area of the cliff face.

 **In the center of the camp** is a massive rock outcrop that's been carved with names of the dead killed in honorable ways and symbols of each of the leaders past and current. Stairs have been carved into one side of the boulder, allowing tribe members to get up to the top. On the top of the outcrop is a large flat-topped boulder that has the leader's cabin built along the back and the top of the boulder has been chiseled into footprints of varying sizes with a large six-pointed star made from white quartz inset into the large rock.

The **tribal forge** is built underground where the soil and rock can muffle the loud ringing of metal. The mine is connected to the forge and is very deep and large. The camp's gardens and crops are tucked away partially underground and hidden by seven foot log walls and a ceiling with rocks piled around the outside and on top to look like an area that had suffered from a rock slide.

The **guard houses** are near the arch style entrance of the camp which it built between two large trees that help mask the camp entrance's presence. The entrance has a large door that takes many men to move but it's usually tucked up against the inside of the main camp wall. The subsections of the walls have large doors of hollowed out logs filled with wood shavings which allow it to be strong but light, making it so that even a child can push the door from the inside. All of the doors have locking capabilities (barriers via a log that prevents it from being pulled open during an attack

The **tribe cabins** are hand built by the couple and family who are living in it, it's one floor with a small loft that has dividers through heavy fur curtains. The lower floor has a stone furnace with sections built for a metal sheet designed to cool and heat quickly (used for baking) the rest of the furniture are unique to each family

 **Nursery -** the nursery is a wide and long short cabin with a main floor and a small loft, where the Caretakers can live and sleep if they choose to. the lower floor has shelves out of small interlocking logs that have a variety of carved wooden toys, small fur blankets, and other things needed to care for the children. There are small cots (wooden frame, with a thin leather stuffed with fine wood shaving mattress) spread out along the walls, fur rugs spread out on the sanded floor, and a stone furnace for warmth along the back wall. The nursery has a short set of stairs that leads down to a tiny underground area that works as a cooler where the Caretakers store snacks and food mothers and other people have prepared for them and the children)

 **Sleeping Quarters** \- the sleeping Quarters is the tallest and largest cabin in the camp, it's built half underground and half above ground to keep the size short and to keep their camp hidden. The cabin is full of long hallways with wicker lamps and small rooms given to a tribal member who doesn't have a family of their own or a mate. The rooms are small with a decent sized cot (just like the nursery cots) with both a fur and a leather blanket on top, and a small interlocking log shelf with a wooden bowl (for cleaning off face paint and whatever else) on top and a basket for armor next to it.

 **Leader's Cabin** \- small normal sized cabin painted white with quartz dust at the top with the rest painted grey with yellow lightning toward the bottom. The inside of the cabin is warm and cozy with a large leopard skin rug (from a leopard Firen had killed himself) stone furnace (typically used by Firen's mate for baking or warmth), shelves, and tables used like kitchen counters

 **Tribal Forge** \- the forge is the only structure built out of stone. It's literally carved out of the mountain, the entire structure is one piece besides the ceiling which is small logs lashed together and coated with a thin rock mixture to make sure nothing catches fire. The back wall is "dimpled" with a tool rack carved into it. It can hold hammers through small holes for the handles, hold tools lying sideways, rope coils in specialized slots, carved out large square barrels connected to the floor that holds titanium nuggets and ingots after it's been melted down and turned into ingots. In the center of the forge is the forge itself, a large stone forge with one part designed to put ore on the top so that it would liquify and pool down into stone ingot shaped molds in the lower part of that section. Another part of the forge works like a heated anvil, allowing the blacksmiths to not have to continuously reheat their project. There's also a slot in the forge that allows the blacksmith to put their project into the forge to reheat it after cooling it off in a bucket of water. Two of the other walls are ringed with stone "counters" carved into it where they usually have a book that has the projects they've been asked to do by other people in the tribe.)

The **Mine -** The tribal mine is used only by blacksmiths, and it's because when they gain their full status a blacksmith gets a blessing and an ability to sense where ores are located. Some are better than others and each blacksmith is more sensitive to a particular metal that other blacksmiths aren't. Because of this, the mine is deep and not very orderly, it's lit up via wicker lamps with random twisting tunnels and multiple levels accessible via ladders and occasionally stairs. Built at each level (Right now there's four) is a place where people mining can drop off the ores they've managed to dig out and rest, eat, and or relax. It's a small wooden cabin with a stone furnace, fur rugs, cots, water jugs and basins with clean cloths to clean off the dirt if they chose to. The way to get the ores up is through a balancing system, where the blacksmith weighs the amount of ores and put it into a large strong basket woven from strong and thin tree limbs before they climb up out of the mine and place rocks carefully so that the rocks slowly outweigh the ores. To pull rocks out of the mine they usually have two people, one in the mine and one or two at the top to pull the basket up by hand to pull the extra rocks out. Which can be used to hide the camp more, crushed into a sturdy rock glue mixture, or carved into something.

* * *

 _ **Positions**_

A **warrior** fights and patrols, hunters hunt and help medical people, **hunter/fighter/runners** hunt, patrol, fight battles, and run from battle to alert the camp. **Fighter/Runners** patrols and alert the camp of an incoming battle or attack. **Farmers** cultivate crops in the underground burrows and small gardens. **Medical** heal the tribe and experiment with crops and herbs. **Blacksmith** create and test weapons, mine for ores, create armor, and experiment with metals. **Construction fighters** patrols when not building structures (cabins usually) or carving rocks and the tribal boulder. A **guard** defends the camp from intruders, they switch off and work with the **Warriors** so that the camp is guarded 24/7)

 **Warrior** \- Strong fighters armed with knight style metal plating armor made from titanium and steel, leather sandals, armed with broadswords and knives

 **Hunter** \- leather armor and armed with a bow, quiver, hunting knives, leather sandals

 **Hunter/Fighter/Runner** \- light chain mail and titanium shoulder, leg, knee, guards, gauntlets, and anklets, and closed toed moccasins. Armed with hunting knives, bows, quivers, throwing knives, and long daggers

 **Fighter/Runner** \- Leather armor with a chain mail chest plate, closed toe moccasins, and titanium gauntlets. Armed with a short dagger and a bow and quiver. Arrows are designed to light on fire and explode into a distress signal.

 **Farmer** \- leather chest plate, wears a large mess bag, closed toed moccasins, and armored with a single long dagger.

 **Medical** \- leather armor, otherwise no armor beyond a light chain mail chest piece and armed with a long dagger.

 **Blacksmith** \- chain mail chest piece, titanium gauntlets, shoulder guards, and anklets, sandals. Armed with a long sword and short dagger. (Blacksmiths can usually dual wield)

 **Weapons Forger** \- no armor, just a long dagger (Usually a blacksmiths apprentice)

 **Construction Fighter** \- has Fighter armor but also has a thin leather tool belt with forged tools

 **Guard** \- warrior armor and weapons, guards the camp

* * *

 _ **Scene 1**_

 _We're Going To Be Apprentices!_

 _(Becoming Apprentices "The Sight")_

Jay's dream about becoming the greatest battle medic was interrupted by his brother's annoying voice and the rude yanking off of his leather and fur blankets.

"Get up Jay!" We're going to be apprenticed tomorrow!" Leon shouted excitedly.

Jay groaned the cool air from the morning breeze was not how he wanted to start his morning.

"Leon," Holly sighed exasperatedly, "it's only a quarter past sunrise, can you please just let us sleep?" She complained and Jay agreed with her.

"No, because Cynthia said her dad would be taking her out in the forest and I want to convince him to take us too!" Leon retorted

That jolted Jay upright. The half-blind preteen quickly sat up, "what?"

Holly echoed his statement, "what?! Why didn't you say anything about it earlier?!" Jay could see his sister from the thick and heavy woven open curtain that usually split their bedroom in their parents' cabin in half, Jay and Leon on one side, and Holly on the other, although one of their female friends occupied the room with Holly every once in a while. Holly tugged on the curtain, pulling it a small amount, "Leon! Close this stupid thing!" She huffed.

Leon laughed at her attitude and did as she asked. Only then did Jay notice how his brother wasnt wearing his normal blue trousers, leather sandals, and orange tunic instead of pjs. And he was wearing a leather vest fashioned after the warrior's armor attire that he would wear during and after his apprenticeship as a warrior. With the smooth vest were leather gauntlets around his wrist, knee and shoulder guards, and a belt with a large double sided dagger sheath and brass knuckle pouch hanging from it. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, "we're going to be left behind if you two don't hurry!"

Jay bit his tongue to keep from snapping at his brother, if he snapped at him he may not be allowed to go, and instead slid out of bed and pulled his leather mock battle medic armor on over his head and strapped it on, which was a thin leather vest, wrist and ankle gauntlets, moccasins, a belt with a double-sided dagger sheath hanging from it, and a strong mesh bag woven of ivy vines on his back.

Holly pushed through the curtain a few moments later, her leather mock runner-fighter armor was on over her dark green tunic and black trousers. Holly's armor consisted of a leather vest, gloves, and wrist gauntlets with moccasins, a belt that had two small dagger sheaths hanging from it. "Then let's go!"

The three siblings hurried out of the empty cabin, Jay following close behind, his vision blurring in the sunlight.

Cynthia was standing next to her father, her mock hunter-fighter armor was on as well. But where the three bramble kids had leather, Cynthia's was real metal. Cynthia's was real chainmail and steel, painstakingly created for her twelfth birthday by her father. While the armor was heavier than the armor she would be wearing later during her apprenticeship and probably even as a hunter-fighter due to the kind of metal, it looked spectacular and really made her look like a real hunter-fighter. Cynthia's armor was a chainmail vest with thin steel wrist and ankle gauntlets with leather moccasins, a chain mail belt with two leather dagger sheaths, steel shoulder and knee guards, hanging from one shoulder was a strong ivy vine mesh bag that could hold the animals she caught, and strapped to her back was an leather chainmail reinforced quiver and a pocket that could hold her bow if it was unstrung along with the polish and extra strings she carried for it.

"Cindy!" Leon waved his arms to get her attention as they ran toward her. "Hold on!"

Cynthia turned around to face them and she smiled, her blue eyes lighting up at seeing her friends. "Hi, guys!" She smiled at them, "what's up?"

Leon slowed to a stop in front of her, "we want to come too!"

"Yeah!" Holly smiled brightly, "We're all being apprenticed tomorrow!"

Jay stayed silent, not in the mood to talk to anyone even though he, like his siblings, was dying to go out into the territory.

Cynthia glanced at her father, "I don't know if my dad would allow it."

Leon looked disappointed, "auh man…"

Holly looked disappointed as well, and Jay felt the same emotion cause his stomach to sink, but he didn't speak. He knew that if anyone was going to be able to convince Cynthia's father it would be Cynthia, and the easiest way to convince Cynthia was through his brother, who the preteen had a crush on.

"We're getting apprenticed tomorrow," Leon pointed out, "and we can handle ourselves Cindy," he said, trying to persuade their friend, "so we wouldn't be that much of a bother for your father."

"None of you are a bother," Cynthia smiled quickly, and Jay could sense that she was trying to not embarrass herself or accidentally offend Leon. "Its just that my dad wasn't prepared to take four kids while those Fox Hearts are hunting around the territory, they're really dangerous people."

"Im sorry," Bracken told the three Bramble kids, "but I can't take four kids of which three don't know how to fight."

"What if I come along?" Bree came jogging over, the slightly older apprentice -who was a marksman-weaponssmith- had been training for a year now, and was a incredible with a bow. "I'm pretty good myself, so it might make it easier on Bracken!" She chirped with excitement in her voice.

Bree was wearing actual forger-marksman armor, with a colapsible wooden recurve bow tucked into a special leather case strapped to her left arm, a leather tool belt that she was currently stuffing into a stiff woven basket on her back that held some of her forgery tools, and a series of short daggers all tucked into a pouch hanging from her normal belt. Her attire was dark gray trousers tucked into thin flat toed leather boots that protected her feet and ankles from sparks as she worked in the forge and a light orange colored tunic that had no sleeves that went beneath a titanium chainmail short sleeve tunic, gauntlets around her wrists of the same metal along with knee guards and leather gloves that covered her index, middle finger, and thumb on her left, with all fingers, covered on her right. Bree's armor was standard for an apprentice and master, and it was about three times as light as Cynthia's mock armor was.

Cynthia looked up at her father, her blue eyes pleading, "please daddy!" She said, purposely using the endearment to get her father to lean more toward taking them all.

Bracken sighed, "fine, but if I get in trouble you all are in trouble as well."

"We take full responsibility," Leon and Cynthia said at the same time, Holly echoing their words.

* * *

 _ **Scene 2**_

 _Pink Diamond_

 _Cynthia ~ 24_

 _Leon ~ 24 ½_

Leon's jaw slackened and he slowed to pace to a crawl as entered the camp and watched his mate manage to make her way up the stairs to the leader's rock. A huge carved boulder and she looked amazing. She was a little hot and sweaty from her beginning to go into labor, but she still looked perfect. Cynthia was wearing a loose white dress, a golden flower crown, nothing on her feet, and had her new style of face paint painted on her cheeks and nose. Instead of the streaks that had used to be below her eyes and curled into faint curves and a few spots, her face paint was now all gentle swirls and small spots, making her even more beautiful. Cynthia was leaning slightly against Leah, her lips forming a half smile.

Firen was standing beside her and the healer, his green eyes warm and kind, Leon's grandfather loved this part, introducing the birthing mother to the rest of the tribe and awarding her the pink diamond while announcing the new baby's arrival before the young addition was born and would be welcomed as soon as Cynthia was ready to part with the newborn. "Thunderous Lightning!" He called to the tribe, "today I'm proud to say that our tribe is getting stronger and larger! By tonight we will have a new addition to the tribe! Will Leon, Brad's son please come up and join his mate?"

People cheered as Leon threw off his helmet, revealing his sweaty blonde hair, dropped his sword, and unbuckled his sword belt as he ran toward the boulder and jogged up the stairs to his mate.

Cynthia smiled at him, her blue eyes gentle, excited, and held a little pain as well.

Leon smiled back and curled one of his arms around her waist before looking at his grandfather who was holding some face paint and a necklace jewel.

"These two will be blessed with their first child today, and we parents want to welcome them into parenthood!"

The tribe cheered some more, everyone looking at the rock and grinnin in excitement.

"Cynthia earns her pink diamond of motherhood today, and Leon receives his new status of hunter-fighter along with his Fatherhood status!" Firen told everyone as he took one of Cynthia's slightly shaking hands and put the jewel into her hand. He then dipped two fingers into the orange face paint and drew a symbol on Leon's forehead, the symbol for good luck and fatherhood transition.


	146. Ninja Warrior

_**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _I can tell you the title now, it's gonna be released late (I got a surgery done of my shoulder and inhibits my ability to type -_-) but it's titled Halted Destiny, the wild novella anyway and I have a teaser released out on the internet with it. Here's the summary and stuff_

 _ **Book Title**_ _: Halted Destiny_

 _ **Written By:**_ _Caylee Mitsuko_

 _ **Summary:**_ _Kiro is a seventeen-year-old boy with mutated genetics that make him part animal, called a Wild. His life seems to be going perfectly until today of all days. His best friend Yuri has chosen him as her destined partner, but his father is completely against it. Now Kiro has to choose. Reject Yuri and let her eventually die, or face his father to struggle to over power an Alpha command and keep Yuri at his side._

 _ **Characters**_ _: Kiro James Smith, Yuri Mitsuru Hamilton, Fuuka Yulana Smith, Richard Hamilton, Alexander Smith, Nikita Mala Johnson, and Hiosu Kito Smith._

 _It's a long process and includes illustrations of my own design in an anime style and is currently 19,426 words while I edit it for the twelfth time I think :P I actually need questions for my Q & A with it XD_

 _I do want to write a werewolf book at some point, and I'm tempted to be one of those writers who publishes a big book of short stories and novellas all crammed together, kinda like WHSS :P_

 _(Chapter 139) Totally! XD I'll be happy to have another person able to say that! :D_

 _(Chapter 140) Maaaybe I will :P_

 _(Chapter 142) She did, Bree loves him a lot, even if in that world he gets under her skin and makes her want to throw a tantrum and cry :P_

 _(Chapter 144) Wow, I totally just realized that I have that pattern, having Hollyleaves while Cynthia's practically dying XD I has a plan for a new Hollyleaves one… And we get to see Holly's temper!_

 _ **~HHQFandoms~**_

 _You're not two years late, for the chapter yeah, but not for the story! :D LeafxCrow is amazing! Even though I find them super hard to write (TT)_

 _ **~Dutchess Frost~ *Squee!***_

 _Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed Bree's character, she's a funky character to write that's for sure XD But everyone seems to love her (for the most part) and I enjoy her name too, even if I sometimes accidentally call her Briley instead XD_

 _Yeah, the spinal injury is something I look back on and cringe at XD I wrote that such a long time ago that it's horrific XD_

 _Thank you for the compliment Dutchess Frost! It means a lot coming from the author of one of the most popular warrior fanfics out there! :D_

 _ **~briarfeather4fun~**_

 _Of course! I have a bunch of one shots of WHSS #2 out actually, and Vividly Beautiful is a wilds collection currently coming out soon (I just want to upload a happy chapter with the heart wrenching one I have written XD) and I'm planning on continuing my rewrite of the Power of Three and Omen of Stars! :D_

 _(Chapter 142) I'm not sure where that one came from, but I'm thrilled you liked it!_

 _ **~sparks4romthesky~**_

 _Probably never XD I enjoy Cynthia's character A lot, soooo XD I'm very ADHD, IRL, so Cynthia's impulsive behavior is easy for me to write and connect with :P_

* * *

 _ **Okay, so I couldn't resist XD I had to write something for WHSS again after a while, even if I'm in a sling and look like a T-rex with my stubby arms due to the sling XD**_

* * *

 _Ninja Warrior_

The first time he met her, Leon met her when he was a kid in the Ninja Warrior competition when he was nine years old.

"Today we have Cynthia Lawson of Vandala facing off against Leonardo Bramble with a football star of his own."

" _I'm Leonardo Bramble," The blonde boy grinned at the camera, "and I'm the quarterback for my elementary school's football team!" The video showed a picture of the small boy leaping high over another, much taller, child with a football held under his arm._

" _My ninja mentor is my dad, Brad Bramble, the football ninja." The clip switched to one of his father's clips back when he was a ninja warrior, "and he's been training me for five years."_

" _One of my favorite things of training to be a ninja warrior is the multitude of obstacles that I'm always learning to power through, and it gets you in shape," Leon explained as the video showed the muscular nine-year-old going through some of his training obstacles._

 _The clip switched to where the nine-year-old boy was shirtless and hanging off a pole anchored to his doorway and he grinned at the camera, "so you can have this," he pointed down to his abs, and his father snorted from where he was the camera man. Before Leon took one of his arms from the pole and flexed with a lopsided grin, "and this!"_

He was facing off against this shorter much less fit looking lightly tanned skin girl with bright blue eyes and black hair in a ponytail, and he was a little confused, she looked like she wouldn't make it past the first obstacle, so why was he facing off against her?

The small girl smiled at her competitor and offered him a fist bump, blue eyes rather nervous. "Good luck,"

Leon grinned and gave the girl a fist bump, reluctant to touch the girl and possibly get her cooties. "You too, you can do it too."

The girl grinned back and they both hunkered down into their starting positions.

" _I'm Cynthia Lawson," the black haired girl smiled brightly at the camera, "I'm the center field soccer player at my school and a gymnast with first place in the state competition."_ _The video showed a few clips of the small and rather lanky girl twisting through the air in a triple back flip and kicking a soccer ball with a focused expression on her face._

" _My ninja mentor is Atol Hirst, the Hawklike Ninja."_

" _One of my favorite things in ninja is proving I'm not as weak as I look, my mom says I'm lanky? I don't understand what the word means, but I'm not taken seriously in athletics. Giving me an edge." The clip showed thin girl racing through a monkey bar course without hesitating once before she pulled herself up with a spin at the end and ended up on the top before jumping down, hitting the ground running._

"Cynthia's known for her speed and jump distance, while Leon's known for his grip strength and upper body strength. So today it'll be a test of speed against strength."

The starting buzzer sounded and Leon got a shock, the girl shot forward like lightning, moving fast and light on her feet as she easily bounced along the first obstacle, her feet barely touching the ground before her next step.

Leon gritted his teeth and leaped, completely ignoring the ropes in the the Sonic Swing and nearly falling as he tried to keep up with the lightning fast girl he was competing against. Even with the skipping of the ropes, when he looked back after clearing the tick tock, the girl was right on his heels, swinging on the tick tock.

"Oh! And she's still in the course! Her mere hieght saving her from skimming the water! Giving Leon an obstacle lead."

Leon shot forward, racing through the I-beam, his arms straining with each movement as he raced through it without hesitating for even a second. Yet when his feet hit the mat after the Spin Cycle, the obstacle before the wall, he heard her feet land hardly half a second later. He didn't dare look back as he raced forward toward the wall, and yet to his utter shock and surprise a bit of black hair nearly whipped him in the face as the girl raced ahead of him and up the wall, clearing the whole thing, all thirteen feet without grabbing onto either of the ledge holds. _No you don't!_ Leon ran faster, catching up to her and heaving himself up without much problem and striking the button barely a quarter of a second faster than the girl.

"Good job!" The girl smiled at him, and offered him a handshake, breathing hard, "that was awesome!"

* * *

There was just something about his first companion for the semi finals in his ninja warrior career that he couldn't forget, it was something that he always strived to beat, and never have a race as close as that one. He hadn't actually had a race that close since, even after he had become an actual ninja warrior, he hadn't forgotten facing off against her that fateful day. However, he hadn't expected to see her sixteen years later. And she had changed. He would never forget her name, as the first person to nearly beat him in his ninja warrior career, and she was breathtaking.

"Can Cynthia beat it and become one of the few women to beat the obstacle?!"

Leon's eyes widened, and he stared at the woman standing there, looking at the fifteen foot wall in front of her on the tv screen his sister had dragged him over to see.

The woman was wearing a light blue tank-top with her name, 'Lightning Lawson,' written on it in white letters across her front, and black shorts that fit close to her body to avoid any extra resistant, black shoes on her feet, had freckles spread over her skin, blue eyes he had seen as a child that were currently glowing with a determined fire to run up the fifteen foot wall to get to the second half of the course rarely attempted and even rarer completed.

"Leon, so you remember going against her?" Holly breathed, watching as the woman took a few deep breaths and readied herself to start running up the wall, "this is _that girl_ who you've been wanted to face off against again. You're already a national warrior Leon, but… this is her."

"She became a warrior too?" Leon breathed, watching as the woman started to run, racing at her height of five-ten to make it all the way up the fifteen-foot wall. He held his breath and watched in shock as instead of simply running up it, the gymnast twisted mid air and caught the ledge backwards, swinging her legs up and rolling backward onto the ledge and slamming her hands down on the buzzer as she finished the second stage and took a break for a second, leaning forward on her knees and taking a few smiling breaths. "I've got to find her again." He said, watching her as she jumped up onto the Salmon Ladder and quickly jumped up two of the craddles, arms shaking.

"Today Cynthia's competing for her little brother, as always the rookie's fighting to finish for her little brother."

The video on the tv switched briefly as she finished the Shelf Grab and breathed for a few moments to Cynthia sitting in front of the camera with silver earrings in her ears and a bright smile on her face. "Miles is my little brother," it switched to a thirteen-year-old boy sitting in a wheelchair with a bright smile on his face, "who's paralyzed because of a car accident that paralyzed him and messed up my leg for six years, and he's the reason I do ninja warrior. Ever since he was a little kid he always tried to mimic my abilities in the ninja warrior juniors and my gymnastics, and he's the reason I came back after ten years of training and made it to the semi finals last year. On top of my little brother is that when I was a kid I faced off against the champion Flex Bramble, and narrowly lost," Cynthia smiled widely, "so I'm also competing to show myself and others that if he could do it then so can I."

The video ended and it switched back to Cynthia who leaped up and grasped the pole preceding the Rolling Thunder, working hard. "It's rare to women to even reach this obstacle! Proving that this rookie is determined to beat it! With the completion of the second Salmon Ladder and second Shelf Grab will she make it to Vegas for the finals?!"

"Next up is the Step Grab," Leon pointed out softly and looked at the woman with a smile, "it's a tricky one."

* * *

After nearly a month he had finally tracker her down, tracked her down to a ninja gym in Vandala where he found the beautiful woman practicing against the thing she had failed at, the brand new Step Grab.

"Hey," Leon said to the person running the gym, "do you mind if I step inside for a few moments even without a membership? I gotta talk to her," he pointed to Cynthia with a polite smile, "for a few minutes."

The man looked a little wary, "alright, but be careful, she may have earbuds in."

Leon nodded and entered the main area of the gym, walking toward Cynthia, his amber eyes wandering over the woman's near perfect form as she went along the Step Grab, jaw clenched, the muscles in her back, shoulders, and arms all clenched as she worked on the thing she had failed at. She was even more beautiful up close, and her form was perfect, clearly she was skilled, proven by how she slipped, grabbed the steps on both sides of her and caught the pole between her feet with a hiss of annoyance.

"Hey! Quit looking at my sister!" A protective voice snapped at Leon and Leon looked over at the source of the voice to smile at the sight of the boy he knew to be her brother and other people who he didn't know.

"Hush Miles, that's Leon Bramble, he's an even better champion than your sister," the older woman hushed the teen, "she's capable of handling herself."

Leon smiled at them and dipped his head before he jumped up and seized the end of the particular step on step grab that Cynthia was going toward who had somehow got ahold of the pole and put it in the right position before he looked back. A moment later he grinned at how she was suddenly looking at him with wide eyes once she realized who he was, "sup."

Cynthia blinked a few times, "erm, hi?" She said tentatively, easily holding herself up on the Step Grab without so much as shaking. "H-How come you're h-here?"

Leon smiled, so she was a little shy, he loved it. "To see you," he responded and watched as a soft pink blush spread over her cheeks, "I saw your performance on tv and wanted to finally track my old competitor down and say she's done a great job."

"Th-thanks," Cynthia said and avoided his eyes in a shy fashion, her face and ears going a darker pink at the compliment. "You're p-pretty g-good too."

"Yeah, but I've been competing every year since I was nine," Leon pointed out, "You took a break after that car crash fifteen-years-ago and just competed in gymnastics right? You came back two years ago and you're already at my skill level. You just need some pointers and a trainer specific for ninja warrior stuff."

Cynthia tilted her head slightly, despite how pink her face was at the compliments, "like who?"

"Me," Leon responded with a lopsided grin and noticed how her breath hitched for a few moments when he did so, "I'd gladly give you specific training for ninja warrior stuff and see for myself how much my competitor's improved."

Cynthia looked taken aback and blushed before she smirked, "oh yeah? Well how about I teach you in return how to get some of those ones that need more than just muscle? You're not very flexible and it affects your skill in being a Ninja Warrior." As if to demonstrate her point Leon felt her ankles wrap around his before she slipped the pole from the step and swung backward, beneath him. A moment later he heard the pole being reconnected with the Step Grab and twisted his head to see her continuing down the Step Grab like nothing had happened, black ponytail swishing across her open shoulder blades and shoulders from her tank-top.

Leon grinned, switching sides and looking at her, _she's brilliantly beautiful. No doubt about that._ "Okay deal, except you have to come with me to a movie date first."

Cynthia's concentration broke and she faltered, the pole slipping from her hands before she fell the nine feet beneath her, sprawled on her back. Only to have the pole land square on her ribs and knock the wind out of her.

"Come on, it's just a harmless date," Leon grinned as he dropped down and leaned over her slightly, offering a hand to her. "I promise I'm the perfect gentleman, and it's just a movie, your choice."

Cynthia's face from her ears down to her neck, was flushed an embarrassed red, rather shocked and in surprise at her fortune and misfortune at the same time. So she licked her lips nervously, took his offered hand, and the twenty-five-year-old got to her feet. "Okay," she said quietly in a rather nervous tone, "but you pick the movie, I don't really know what a guy like you'd like to watch."

Leon grinned at her, taking her breath away, "Me? I've always been that action and thriller type of person."

* * *

 _ **TEASER FOR HALTED DESTINY (My wilds Novella I'**_ _ **m publishing) IS RELEASED AND CAN BE FOUND ON MY DEVIANTART TIGERCRYROCKS!**_


	147. Talent Show Bribbery

_**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _Nooooo! Don't miss them! They're still here! I just don't upload all the stuff I write about them anymore :P I actually do write WHSS stuff a lot, I just don't upload it cause they aren't finished or they're these ranom short little scenes from random worlds :P If you don't mind reading stuff like that then maybe I'll upload more ^_^_

 _I think my body's just broken by now XD_

 _I'm glad you liked the new installment as you said, I miss uploading these quite frankly, the characters are some of my favorites out of all of my characters ^_^ For example, I'm actually midway through a drawing where Cynthia and Leon are arm wrestling but Leon starts losing and doesn't want to officially lose so he kisses Cynthia and the drawing's Cynthia's reaction. They're wilds in it and Cynthia's both shocked and relaxed, it's hilarious XD_

 _ **~Allrena~**_

 _YESS! A Briarfeather shipper! I love fellow Briarfeather shippers! And I must convert all Halffeather shippers into Briarfeather shippers! Atleast to human Briarfeather shipping, cause Bree and Jay's relationship is always amazing :D Ivypelt? I can try but I won't promise anything cause Cinderblaze is more natural for me to write XD_

* * *

 _ **I watched Coco a little while ago and I couldn't help but think about what Cynthia would do if she had to hide her musical abilities from her parents XD**_

 _ **I just had a random thought, I miss writing Fighting for Love and Hope of all things, a story that hasn't been touched in what, six months? Huh, maybe I'll pick it up again, we'll see :D**_

 _ **P.S, I'm too lazy to edit and beta read sooo I apologize about my grammar mistakes :P**_

* * *

 _Talent Show Bribbery_

" _Black birds singing in the dead of night…"_ Cynthia sang softly to her younger siblings while playing the guitar in a very soft volume. If Sarah heard her singing and playing the guitar then Cynthia would be in a massive amount of trouble. "Take these broken wings and learn to fly," she sang softly and smiled at her six-year-old sister while Leon had Luke seated on his lap and was looking at her with soft amber eyes. " _All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise."_

Lily giggled softly at her sister's lullaby and swayed from side to side with the music of her sister's lullabye as Cynthia settled her, Luke, and Sage for bed. Their mother was upstairs, had no idea Leon was still there, and was likely busy once again with her work.

" _Black bird fly… Blackbird fly, into the light of the dark black night."_ Cynthia stopped singing for a few moments, strumming her guitar with practiced ease as she stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned a little more comfortably against the side of Sage's bed, her blue eyes focused on her siblings. For a few moments it was silent besides the soft and peaceful strumming of Cynthia's guitar, Lily nearly falling asleep and her head bobbing up and down, and Sage's blankets rustling as she moved into a more comfortable position. Cynthia's brother Miles was already asleep, and Ran was still at boarding school so it left Cynthia, her younger siblings, and her amazing best friend and crush Leon. " _Blackbird singing in the dead of night… Take these broken wings and learn to fly, blackbird fly… Blackbird fly into the light of the dark black night…"_ Cynthia continued the short lullabye and continued to strum her guitar, taking another pause to let the soft strumming of her guitar help her siblings fall asleep and make them less grumpy in the morning.

Leon leaned his head back against the wall, looking rather tired himself. Although Cynthia's heart melted at the sight of her youngest sibling, her two and a half year old brother Luke, mostly asleep against Leon's stomach, his cheek resting on the fabric of Leon's shirt as he fought to stay awake till Cynthia finished her song.

" _All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise… You were only waiting for this moment to be free…"_ She slowed down the song dramatically as she softly sang the last phrase, " _you were only waiting for this moment to arise…"_ With that she continued strumming her guitar till the last notes faded into the quiet silence and she took a breath and smiled at her siblings. "G'night Sage, Lily, sleep tight," she said softly to her sisters and got to her feet before she kissed each of them on the top of the head or temple respectively and slung her guitar over her shoulder.

Leon carefully gathered Luke in his arms and lifted him up high enough for Cynthia to easily reach, "come on little man, it's bedtime." Usually Luke went to bed much earlier, but with her extended online classes Cynthia had been too busy to put him to bed earlier.

Cynthia carefully took the toddler from her best friend and held him against her hip before she offered a hand to Leon and pulled him to his feet.

Putting Luke to bed was easy, even with Miles asleep, and within two minutes the house was silent and rather dark from Cynthia turning off the majority of the lights.

"Thanks for staying so late," Cynthia thanked Leon sincerely with a tired sigh escaping her lips as they walked toward the front door, "I know you have a lot to do without all this."

Leon smiled and pulled her into a one armed hug, "friends come first, especially you." He lightly bopped her on the nose, "you have a lot of your plate. Although… I know you're happiest when your playing music. Even if you have to hide it due to your mom's disapproval."

Cynthia sighed and leaned into his side, wishing more than anything for a brief moment that he would pull her into his arms and hug her close, but she knew he wouldn't. Leon was too dense and a little awkward about physical affection to anybody. She was lucky he was doing what he was doing right now. Her right arm slipped around his back and for a moment she silently stood there, her body warmed by Leon's body heat despite her tank-top, jeans, and no socks.

Leon tentatively brought up a subject she had been avoiding all week, ever since their friends had found out she played the guitar and drums and sang. "Are you going to participate in that neighborhood talent show? Holly said there's a five-hundred dollar prize and free ice cream this spring and summer."

Cynthia sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "I want to, but I also know how much trouble I'll be in afterward since my mom will be there, watching. If she finds out that I'm a musician like her brother then I'm screwed."

"Well you're seventeen now, just a year left right?" Leon suggested before he sighed, "wait nevermind, I forgot about your siblings for a moment."

"Yeah," Cynthia sighed, "I'm probably gonna be stuck here for the next sixteen-years till Luke turns eighteen."

"I doubt that," Leon snorted, "I think it's more likely that after you turn eighteen or nineteen that your father gives you legal control since he's divorcing and you pretty much take care of them by yourself."

"Yeah, but I don't have enough money for that Leon, I can't really get a job with all of this," Cynthia gestured around her, "I can't spare the time."

"Maybe try and sell your music?" Leon suggested, "you have a beautiful voice Cyn, and whats more is you can play each of the instruments you need for a band. I bet I can hunt down a recording studio by the end of the week and we can try to sell a single and or make an album. Plus don't you still have that video game channel on YouTube? What's the subscriber count on it again?"

"Just two-hundred and fifty thousand. Since it's been there for a while and I try to upload every other day," Cynthia shrugged, "why, what're you thinking?"

"Maybe do a livestream about your music? If you don't save it as a video it should be nearly impossible for your mom to find out about it right? I can come over and stay the night with Holly and we can take care of your siblings while you do it." Leon suggested and gave Cynthia a smile that made the blue eyed girl's breath hitch. "Either way, try out for the talent show and lets see what happens. I'll sweeten the deal," he grinned at her, "I'll ask you out on a date _if_ you try out and score one of the top three spots in the competition." He knew he got her attention when she stared at him, her mouth hanging open a little.

"Did you seriously just ask me out with bribery?"

Leon grinned at her, "nope, I asked you out to give you motivation. Score first, second, or third, and I'll take you to Frisca's, the fancy restaurant and funplex I know you've been dying to go to."

Cynthia managed to recover herself, her heart beating in her ears, "are you sure you're not just trying to get me to wear a dress again?" She asked suspiciously, "cause it sure sounds like it."

"Partially, cause your beautiful and even more stunning in a dress," Leon grinned his typical half cocky smile, "but honestly I've been looking for an excuse to ask you out anyway."

Cynthia almost choked, misplacing her foot and stumbling a little before she quickly recovered, much to Leon's amusement.

"What?" He said innocently with a smile, "are you really that surprised? Or do you not want to?"

"Well of course I'm surprised, you're denser than a brick wall!" Cynthia snorted, her face now flaming from her neck to her ears out of embarrassment, "and of course I want to go to Frisca's, I'm just surprised you've been wanting to ask me of all people out."

"Excuse me? How can I be denser than a brick wall when I'm asking you out and I know when you and other girls flirt with me?" His words made Cynthia blush harder, "I usually choose to store the information for later, is that a problem?"

"N-no," Cynthia stuttered, "b-but still, why lead me on for months?"

"I've flirted back, just in my own way," Leon winked at her before he pulled open the door of the house, "good luck on the talent show Cyn, I'm looking forward to taking you out on a date!" And with that her best friend vanished out the door.

Cynthia stood there for a few moments, staring at the door with a very red face and feeling like she was going to die of embarrassment and of nerves. How was she going to win a talent show when she hadn't performed anything like it before? "Ugh… Leon, you're impossible!"

* * *

 _ **Okay, so I was going to continue this in one chapter, but it's too beautiful to continue and mess up this beautiful ending XD Leon's such a dork, poor Cynthia XD XD**_

 _ **So basically Cynthia's hiding the fact that she's a musician, she's taking care of her younger siblings, she's in love with Leon, Leon's a brick wall, he's also a smooth talking idiot, and has now bribed Cynthia into trying out for the talent show via asking her out on a date that she can't refuse…**_

 _ **I know it's not christmas or New Years Eve themed, but I'm working on some seperate specials and I have like a million stories at this point to create Christmas specials for XD I have a plan with mistletoe for WHSS, but it's gonna have multiple chapters, one for each of my personally selected couples :P**_

 _ **~Briarfeather**_

 _ **~Cinderblaze**_

 _ **~Ivypelt**_

 _ **~Leaffeather**_

 _ **~Hollyleaves**_

 _ **~ maybe more?**_

 _ **Oh, and do you guys prefer the slow updates to WHSS or the random one-shots I upload as WHSS #2? I can't decide which format to use XD**_


	148. Wildly Famous Fluff (Valentines Special)

_**~Snowcrystal of Thunderclan~**_

 _They're all so small and tiny though XD Those bits and pieces are usually only about 1000 words or so each XD_

 _True, true, well how about this chapter? A Valentine's Day special that's all wilds and not at all related to valentines day? XD_

 _ **~HHQFandoms~**_

 _Which couple is your favorite? And I loved Coco too, it was a really good movie :D_

* * *

 _Wildly Famous Fluff_

 **[Valentine's Day Special]**

The annoying buzzing of his alarm woke Leon up with a groan, and the half-asleep Vivid Wild lifted his hand and reached over to slap his phone and make the alarm stop. _Why do I need to get up anyway? Is there somewhere I'm supposed to be at…_ Leon picked up his phone and squinted sleepily at the screen. _Seven? Where am I supposed to going at seven?_ He set his phone down and moved to get up, only to have Lion remind him something

 _School remember? And Be careful, Cynthia's still asleep and so is your brother._

Leon had already started moving, kicking the blankets off with the intention to get up, before Lion's words registered and he paused, thinking. _I totally forgot we were here in Vandala. With Cynthia and my brother, for a new school._ The simple reminder that Cynthia was there with him was the weight of one of her arms wrapped loosely around his chest and the warmth of her body heat.

 _It's nice having her around again,_ Lion admitted quietly in an almost embarrassed voice, _it's been a while._

Leon nodded, fell back on his side and twisted to look over his shoulder. He hadn't seen Cynthia come into the hotel room, his father had probably let her in late last night since she had told Leon about having a extremely busy schedule yesterday. Either way, now he didn't want to get up, preferring to stay where his was and prod Cynthia across their link. He smirked slightly, waking her up was always fun. His mate had two morning modes, one where she was practically as dead as a zombie and half asleep, and another where she was generally moody without a speech filter. Either one was hilarious to see, and usually made him laugh in the morning.

 _Let her sleep,_ Lion blocked Leon from bothering the sleeping female, _she needs it._

 _I agree, but dad's gonna kill us all if we don't get up. He's got a flight back later today remember?_ Leon pointed out, even though he didn't move, _he won't be happy if he misses it, even if Cynthia buys him another ticket._

 _Do you really want to wake her up Leon? I mean come on, our mate is with us, we're going to her school, and we convinced Brad to let Orion come too. Take a second to relax will you?_

Leon inwardly sighed and rested his head back down on the pillow, _You're right, again. Even so, when should I wake her up then? It's not like I can sit here all day._

 _Technically you can-_

 _Like dad would let us,_ Leon cut him off, _he'd kill us if I stayed here with Cynthia all day._

Someone knocked lightly on the hotel room door before it was pulled open to reveal a very awake and alert Brad.

 _Speak of the devil,_ Leon looked at his father and the two of them looked at each other for a few moments before Brad rolled his eyes and gestured as he spoke.

"Come on Leon, up and at it. We've got an hour before we need to be at the school and before you ask, no I do not know if Cynthia needs to be at the school or if she has something else going on." Brad told his second son with a fatherly grin of amusement, "she got here around eleven last night. Didn't bother to eat or anything, just went straight to you and was asleep by the time I turned around."

Leon looked at Cynthia out of the corner of his eye, even though he couldn't really see her, and his amber eyes softened. "Sounds like something she'd do." He lifted Cynthia's hand and lightly brushed his lips over her knuckles, his attention diverted to the girl sleeping behind him.

Brad smiled at his son before he went over to Orion's bed and lightly shook him, "it's time to get up Orion, you three have school today, or at least I think Cynthia does." He looked over at Leon and rolled his eyes, "while you mother would be rambling about how cute you two are, you need to get up and at least change and brush your teeth Leon, come on."

Leon rolled his eyes, "yeah, yeah, I know dad." As he spoke he reached behind him toward Cynthia, "kinda hard to get up when Cynthia's dead to the world and her arm is like steel, although by now you'd think I'd have this mastered." He stated in an amused and half sarcastic tone even as he stuck two fingers into Cynthia's armpit and the female wild retracted her arm from around him to instead rest her wrist and forearm on his side with a sleep ridden whine of complaint. " _Siaxun siasui jiania jiaua."_ _**[Good morning to you too,]**_ She mumbled in a barely audible tone with heavy slurring of the syllables in Wivano to her mate and shifted a little, scooting up half an inch and nestling her head more comfortably on the pillow.

Leon then lifted Cynthia's arm off of him completely and sat up before he carefully put her arm down. Where he positioned it so that her arm was slightly bent at the elbow and extended across the sheets and twisted to look at her.

The vibrant blue of Cynthia's eyes were barely visible from her eyes barely cracked open to look at her mate in a mostly asleep fashion, but other than that she barely moved from her position lying on her side with the sheets and blankets tangled around her legs. Clearly she was barely, if any at all, awake.

Leon smiled affectionately at her before he brushed a lock of her messy black hair from her face, " _Yuowus cuo riouo soxu, mujios soxu jiokiuson." [_ _ **I'll be right back, go back to sleep.]**_ He then leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple and straightened up, but didn't move away from her. Instead he gently grasped Cynthia's hand and sat there, rubbing soothing circles over her skin and watching as her fingers curled around his hand in a slightly uneasy manner.

Cynthia's blue eyes were still mostly closed but were also focused on him, intently, like he would disappear if she went back to sleep.

Leon's heart wrenched a little at the uneasy fear from Cynthia's side of the bond and swallowed hard to hide it from her. The problem with them being in separate cities all the time was that Cynthia had grown used to him leaving in the morning to catch a flight to Vyliea and sometimes not having enough time to wake her up completely with how much of a heavy sleeper and drowsy person she usually was in the morning. So when they were together Leon occasionally was woken up by Cynthia startling awake in the middle of the night. Half asleep and struggling to break free from the drowsiness while also trying to wrap her head around the fact that he was there, with her.

So he patiently sat there for a minute, tuning out Brad shaking Orion again, and smiling gently at Cynthia while her blue eyes completely shut, her breathing deepened, and her grip around his hand slackened.

"I'm going, I'm going," Orion moaned and the black haired teenager hauled himself out of bed blinking drowsily around at everyone, "good morning…" Leon's younger brother was wearing casual grey sweatpants and no shirt, which he quickly realized. His face turned bright red as his gaze finally landed on the sleeping female wild in the room, and the lean built teen quickly scrambled to grab his clothes and sprinted toward the bathroom like he was on fire. Even so, his older brother was still faster.

Leon's head jerked up, he carefully put Cynthia's hand down onto the bed, brushed her bangs from her face, and sprinted after Orion. Scooping up his prepared clothes off the bedside table, something Cynthia had likely done for him, in the process and shooting past his brother. "I'm first!" He cackled playfully and shut the bathroom door. After sticking his tongue out immaturely of course. He may be nineteen-years-old by now, but the blonde still acted like a teenager on many occasions.

Brad chuckled and lightly slapped Orion on the back, "get your stuff together, I'm sure he'll be out here in a minute. Everything's a competition with him, except anything regarding his mate," he amended his statement before he turned and left the three young adults to themselves. Well, more like Orion to himself since Cynthia was asleep and Leon was in the bathroom changing.

Leon came back a few minutes later dressed in blue jeans, a burnt orange colored active shirt with the words "Wild Champion" on the back, black and grey high tops, and had his signature sharktooth on a leather cord around his neck. He was holding his usual hooded leather jacket and Cynthia's windbreaker held by two fingers over his shoulder, had Cynthia's running shoes in his other hand, a bundle of clothes tucked under his arm, his backpack slung over one shoulder and Cynthia's satchel slung over the other.

During the time he was gone, Cynthia hadn't moved more than maybe an inch. The female wild was still asleep in a dark grey shirt, shorts, and white ankle socks, and currently had the sheets and blankets tangled up around her legs. Her long black hair was messy and spread out in various directions, including a small lock of hair resting on the side of her nose. Clearly she had come last night without preparing, since her jeans had had paint smeared on them in different spots, likely from working on an art piece before a deadline; her satchel only had her art supplies and basic things like her phone, wallet, and keys; and her shoes were simple worn running shoes. Usually if she did arrange something like this she brought stuff she'd need in the morning and before she went to wherever called her attention.

However, this was why Leon had packed extra clothes in his suitcase, particularly the shorts and shirt Cynthia was wearing right now. Cynthia was about as planned as a female wild who was famous and overwhelmed could be, but she faltered a lot regarding her own personal health. Which was what Leon took care of for the most part, he reminded her to do all the various things she usually forgot about including getting a good night's sleep. He had heard she had a habit of staying up to the point of her energy crashing halfway through a class where a teacher would take sympathy on the YouTuber and let her sleep through the rest of the class and wake up on her own.

"Your turn," Leon grinned at his brother and placed the clothes, jackets, and bags down on the floor next to his bed. "It looks like Cynthia put everything together last night, so your backpack and stuff is probably sitting in there." He sat down on the edge of the bed, casually tying his shoes. _Alright Lion, it's time to get them up, Cynthia's gonna be cranky if she gets in trouble for over sleeping._

 _True, you start._

 _I was going to,_ Leon stated smugly.

Orion had been getting redder and redder as the minutes went by, his gaze flicking over to Cynthia repeatedly. As if expecting her to wake up and freak out because he was shirtless. Even though logically Cynthia wouldn't care, she wouldn't bat an eye lash and would likely respect his privacy and avoid looking at him. Leon was the only guy Cynthia glanced twice at, and that was because they were life long partners.

Even so, the moment Leon said it was his turn, Orion flat out sprinted toward the bathroom and vanished inside, safe from prying eyes and mental agony.

Leon watched Orion leave before he cleared his throat, stood up, and walked around to the other side of the bed before moving on his hands and knees to his sleeping mate. Leon then stretched out next to her and slid one arm beneath her at the dip of her waist to gently pull her toward him. " _The sun is up, the sky is blue…"_ the blonde athlete sang mentally and outloud in the Wilds Language, prodding Cynthia's consciousness with the melody and wrapping his arms around her waist. " _Come with me, and let me teach you…"_

" _What it means to be with you…"_ Leon and Lion sang together, Leon speaking out loud and mentally while Lion couldn't be audibly heard.

" _First take my hand…"_ Leon sang, the melody slow and gentle, as he softly brushed Cynthia's black hair away from her blue mark, amber eyes twinkling with love. Even though Cynthia barely twitched, stirring a little at his and Lion's words.

 _I'll lead the way…_ Lion rumbled softly beneath Leon's singing, taking a backseat and leaving Leon with the lead.

" _We'll start slow…"_ Leon sang softly and nuzzled Cynthia's mark, causing the dark blue mark to grow lighter, lightening to a deek sapphire hue that matched her eyes.

 _I'll teach you how_

" _Just follow my lead…"_ Leon rumbled and pressed a sweet kiss to his mate's neck and mark.

Cynthia was awake now, more like barely conscious, but she was listening, and her blue eyes were half open.

 _I'll show you the path..._

" _And you'll see something I've wanted you to see…"_

" _You'll see just how much…"_

Cynthia shifted in Leon's hold, lifting her hands and entwining her fingers with his with a sleepy smile.

 _You'll see just how much…_

" _I ...love... you..."_

" _How much your smile makes my heart race,"_ Leon purred and held Cynthia closer, feeling her sleepy mind and currently free emotions, with two being the most prevalent. Drowsy contentment, and a love saved just for her mate.

 _How often I get lost in your blue eyes_

" _And how much I wish this morning..."_

 _I wish this morning.._

" _Would never end!"_

" _So just this once take my hand…"_ Leon felt Cynthia moving and loosened his hold on her, only to feel the other wild snuggling closer to him and stretching her arms in front of her, a purr rumbling deep her throat.

 _Put your trust in your heart…_

" _Let me take you to a place…"_ At the purring noise Leon smiled and he kissed her mark again before speaking mentally for a second, _morning Sunshine._

 _Under the summer sky…_

" _Where I can hold you close,"_ Cynthia moved again and Leon let her go, only to have her roll over and face him, her nose bumping against his for the last few sentences of the song.

 _In the tall green grass_

" _And make sure this moment…"_ Cynthia slipped her arms around his neck, playing with the short and fuzzy hair at the base of his head.

 _This moment…_

" _Never ends…"_ Leon ended the last note, and a moment later, with a smile Leon fell in love with all over again, Cynthia kissed him. "Good morning sweetheart," he said softly after Cynthia pulled back, "how're you feeling?"

Cynthia's blue eyes were bright and lively and she giggled before she promptly stole a short kiss and rested her forehead against his with her eyes half closed for a few moments. "I don't know how to describe it," she laughed, blue eyes twinkling. "It's like…" she paused, unable to decide her words, before settling on an easy response, with a dimpled smile. "Happy," she breathed, eyes searching his. "I'm really happy."

Leon smiled and moved his head back before he lightly kissed her nose, "I'm glad, I'm happy when you're happy."

They broke apart, the pair of mates sitting up facing each other, Cynthia running her fingers through her messy and slightly tangled black hair, and Leon watching her.

Cynthia breathed a happy sigh, "I wish moments like these would last forever, you know what I mean?"

Leon nodded, "yeah," he suddenly looked very excited, "you know what we need? A vacation, especially me," he grinned cheekily, "a week where I get my very beautiful mate all to myself. Your YouTube fans can't have you forever, you're mine!"

Cynthia giggled at his immaturity and she playfully slapped his chest, "you're so greedy, I'm my own person, dork."

Leon caught her hand and with a grin, pulled her forward so once again their faces were an inch from each others. His amber eyes and expression glinted with sincerity as he spoke, "yes, but you are also my own and only." With that he lightly pecked her on the lips and let her go.

Cynthia felt like she was melting, and she leaned back, sitting up straight, blue eyes a little dazed and spaced out. However, she quickly focused again when Leon spoke again.

"That being said," He smiled a little sheepishly, "we do have school today, or at least Orion and I do anyway."

It was Cynthia's turn to look sheepish and she moved back a little, her cheeks tinted a faint pink and she adopted a matching sheepish grin. "I forgot, sorry. I should probably get changed and everything."

Leon swiftly pulled her back to him, her nose bumping his, "nuh uh, I get to say when we're going."

Cynthia's blue eyes twinkled, "okay," she gave in, letting the other Alpha have control and smiling brightly at him.

* * *

 _ **I think this is fluffy enough for a Valentines Week story right? I mean it's super fluffy, super super super fluffy XD**_


End file.
